The Cedar Rapids Gazette , Wed., Oct. 7, 1987

LAWYER RECEIVES $900,000 FOR CAR-SEMI CRASH INJURIES
By Roland Krekeler
Gazette courts reporter

A rural Dysart woman who practices law at Traer has received a $900,000 out-of-court settlement in a lawsuit stemming from an accident in which her car was struck by a semi-trailer truck.

Wilhelmina McFee filed her lawsuit against CRST Inc. and Edwin Smith, an Illinois man who was driving the truck in the Sept. 25, 1985, accident. According to court records, the truck jackknifed and crossed the centerline on Highway 30 southeast of Newhall.

The case was settled Friday, three days before it was scheduled to go to trial in Linn District Court.

Tom Riley, McFee's attorney, said he believes the settlement is the largest one in Iowa in a case in which the victim did not suffer the loss of a limb or a sense.

In documents filed in the case, McFee said doctors told her it was likely that she will have to get replacements for her right knee, hip and shoulder joints.

Michael Weston, who represented CRST, said the firm is satisfied with the result. McFee claimed more than $1 million just for out-of-pocket expenses, including $49,135 in past medical expenses, he noted.

The settlement shows, he said, that even a company with a good safety record will occasionally have an accident.

Riley said one of McFee's major losses was her ability to run a mile each morning, as was her custom. She was a professor of physical education at the University of Northern Iowa for 10 years and was head of the department from 1973 to 1976.

She graduated from law school in 1981. She recently returned to the practice of law, but only part time.

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