Christopher Kendric and Kelli McGrath Secure Unanimous Defense Verdict in Tractor-Trailer Accident Case

Congratulations to Christopher Kendric and Kelli McGrath on securing a unanimous, sixteen-minute defense verdict in a tractor-trailer accident case. Justice Claudia Lanzetta in Queens County Supreme Court presided over this liability-only trial.

Plaintiff testified that, while traveling in the center lane of the West Side Highway in Manhattan, our client’s tractor-trailer struck his BMW from behind, causing it to spin 180˚ clockwise and come to rest atop the pedestrian crosswalk on West 16th Street, to the right of the Highway and facing the opposite direction. Plaintiff maintained that his foot was on the gas before and at the moment of impact, only moving to the brake afterward. He claimed he was traveling straight with the flow of traffic and did not intend to change lanes or turn when struck.

He described the impact as “devastating,” “traumatizing,” and “something [he] wouldn’t wish on [his] worst enemy.” Scene photographs, however, showed only scuffing and relatively minor damage to the passenger-side rear corner of the vehicle in a distinct right-to-left orientation.

The defense theory was that plaintiff had been traveling in the left lane, overtook the tractor-trailer, and made an abrupt right turn across the front of the truck to turn onto West 16th Street. An accident reconstruction expert testified that the BMW could only have rotated as it did, and ended up off to the right side of the Highway, if it had already been at an angle at the moment of impact. The truck’s front bumper striking the rear passenger-side corner caused the vehicle to lose traction and spin to the right due to its forward momentum.

On cross-examination, plaintiff acknowledged that if he had been traveling straight at the moment of impact, his front wheels would have been pointed straight as well. If the BMW had been struck squarely from behind, as claimed, it would have been pushed forward in the center lane. His testimony that his foot remained on the gas until after impact further set up the argument that the tractor-trailer would have needed to be accelerating and traveling faster than the flow of traffic to reach and strike the BMW.

The jury began deliberations at 10:58 a.m. and returned a verdict at 11:14 a.m.—barely enough time to select a foreperson.