New Jersey Injury Lawyer Blog

On October 7, 2002, Dennis Benson, a 42-year-old mason subcontractor was killed when a 9-foot-deep trench collapsed in Rockaway. Homeowner, Kenneth Masiello and excavator, Robert Robertson granted Benson’s family with $750,000. The two contractors had limited liability because Benson was a self-employed contractor whom was responsible for his own actions as well as being foretold not to enter the trench until the shoring was complete. The settlement was approved by Judge Deanne Wilson on April 21, 2006.
~Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal

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Posted In: Work Injury

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On May 19, 2006, $14 million was awarded to the Sharad family by a Middlesex County Jury on the grounds of their doctors failing to test them for early signs of thalassemia. Thalassemia is a disorder of the blood which disables the body to produce enough hemoglobin. Obstetrician Maya Sanghavi of South Plainfield neglected to test the mother’s fetus after having diagnosed her with anemia. Today, their young boy needs frequent blood transfusions for the rest of his life. His medical expenseshttp://www.richardconsole.com/lawyer-attorney-1115163.html will be covered Sanghavi in the amount of $6M, along with $4M awarded to each parent.
~Mary P. Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

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Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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A Burlington County jury awarded $571,000 on April 19 to a motorist for back and neck injuries.

Kenneth Grimes of Medford Lakes was stopped at a red light in Evesham in Aug 2002 when his car was hit from behind. He suffered 7 herniated disks and aggravation of pain herniations. Grimes still holds his primary job as a sales manager but neck pain and back pain caused him to quit his second job as a laborer.

Grimes sued the other driver, Lois Prince of Medford. Prince rejected a court-ordered arbitration award of $185,000 that Grimes demanded Prince's $250,000 policy limit but that her carrier, State Farm, offered only $25,000.

Superior Court Judge Marc Baldwin presided at trial and the jury awarded $508,500 for Grimes' noneconomic damages plus $62,500 on his wife's per quod claim. The Plaintiff's attorney says State Farm should be liable for the full verdict under the Rova Farms doctrine based on a bad-faith refusal to settle.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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Posted In: Car Accidents

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A Lake Hiawatha woman agreed last Tuesday to accept $577,500 to settle a Morris County suit over angle injuries suffered two years apart.

Marlene Draughn alleged that she fell on an ice-covered sidewalk in front of her apartment complex on Feb 21, 2003, five days after a heavy snowstorm, because the owner and manager failed to put down salt. Draughn, now 35, suffered a tri-malleolar fracture of the right ankle that required surgery, with plates and screws.

The ankle remained unstable and on Feb 2005, it gave way as she was descending a flight of stairs leaving work. Draughn sued owner Knoll Manor Associates. The defense claims their is no link between the two injuries but they felt that the proper business decision was to settle the suit.

~Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

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Posted In: Slips and Falls

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A self-employed electrician injured in a worksite fall settled his Middlesex County suit for $839,000 on April 26.

In September 2003, Harold Klouser, of Edison, fell through an unrailed stair opening from the second floor to the basement of Monmouth Junction house, suffering fractures of the C6, C7, T2, T3 vertebrae.

Klouser, now 58, uses a cane, has sleep and motor control problems, and cannot bend his dominant right thumb.

Klouser sued general contractor Martin Brady and framing subcontractor Greenwoods Construction of Newark. Greenwoods filed a third-party suit against nailing subcontractor Ednamar Bernadinno. The defendants claimed Klouser failed to demonstrate that the lack of a barrier led to the accident.

~Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal

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Posted In: Slips and Falls

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An Elizabeth man agreed last Tuesday to an $850,000 settlement for neck and disk injuries sustain in an automobile crash.

On June 20, 2002, Jay Probst was driving in the right lane on north Avenue in Scotch Plains when he was hit by another car attempting to make a right turn from the left lane.

Probst injured his neck, suffer two herniated disks and had two operations to remove a disk and fuse vertebrae with bone and plates. Now 33, he cannot return to his job as a utilities engineer for Lord and Taylor.

Probst sued the other car's driver whose insurer is Allstate Insurance Company.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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Posted In: Car Accidents

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