Attorney John Anderson Merrick's Legal Cases

Wrongful death

Thomas M. Jackson, III, Administrator, et al. v. Harmon, Jr., et al.

Jul 23, 2025

OUTCOME: $1,050,000.00

This wrongful death case involved numerous legal challenges and required extensive coordination across multiple jurisdictions. The decedent, a front-seat passenger in a Ford F-150 work truck owned by h ... is employer, was fatally injured in a serious motor vehicle crash on February 27, 2023. The crash occurred when the defendant failed to yield the right of way at an intersection, causing the decedent’s vehicle to T-bone the defendant's vehicle. Decedent suffered blunt force trauma and tragically passed away from his injuries several days later. The case was referred to plaintiff’s counsel shortly after suit was filed by the referring attorney in February of 2025. At that time, the only settlement offer on the table was $50,000, and the case involved a number of complicating factors, including an Ohio Workers' Compensation lien in excess of $1 million, a surviving spouse by common law marriage residing out of state, an estranged out-of-state beneficiary, and out of state insurance policies with significant underinsured motorist coverage. Despite these complexities, counsel worked diligently to maximize the recovery for the estate. This included negotiating a significant reduction of the workers’ compensation lien, identifying and securing the full extent of available insurance coverage, facilitating a collaborative resolution among all interested beneficiaries and resolving an attorney lien. The lawsuit was filed on February 18, 2025. After months of strategic litigation and negotiations, the Court approved the final settlement on July 23, 2025.

Wrongful death

Jeremy B. Riner, Administrator of the Estate of Kodie Riner v. Woodham

May 30, 2025

OUTCOME: $1,250,000.00

The decedent was killed in a head-on collision at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Parham Road in Henrico County. He was driving home from the gym when the defendant lost control of his vehicle, crossed the ... center line, and struck the decedent’s vehicle head-on. The defendant claimed he experienced a “sudden emergency” that caused him to black out. Toxicology reports confirmed there were no drugs or alcohol in his system. Relying on the sudden emergency defense, the defendant’s insurance company initially refused to make a settlement offer. The plaintiff’s counsel promptly secured all available electronic data from both vehicles, filed suit, conducted discovery and undertook a thorough investigation. Following the defendant’s deposition, during which plaintiff’s counsel used statements from his medical records to directly challenge the validity of the sudden emergency claim, State Farm responded to a time-limited demand and tendered the full policy limits.

Personal injury

Stallings v. Carlisle

Aug 14, 2024

OUTCOME: $225,000.00

The defendant driver struck the plaintiff as the plaintiff crossed the travel lane in a parking lot. A store captured the incident on its surveillance camera. During her deposition, the defendant te ... stified that the plaintiff lay screaming in pain on the sidewalk until paramedics arrived 20 minutes later. That compelling testimony coupled with the surveillance video was strong evidence in support of the plaintiff’s damages. The plaintiff sustained injuries to her left side, neck and foot and required extensive pain management for persistent neck pain. The defense contested all of the plaintiff’s medical treatment except for the first six weeks. The defendant had $25,000 in liability coverage, which was tendered early in the case. The plaintiff had $250,000 in UIM coverage with GEICO. The case settled a month before trial at a court-ordered settlement conference.

Personal injury

CL23-4269 (City of Richmond)

Jun 20, 2024

OUTCOME: $200,000.00

Defendant’s vehicle struck the plaintiff while she was walking across the street, in a marked crosswalk in Richmond. Plaintiff did not break any bones and recovered after a short regimen of physical th ... erapy. The most compelling evidence in the case was the police officer’s body-worn camera, which captured the nature of the moment. It showed the plaintiff lying lifeless in the middle of the road as paramedics provided emergency care. It showed the defendant’s vehicle stopped just past the crosswalk, and the plaintiff lying a significant distance away, which provided an accurate indication of how far she was thrown from the impact. On the body camera, an eyewitness confirmed that the plaintiff had the right of way. In addition, the defendant described the accident to the police officer and admitted fault when he said “I’d like to pay the fine. I did something wrong.” The insurer made an initial offer of $42,941.00 and a pre-suit offer of $67,000. The case settled at mediation nearly five months before trial.

Personal injury

Bingham v. CES Consulting, LLC

Sep 15, 2022

OUTCOME: $900,000.00

The plaintiff, a 47-year-old auto mechanic, was rear-ended while stopped in traffic waiting to make a left turn. There was minor physical damage to the plaintiff’s rear bumper and the plaintiff reporte ... dly denied any injury at the scene. The plaintiff later sought treatment for radiating low back pain and was initially diagnosed with strains and sprains, but about a month later when his symptoms worsened, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc at L5-S1. After conservative treatment failed, the plaintiff underwent an anterior lumbar interbody fusion with posterior instrumentation at L5-S1. Liability was clear, but damages were strongly contested. The plaintiff had a physically demanding job and had a history of prior back issues, including a herniated disc at the same level 20 years earlier and a compression fracture at another level, and he had treated for low back pain on several occasions in the years before the accident. The defense focused heavily on the plaintiff’s prior back issues as the source of his ongoing back complaints and argued that the slight disc protrusion noted on the MRI was the result of an unrelated degenerative condition called disc osteophyte complex. The defense medical experts testified that the MRI showed a dark disc with osteophytes, which takes years to develop and would have predated the accident. The plaintiff’s treating surgeon testified that the plaintiff suffered an acute disc extrusion in the accident, which was a new injury that caused nerve root compression and necessitated surgical intervention to address the plaintiff’s radicular complaints. A four-day jury trial resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $900,000.

John Anderson Merrick's Legal Cases (5)

Thomas M. Jackson, III, Administrator, et al. v. Harmon, Jr., et al.

Jeremy B. Riner, Administrator of the Estate of Kodie Riner v. Woodham

Stallings v. Carlisle

CL23-4269 (City of Richmond)

Bingham v. CES Consulting, LLC