JURY AWARDS $8.7 MILLION TO CASINO DEALER
You have got to admire how the Plaintiff’s attorney did this.
First, he had to get the 911 calls. He was told that the 911 communication was corrupt and could not be produced. Through Discovery and filing Motions and other innovative techniques, he was able to get the audio portion of the communication recovered, and then he began to piece together the location of the officers and the times of the calls. Counsel then had to work with an audio-visual consultant to recreate the transportation authority’s communication system for the jury. He was successful in doing that, so the jury heard the 911 tapes.
Next, Counsel had to hire an accident reconstructionist to create how the accidents occurred and help the jurors understand the timing and sequence of the various accidents.
The Plaintiff also had to show the jury what was happening at the dispatch center and where each trooper was during the course of the evening. This helped to establish the proximate cause of the accident, which was the dispatch center’s failure and the State Police improper supervision of the dispatch operators.
I think this case really highlights what an affective personal injury trial attorney does to establish negligence on behalf of his clients.
Most jurors, when they saw pictures of the hazardous, stormy conditions on the Atlantic City expressway, probably thought to themselves, well there is nothing that authorities could have done about this. It was a storm and driving was extremely hazardous anyway. However, by being able to logically explain the sequence and timing of the actions of the dispatchers, the Plaintiff was able to show the jury it was not the severe weather or the storm that caused Ms. Henedema to have her leg amputated. It was the failure of the authorities to follow their own procedures for this type of weather and prioritize calls, that caused her injuries.
I am sure that many attorneys turned down this case when they saw pictures and photos of the hazardous weather conditions on the roadways. Likely, they too thought the victim’s severe injuries were caused by the weather and not human error.
My hat is completely off to this remarkable New Jersey attorney who successfully won the case for his client.
What do you think about this?