In December 2009, plaintiff Mariam Mirzadeh, 59, a civil engineer, was traveling in stop-and-go traffic on northbound Interstate 5 in San Diego. When she was near the Carmel Valley area, her vehicle was rear-ended by a vehicle operated by Charles Louis. There was no body damage to either vehicle, and no headlights or taillights were broken. However, Mirzadeh claimed back as a result of the accident. Mirzadeh sued Charles Louis and the vehicle’s owner, Simone Louis. Mirzadeh claimed that Mr. Louis was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and that Ms. Louis was vicariously liable for Mr. Louis’ actions. Mr. Louis admitted liability, claiming that he was traveling at 65 mph when he saw Mirzadeh’s brake lights and hit his brakes. He claimed that as a result, he tapped Mirzadeh’s vehicle. Although liability was not in dispute, plaintiff’s counsel argued that the collision was more significant than Mr. Louis alleged. Counsel noted that Mr. Louis, in his deposition, testified that he was 30 to 50 feet away when he saw Mirzadeh’s brake lights and hit his brakes, barely tapping her vehicle. However, counsel noted that at trial, Mr. Louis testified that he was 100 to 200 feet away when he hit his brakes. The plaintiff’s accident reconstruction expert was given both scenarios and found that Mr. Louis would have been 145 feet away if he was traveling at 65 mph. The expert also opined that, in the best case scenario, Mr. Louis was traveling at 17 mph at the time of impact. Plaintiff’s counsel further contended that there was significant steel frame damage to Mirzadeh’s vehicle and that this showed that the collision was significant. In response, defense counsel noted that there was no body damage to either vehicle and argued that $300 worth of frame straightening is not significant., After the collision, Mirzadeh drove home and later went to her own physician with complaints of pain to her neck, upper and lower back, and right dominant shoulder. About six to nine months later, only her lower back pain remained. As a result, Mirzadeh received one epidural injection to her lower back per year, for the past three years, and is continuing her treatment and injections with her treating physician. Mirzadeh claimed that she also requires prescription medication, anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers for her pain. However, after complications with some of the anti-inflammatories, she claimed she required further medications. Subsequently, Mirzadeh underwent a few MRIs, which revealed she had degenerative bone disease. Mirzadeh sought recovery of damages for her future medical costs, and past and future pain and suffering. She did not seek recovery for past economic damages. Defense counsel contended that after the collision Mirzadeh flew to Iran and underwent no treatment for one month. Counsel also contended that medical records revealed that all of Mirzadeh’s complaints were resolved by August 2010. Thus, defense counsel argued that medical records indicated that all of Mirzadeh’s were healed and that the August 2010 complaints were new. Counsel further argued that Mirzadeh would then complain about lower back pain every six months, claiming her pain never went away. Defense counsel added that Mirzadeh was later diagnosed with cancer in January 2013. The defense’s orthopedic expert opined that since Mirzadeh’s other healed six to nine months after the accident, then Mirzadeh’s lower back pain would have also been healed. He further opined that Mirzadeh’s lower back pain had nothing to do with the subject accident and was only caused by her degenerative disc disease, which continues to get worse as she ages. Thus, defense counsel argued that the cause of Mirzadeh’s pain was not related to the subject accident, but could be attributed to Mirzadeh’s pre-existing degenerative bone disease. In response, Mirzadeh’s treating orthopedic expert testified that even if Mirzadeh had degenerative bone disease, she had no symptoms prior to the accident, though she had four years of continuous back pain after the accident. Thus, the expert opined that if Mirzadeh did have degenerative bone disease, then the subject accident triggered it, as she was asymptomatic before the crash.