Despite these surgeries, he continued to experience pain in both his neck and left arm and has been unable to resume some of the activities in which he participated prior to the accident, such as softball and skiing. Plaintiffs retained the legal services of Sharon Agee to represent them in a lawsuit against the liable parties. Ms. Agee claims these drivers made an offer to that effect that she rejected at plaintiffs' behest. While that motion was pending, those drivers became aware of the general release previously executed by plaintiffs and immediately filed a motion for summary judgment. Ms. Agee contends she had obtained plaintiffs' informed consent but plaintiffs subsequently changed their mind.
Plaintiffs first argue the trial court erroneously ordered a new trial.
The trial court advanced five separate grounds in support of its order, each of which plaintiffs challenge on appeal. If any of these grounds is correct, this court will affirm that order. The first ground advanced by the trial court was that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. A trial court has discretion to grant one new trial on this ground and that ruling will be reversed only in the event of a manifest abuse of discretion. Where a defendant is granted a new trial on this ground, that discretion becomes virtually unfettered.