James V. Deegan successfully obtained a defense verdict after a 5 day jury trial and only 3 hours of deliberation in the Supreme Court, Bronx County before Judge Faviola Soto. The case of Schneider v. Isabella City Carting, et al., arose out of a two vehicle collision on 138th Street when plaintiff attempted a left turn in front of defendant in order to enter the Major Deegan Expressway. Plaintiff claimed to have had a green turning arrow. Defendant, Adam Hernandez, operating a sanitation truck owned by Isabella City Carting, claimed he had a green light in his favor and that plaintiff jumped the light in front of his garbage truck. The trial was bifurcated. Plaintiff had previously obtained a favorable liability verdict with a 55% finding of liability against defendants. The same jury returned to participate in the damages phase of the trial.
During closing arguments, plaintiff requested $6.3 Million; $3 Million of which was for past pain and suffering, $3 Million for future pain and suffering, and $300,000.00 for future surgery and treatment. The jury returned a defense verdict determining that plaintiff did not sustain either a consequential permanent limitation or a significant limitation of a body part or function stemming from the accident.
In a 3 day Trial, Richard J. Gallo obtained a favorable verdict limiting the plaintiff’s damages in an alleged assault and battery in a parking lot by defendants’ security personnel. While the jury came back that the defendant security guards’ actions did constitute a battery, all of plaintiff’s damages were disputed by the defense. Ultimately, the plaintiffs alleged injuries of rib fracture, depression, wrist injuries and post traumatic stress disorder were not believed and the jury awarded plaintiff with a mere $500. Prior to Trial, the plaintiff’s demand was $175,000. Mr. Gallo offered $7,500 to plaintiff’s counsel in an attempt to save his carrier Trial costs. The offer was rejected. All of plaintiff’s post trial motions to set aside the verdict were denied by the Court.
In a matter tried before Justice Alexander Hunter in Supreme Court, Bronx County, Mary L. Maloney obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the owner and managing company of an apartment building in the Bronx. The plaintiff claimed that her bedroom ceiling collapsed on her head and alleged that the defendants were negligent in allowing the ceiling to become and remain broken and dangerous; in negligently repairing the ceiling; and on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. The plaintiff also alleged actual and constructive notice, which Justice Hunter granted in her favor as a matter of law prior to the trial.
The plaintiff and her daughter, an alleged eyewitness, testified that they made verbal complaints to the building super, who also testified and stated that ceiling repairs were properly made prior to the date of loss. The injuries, which were before the jury, were herniated discs at C5-6 and at C6-7 and lumbar disc bulges. The plaintiff underwent laminectomy, discectomy, surgical insertion of plate and screws, vertebrectomy, cervical fusion, bulging discs and psychological trauma.
The Daily News covered this verdict here.
Mr. Deegan obtained a directed verdict after a seven week trial in a case involving an iron worker who was injured on a scaffold when an angle ironbeing lifted into place broke from a welded lifting shim causing the angle iron to swing free and strike the scaffold plaintiff was on, causing him to fall approximately 10 feet to the level below. Plaintiff, an employee of Roma Steel Erection Company, was working on the exterior of the Lewis Library project located at Princeton University during the erection phase of the project. Plaintiff, Albert Leip, Jr., sued Princeton University, Sordoni Skanska Construction, the general contractor, and Central Metals, a subcontractor, for negligence.
Central Metal contracted with Roma Steel for installation of the angle irons. Plaintiff alleged the defendants failed to properly supervise and implement safety procedures at the site, and failed to properly inspect and test the welds that failed on the angle iron. Mr. Deegan argued plaintiff was an experienced iron worker who had the experience to determine a faulty weld and that he was in the best position to inspect the weld in question, which, had he done so, he would have observed an improper weld of the shim to the angle iron. Also, Mr. Deegan argued that though Central Metals was the contractor who hired plaintiff’s employer, New Jersey law holds that a contractor cannot be liable for the injuries of an injured worker of its subcontractor where the contractor does not exercise control over the work activities or the employer’s methods or procedures of the activity giving rise to the injury. The matter was tried unified before Justice Douglas H. Hurd of the Superior Court, Mercer County.
Plaintiff claimed he sustained a severe head injury and developed post-traumatic stress disorder and that he was permanently disabled. Plaintiff claimed to have sustained a traumatic brain injury, concussion, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Plaintiff also claimed that due to his self-medicating with alcohol post-accident stemming from his post-traumatic stress, he suffered additional injuries from subsequent accidents, such as a further brain contusion, amputations of several toes and psychological injuries, further incapacitating him.
Plaintiff’s liability experts, Vincent Gallagher, Site Safety Expert, and Peter Eliot, Metallurgist, essentially testified that there were insufficient safety procedures implemented on site and that the type of weld used for the lifting of an angle iron was improper, respectively. Plaintiff’s medical experts confirmed the injuries complained of, and explained that plaintiff’s self-medicating and subsequent downward spiral resulted in further injuries all related to his post-traumatic stress syndrome and resulted from a natural progression of his deteriorating condition, leaving plaintiff permanently disabled. Mr. Deegan further argued that the injuries stemming from the initial incident were minor and soft tissue in nature and that the more serious and debilitating injuries resulted from subsequent falls due to severe intoxication and were unrelated to the initial incident. It was also argued that plaintiff had a prior history of alcohol abuse prior to the accident, and therefore the alcohol-related injuries relate to a pre-existing condition. Upon the close of evidence, the court entertained motions. Mr. Deegan successfully persuaded Judge Hurd on the legal issues and the judge directed a verdict in favor of Central Metals. Plaintiff’s demand at start of trial was $7 million. Offer was $250,000.
Following a five-day retrial, Matthew J. Vittucci once again obtained a favorable verdict for our client, Megabus, in the matter of Ebrahem v. Coach Leasing, Inc. This matter was originally tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before Judge Shira A. Scheindlin resulting in a verdict of only $11,700 with 50% comparative negligence (for a net award of $5,850), which was set aside by Judge Scheindlin. The matter was reassigned to Judge Edgardo Ramos for the retrial. Plaintiff in closing argument at the retrial requested a verdict from the jury amounting to over $2.2 million. The jury unanimously returned a defense verdict.
Despite plaintiff’s opportunity to better prepare his experts for cross-examination, and despite plaintiff’s economist Dr. Dwyer’s opportunity to correct her erroneous calculations that were admitted to on the stand in the first trial, Mr. Vitucci was still able to improve upon his already winning result. The jury unanimously found that although plaintiff underwent a six-level lumbar fusion and a left knee menisectomy, these were not related to the subject accident and plaintiff did not suffer a serious injury.
The case arose from an accident that occurred the Manhattan entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel in which the defendants’ bus and plaintiff’s livery taxi had a minor side-swipe collision where each party alleged the other caused the impact. Plaintiff offered the expert testimony of the performing spinal surgeon, Dr. Sebastian Lattuga; the performing knee surgeon, Dr. Neofitos Stefanides; an expert engineer, Grahme Fischer; and an expert economist, Dr. Debra Dwyer. Despite the testimony of these experts, Mr. Vitucci was able to persuade the jury that plaintiff did not suffer a serious injury as a result of the subject accident. Defendants relied on the testimony of neurosurgeon Dr. Douglas Cohen, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gregory Montalbano, and biomechanical engineer Dr. Mariusz Ziejewski. Because the jury first determined a lack of serious injury, the question of negligence was never reached.
In a matter tried before Justice Valerie Brathwaite-Nelson of the Supreme Court, Queens County, Ms. Maloney obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the owner and driver of an automobile involved in a two-car collision that occurred within the intersection at 81st Avenue and Little Neck Parkway in Queens. The intersection had a traffic control signal and both drivers claimed to have had the light in their favor. The jury found 100% liability against the co-defendant driver and owner. Plaintiff sustained a left-shoulder dislocation, and comminuted and angulated fracture of the scapular blade, requiring surgery.
Following a two week jury trial and four hours of deliberation, Mary L. Maloney obtained a defense verdict for our client, U.S. Elevator, in the matter of Cobb v. County of Passaic and U.S. Elevator, in the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, County of Passaic, before Judge Anthony J. Graziano. The verdict of “no negligence” on the part of U.S. Elevator was rendered by an eight-person jury on December 20, 2013. Plaintiff’s last settlement demand was $650,000. The offer prior to, and during, trial was $20,000.
The 40-year-old male plaintiff claimed that he slipped and fell on oil on the floor of the elevator shaft at the Passaic County jail while performing pest control services for his employer. His claims of the presence of oil on the floor of the shaft, which was a walk-in space, as well as his prior complaints of oil, were confirmed by trial testimony of witnesses for the Passaic County Jail. Plaintiff also claimed that U.S. Elevator violated the terms of its contract with the County by failing to leave the space in a “broom-swept condition.” The case was defended by Ms. Maloney on the grounds that the oil was a necessary by-product of the hydraulic elevator and that the elevator company was unaware of anyone but its employees entering the elevator shaft. The jury found that the elevator company was not negligent and non-suited the plaintiff.
The injuries alleged by plaintiff were tears of the right meniscus for which resulted in three (3) arthroscopic surgeries. Plaintiff’s orthopedic expert, Peter DiPaolo, M.D., testified that plaintiff required a total knee replacement, with additional replacement(s) needed as plaintiff ages, due to the 15-year life span of the artificial replacement joint. Also claimed were post-traumatic arthritis of the right knee, disc bulges and protrusion at T9-10, and an inability by plaintiff to return to work in any capacity.
Plaintiff offered the expert testimony of engineer, John Posusney, P.E., who opined that U.S. Elevator violated certain OSHA and other related regulations. Ms. Maloney was able to persuade the jury that U.S. Elevator was not negligent in its maintenance of the elevators and that OSHA regulations were not violated.
Defendants relied upon the testimony of orthopedist Mark Berman, M.D., who confirmed the necessity of the first surgery based on his review of the films, but opined that the second and third surgery were unnecessary and that a total knee replacement was not indicated.
In a trial involving a collision between a truck owned by the defendants and a truck driven by the plaintiff, Matthew J. Vitucci obtained a unanimous defendant’s verdict on the issue of damages. Liability in the matter had been previously been decided by the court. Plaintiff claimed a variety of injuries to his head, causing a loss of hearing, a herniated disc at C4-5 and L5-S1, post-concussion syndrome, TMJ dysfunction and loss of balance. He claimed that he required the use of a cane to ambulate, and that his hearing loss required the use of bilateral hearing aides. He further underwent surgery for his TMJ dysfunction.
At trial, Mr. Vitucci, on cross-examination of the plaintiff and plaintiff’s experts, was able to establish that the injuries claimed in fact pre-dated the accident. Having determined that the injuries claimed were not causally related to the collision, the jury therefore concluded that the injuries did not meet the “Serious Injury” requirement set forth in the New York Insurance Law.
In a matter tried before Justice Geoffrey D.S. Wright in Supreme Court, Bronx County, Mary L. Maloney obtained a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of the MTA after the court had granted summary judgment to plaintiff whose vehicle was rear-ended by a paratransit van. Plaintiff claimed to have sustained bilateral cubital tunnel syndrome, right C7 radiculopathy, atrophy of the right hand, loss of dexterity of the right hand, bilateral ulnar entrapment neuropathy, necessity to undergo a bilateral cubital release and anterior transposition of the ulnar nerve, numbness and weakness to both hands, and disc herniations at C5/6 and C3/4 with restriction of range of motion. Plaintiff presented expert proof supporting all medical claims.
Ms. Maloney was successful in arguing that, while plaintiff had these injuries and surgical procedures, he failed to establish causation, thus resulting in a defense verdict at trial.