Defense reduces nearly $100K pre-trial ask to $12K

A defendant was able to reduce a plaintiff’s $96,000 demand to just $12,000 after a jury trial. At the heart of the tort case was the question of causation for the plaintiff’s shoulder injury.

Attorneys Matthew Devoti & Alexa Noelle Hillery of Casey, Devoti & Brockland in St. Louis represented the plaintiff, Angela Kimmel. The defendant, Alysse Smith, was represented by Matthew Suess & Brian McChesney of Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch, & Champion in St. Louis.

In court filings, Kimmel claimed that on May 16, 2022, at around 7:45 a.m., Smith was attempting to make a left turn with her vehicle when she struck Kimmel’s vehicle as Kimmel was traveling downhill, southbound on MO 109.

Kimmel’s attorneys claimed Smith failed to yield the right of way and argued negligence and negligence per se.

The plaintiff’s attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Suess said that though the plaintiff’s final pre-trial demand was $96,000 and his team’s final offer was $24,000, the jury awarded just $12,000.

“It’s a liability case,” he said. “We admitted liability during our opening statement. Really, the question came down to causation on a shoulder injury that plaintiff claimed.

In addition to her concussion and soft-tissue knee injury, Suess said Kimmel had a rotator cuff surgery that she claimed was linked to the accident. His team disputed this.

“We had said in our closing statement that we valued the injury at $12,000 to $15,000 and the jury came back at $12,000,” Suess said. “Plaintiff in their closing statement, asked the jury for $450,000.

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Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $12,000

Type of action: Torts

Allocation of Fault: 100 percent to defendant

Venue: St. Louis County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 23SL-CC03138 /06/18/2025

Judge: J.B. Lasater

Plaintiffs’ Experts: Dr. Andrew Spitzfaden (surgical specialist) St. Louis, Missouri

Defendants’ Experts: Dr. Donald DeGrange, (surgical specialist) St. Louis, Missouri

Injuries: Right shoulder, rotator cuff tear, requiring surgery.
Head injury, concussion, post-concussion syndrome.
Soft tissue knee injury.

Last Pretrial Demand: $96,000

Last Pretrial Offer: $24,000

Insurer: State Farm for defendant

Caption: Angela Kimmel v. Alysse Smith

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Matthew Devoti & Alexa Noelle Hillery of Casey, Devoti & Brockland in St. Louis

Defendants’ Attorneys: Matthew Suess & Brian McChesney of Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch, & Champion in St. Louis