Page 8 - 2014_NY_Top_Settlements

2014
TOP SETTLEMENTS NY
TOP 10 NEW YORK CASE SUMMARIES IN 2014
NUMBER ONE
MOTOR VEHICLE
Bus — Transportation — Pedestrian — Right Turn — Government — Municipalities
Bus driver didn’t yield during turn, injured pedestrian claimed
AMOUNT $12,000,000
TYPE Mediated Settlement
CASE Jordan v. MTA Bus Company VENUE New York Supreme
JUDGE Allen Hurkin-Torres
DATE February 5, 2014
INJURY
TYPE(S) leg - fracture, fracture, tibia, crush injury, leg
knee - fracture, knee
other - infection, resection, bone graft, osteomyelitis, pins/rods/screws, reconstructive surgery, avulsion (non-fracture), bone graft, iliac crest epidermis - degloving
surgeries/treatment - skin graft, arthroscopy, debridement, external fixation
PLAINTIFF
ATTORNEY(S) David J. Dean & Frank V. Floriani; Sullivan Papain Block McGrath &
Cannavo P.C.; New York, NY, for Amy Jordan
PLAINTIFF
EXPERT(S) Paul Post M.D.; Orthopedic Surgery; New York, NY called by: Amy
Jordan
Frank Tinari Ph.D.; Economics; Livingston, NJ called by: Amy Jordan James Otis Ph.D.; Biomechanics; Stamford, CT called by: Amy Jordan Jason Spector ; Plastic Surgery/Reconstructive Surgery; New York, NY called by: Amy Jordan
Jeffrey Perry ; Physical Medicine; Deer Park, NY called by: Amy Jordan
Kenneth Betz ; Economics; Livingston, NJ called by: Amy Jordan Richard Schuster Ph.D.; Life Care Planning; New York, NY called by: Amy Jordan
Nicholas Bellizzi ; Accident Reconstruction; Holmdel, NJ called by: Amy Jordan
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS On May 1, 2009, plaintiff Amy Jordan, 39, a dance instructor and a real estate agent, was struck by, or collided with, a transit bus. The incident occurred on West 72nd Street, alongside its intersection at Broadway, in Manhattan. Jordan sustained injuries of her right knee and leg. The injuries included a fracture and the loss of much of the leg’s skin.
Jordan sued the bus’s driver, Roy Wright, and the bus’s operator, MTA Bus Co. Jordan alleged that Wright was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. Jordan further alleged that MTA Bus was vicariously liable for Wright’s actions.
The defendants impleaded the owner of an ambulance that was parked near the intersection at the time of the accident, Lenox Hill Hospital. The first-party defendants alleged that Lenox Hill Hospital’s ambulance was parked in a manner that contributed to the accident.
Lenox Hill Hospital was dismissed via summary judgment. Judge Arlene Bluth found that the ambulance was legally parked at the time of the accident and that, as such, the vehicle could not have been a proximate cause of the accident. The matter proceeded against MTA Bus and Wright.
Jordan, who is legally blind, claimed that she was struck in a crosswalk, while Wright was executing a right turn from the southbound side of Broadway. She also claimed that a green traffic signal permitted her entrance to the intersection. Jordan’s accident- reconstruction expert submitted a report in which he agreed that the accident occurred in the manner that Jordan suggested.
Wright claimed that Jordan stepped onto the roadway after he had begun his turn. He claimed that she initiated a collision with one side of his bus. A witness, who was a passenger of the bus at the time of the accident, supported Wright’s claims. Defense
counsel contended that Jordan’s injuries could not have resulted from Jordan having been struck by a bus.
INJURIES/DAMAGES Jordan sustained crush-induced injuries of her right knee and leg. The injuries included an open, grade-III, intra-articular fracture of the proximal region of the leg’s tibia, which is a lower component of the knee joint; an avulsion of the head of the leg’s fibula, which is also a lower component of the knee joint; an avulsion of the knee’s lateral collateral ligament; disruption of the knee’s fibula/tibia joint; and degloving of a total of about 14 percent of the upper and lower regions of the leg. The degloving exposed muscles.
Jordan was placed in an ambulance, and she was transported to a hospital. She underwent surgical resection of damaged bone; the grafting of bone that had been harvested from her pelvis’s right iliac crest; the application of an allograft, which is bony material harvested from a cadaver; the insertion of two percutaneous pins that secured the distal end of her right leg’s femur; arthroscopic surgery that addressed her right knee; and surgical reconstruction of the lower portion of her right leg. She also developed a residual Staphylococcus infection that necessitated debridement of necrotic tissue and the grafting of skin.
Jordan’s hospitalization lasted 61 days, and she subsequently underwent 54 days of inpatient rehabilitation.
Jordan’s injuries resulted in her development of osteomyelitis that necessitated further debridement and temporary application of an external fixation device that secured the lower portion of her right leg. Jordan claimed that she requires use of a leg brace and crutches, and she further claimed that she may have to undergo an above-the- knee amputation of her right leg. She also claimed that her residual effects prevent her resumption of work.
Jordan sought recovery of past medical expenses, $4,037,919 for future medical expenses, an unreported amount for past lost earnings, $1,204,370 for future lost earnings, and unspecified damages for past and future pain and suffering.
RESULT The parties negotiated a pretrial settlement, which was finalized via the guid- ance of mediator Allen Hurkin-Torres, of Jams. The defendants agreed to pay a total of $12 million.
EDITOR’S COMMENT This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s counsel. Additional information was gleaned from court documents. Lenox Hill Hospital’s counsel was not asked to contribute, and the remaining defendants’ counsel did not respond to the reporter’s phone calls.
NUMBER TWO
CONSTRUCTION
Accidents — Labor Law — Scaffolds and Ladders — Slips, Trips & Falls — Fall from Height
Laborer claimed fall from scaffold ended career
AMOUNT $9,900,000
TYPE Settlement
CASE Nechifor v. RH Atlantic-Pacific LLC VENUE New York Supreme
JUDGE N/A
DATE March 12, 2014
INJURY
TYPE(S) back - fracture, fracture, L2, fracture, T12, fracture, vertebra,
fracture, L2, fracture, T12
other - compression fracture, trigger point injection foot/heel - fracture, heel/calcaneus, fracture, calcaneus/heel neurological - radicular pain / radiculitis surgeries/treatment - open reduction, internal fixation
PLAINTIFF
ATTORNEY(S) David H. Perecman; The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.; New York, NY, for
Gheorghe Nechifor Adam M. Hurwitz; The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C.; New York, NY, for Gheorghe Nechifor
-Continued on p10
8 VerdictSearch’s Top New York Settlements of 2014