By Emily V. Troiano
Times Staff Writer

     CLEARWATER - For seven years, Pat D'Ambrosio has watched her brother live in pain. He can't stand very long. He can't sit very long. Work is impossible. It all happened after a car accident on Ulmerton Road in 1987.
     Last week, Paul Lariviere, 55, was awarded $244,000 for the accident. It was the third-largest jury award in Pinellas this year, said his attorney, Mike Walker.
     Lariviere's car was hit from behind by a car driven by a salesman for Consolidated Freightways. After the accident, Lariviere moved in with his sister in Rhode Island. She said the accident brought about a complete change in him.
     "He was in an awful lot of pain," D'Ambrosio said. "When you know somebody, you can see pain in his face."
     She said Lariviere is frustrated that he can't do simple things - like opening a tight jar because his hands and wrists hurt.
     "He gets so upset he can't do things for me like he used to," D'Ambrosio said.
     Walker said the award broke down to $44,000 for past and future medical expenses, $120,000 for past and future wage loss and $80,000 for pain and suffering.
     The second-highest jury award in Pinellas this year came in May, when $922,000 was awarded to Carolyn Everett after a detour curve on East Lake Road caused an accident in which her husband was killed. The highest was in a malpractice case in February, when Edith Ahle's family was awarded $3-million after doctors failed to diagnose her stomach cancer.
     Lariviere had soft-tissue damage that caused much pain, but not necessarily visible damage, Walker said.
     He said the jury's decision is significant because it is rare for diminished quality of life to be compensated. The case went to trial because Walker and the company could not agree about the consequences of the injuries Lariviere received.
     "The issues were about the quality of life that my client had lost," Walker said. "It's harder for them to justify paying for those intangible damages."
     Walker's firm does not expect an appeal.
     Her brother was a very active man before the accident, D'Ambrosio said. He liked bowling and fishing. He loved going to baseball games.
     "His enjoyment's been curtailed," D'Ambrosio said.
     D'Ambrosio said Lariviere managed a gas station for years before he came to Florida. Lariviere wanted to come here because he like the climate and wanted to go boating.
     "He thought he was going to start a whole new life," D'Ambrosio said. "Unfortunately, it wasn't the life he wanted."