Northbrook-based Mercury Finance Co. said that a subsidiary has reached a settlement for less than $2 million with an Alabama man who had been awarded $50 million by a jury in a case involving a $4,500 used-car deal.
Plaintiff Willie Ed Johnson contended in a four-hour trial in August that he had been defrauded by Mercury when it bought his installment contract. Mercury insisted there was no wrongdoing and said it lost $6,000 on the deal.
Last month, the judge in the case reduced the jury’s award of $50 million in damages to $2 million in post-trial proceedings. He said if the plaintiff did not accept the reduced amount, there would have to be a new trial, according to Mark Dapier, Mercury’s general counsel.
Although Mercury continues to maintain it was involved in no wrongdoing, Dapier said the company negotiated a settlement for less than the reduced judgment in order to avoid the costs of further litigation. Johnson was represented by Montgomery, Ala.-based attorney Jere Beasley, who has won a remarkable string of large-sum victories against out-of-state companies in rural Barbour County, Ala.
Mercury, to protect itself under what Dapier calls “murky” Alabama disclosure statutes, created a form for customers to sign, indicating they understand that car-loan contracts might be sold.
