Bhavanidas Kode v. Tara Carlson

I. Background

In March 2006, Tara Carlson struck a trailer being towed by a vehicle in which Bhavanidas Kode was a passenger. In June 2007, Kode brought a diversity action against Carlson claiming economic and non-economic damages totaling $1,000,000. Although Carlson admitted she was negligent and that her negligence caused Kode to suffer some injury, the nature and extent of the injury remained in dispute.

Kode and Carlson both testified at trial, as did a witness and both parties’ expert witnesses. Kode’s expert witness, Dr. Anne Anderson, testified that Kode had sustained back pain radiating down his right calf, that a CT scan showed disk pro- trusion, an MRI confirmed the CT scan, and that in her expert opinion, the accident had probably caused those problems. She also opined that the treatments that Kode had paid for were necessary as a result of the accident and were reasonably and customarily priced.

Carlson’s expert witness, Dr. Robert Cook, testified that neither the CT scan nor the MRI revealed any evidence of permanent, ongoing, or acute injury that could or would likely have been caused by the accident. When asked what injury Kode sustained from the accident, Dr.…