Matthew D. Powell's profile

    Matthew D. Powell

    Top rated Personal Injury attorney in Tampa, Florida

    Education Qualification:

    Florida State University College of Law

    Practice Areas:

    Health care,

    Animal bites,

    Birth injury,

    Brain injury,

    Construction accident,

    Medical malpractice,

    Nursing home,

    Personal injury - defense,

    Premises liability - plaintiff,

    Sexual abuse - plaintiff,

    Social security,

    Toxic mold,

    Trucking accidents,

    Wrongful death

    304 S. Plant AveTampa, Florida, 33606

    First Admitted: 1987, Florida

    Professional Webpage: https://mattlaw.com/attorneys/matt-powell/

    Bar / Professional Activity:
    • Florida, 1987
    • Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, 2012
    • Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association, 2012
    • American Association for Justice, 2009
    • Florida Justice Association, 1989
    • American Justice Association, 1988
    • Georgia, 2024
    • U.S. Supreme Court, 1992
    • Federal 11th District Court of Appeal, 1990
    • Federal U.S. Middle District Court of Florida, 1989
    • Missouri, 1988
    Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results):
    • Top 10 Verdict in Florida $5,445,637.00 Young v. McCoy, 2020
    • Verdict for the Plaintiff (Verdict for the Plaintiff is a public record) Brain Injury Verdict The defense contended that since there was no loss of consciousness, there could not be any brain injury. Also, that since he had never earned wages in the past, that he should not be entitled to any future loss of earnings, or earning capacity. The defense had a defense neuro-psychological exam done on Mr. Davidson, and the defense psychologist attempted to use a psychological test know as the Fake Bad Scale. The Fake Bad Scale attempts to tell us when people are malingering, or not telling the truth. Our motion to exclude the Fake Bad Scale test was granted. The court found that the Fake Bad Scale test was not scientific, was unreliable, and was basically a modern lie detector test, and therefore not admissible as evidence. The trial lasted 4 days. Most of the witnesses were medical doctors who testified about injuries caused by the crash. The jury was shown a PET scan of the brain, as well as a SPECT scan of the brain. The jury also heard from neurologists, and psychologist that Mr. Davidson had received a "Mild Traumatic Brain Injury" which is difficult to detect, but still a very real injury, that will never improve with time. This was a motor vehicle crash between a semi tanker truck and a pick up truck. The plaintiff was rear ended by the semi, and pushed into another semi stopped ahead. There was no loss of consciousness by the plaintiff. Prior to the crash, the plaintiff had virtually no prior wage history. He was a self employed handy man who worked at his families day care center., 2008
    • +++++VERDICT for the Plaintiff (Verdict or the Plaintiff is a public record) Soft Tissue injuries. This is a case involving 2 different rear-end collisions. The first crash happened on July 15, 2003. Mitch was stopped for a red light. He was hit from behind at a high rate of speed (approximately 20 mph). His car was severely damaged. The person who caused the crash had only $10,000.00 of liability insurance. Mitch Stahl also had Underinsured Motorist Insurance with his family through Allstate Insurance Company. The claim against the bad driver was settled before suit was filed, but Allstate denied any further payment based upon 2 arguments. The first was that Mitch Stahl was not living with his parents at the time of the crash, and therefore was not covered under the policy, and secondly, that Mitch was not hurt bad enough, and the $10,000.00 that he received was enough to fully compensate him for his injuries. Suit was filed against Allstate for the injuries suffered by Mitch Stahl. Then unfortunately Mitch Stahl was involved in a second rear-end collision on November 1, 2005, just 90 days before the trial was to start against Allstate for the July 15 2003 accident against All state. The second accident facts were that a vehicle driven by a BCI Engineers & Scientists, Inc. employee, Doug Partington hit a pickup truck in the rear, then that truck hit Mitch Stahl's pickup truck, which was towing a trailer. The property damage to the trailer was minimal, and the property damage to his pickup truck was virtually none, however, the crash injured Mitch Stahl by aggravating his prior injuries. The defense of the claims was that Mitch Stahl had received his no fault PIP medical bills of $20,000.00, and that since he recovered $10,000.00 from the first wreck, he did not have any damages. The defense also argued that he had a prior back or neck injury, and that he might have a birth defect to his spine called spina bifida. Mitch Stahl was a self employed automobile car detailer. The defense hired investigators to follow him around, and they obtained video surveillance of him washing and waxing his customers cars for 4 hours. The medical evidence shown to the jury was that Mitch Stahl had a Digital Motion X-Ray after the 2003 crash, and an MRI, and then another Digital Motion X-ray and MRI of his neck after the 2005 accident. The jury was shown the two different MRI's of Mitch's spine and could compare them. The trial lasted 4 days. At the end of the trial, the jury found that Mitch Stahl did have a permanent injury that was caused by the negligence of the two different drivers. After deducting the $20,000.00 for Mitch's PIP, and $10,000.00 for the settlement with the first driver, the jury found that Mitch Stahl had suffered a loss of $(see the public records) from both crashes. The jury found that Allstate owed Mitch $ (see the public record) for the first crash. This was over Mitch's policy limits of $25,000.00 by $180,000.00. There was a written offer to settle the case with Allstate for 4,500.00 made during the suit, which caused Allstate to have to pay costs and attorney fees in addition to the judgment of $(see the public record). Allstate agreed to pay the verdict and not take an appeal, in exchange for waiving the costs and attorney fees. The second part of the case against BCI was a verdict of $(see the public record). An offer to settle with them during the suit was made for $8,000.00, which they rejected. This offer also triggered costs and attorney fees. They chose not to pay the judgment, asked the court for a new trial, or a reduction in the verdict which was denied. This portion of the case was then appealed to the Second District Court of Appeals. The appeal was rejected in June 2009, and the appellate court sent the case back to the trial court to determine costs, interest and attorney fees., 2007
    Special Licenses / Certifications:
    • National Board Certification as a Civil Trial lawyer by the National Board of Trial Advocacy., 2010
    • Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar, 2005
    Honors:
    • Peer Review rating of AV Preeminent* through Martindale-Hubbell
    • Million Dollar Advocates Forum, 2008
    • 10.0 rating on Avvo
    • AV Rating, Martindale Hubble, 2009
    Educational Background:
    • University of Central Florida, Bachelor of Science, 1984
    • University of Florida, Associate of Arts, 1983
    Industry Groups:
    • American Association For Justice
    • Florida Trial Lawyers Association
    • Gerry Spence Method Advanced Graduate
    • Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association
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