A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Supreme Court Rules that Plaintiffs Injured in Auto Accident are Barred from Recovering Medical Expenses Less Than $250,000 Statutory Amount Regardless of PIP Coverage Selected

By on March 29, 2019 in Claims, NJ Litigation with 1 Comment

In Haines v. Taft, 2019 N.J. LEXIS 441 (March 26, 2019), in a split decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division and found that plaintiffs, who elected a $15,000 PIP coverage, were barred from seeking to recover the amount of their outstanding medical expenses, incurred as a result of an automobile accident, […]

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Chiropractor’s Report Barred in Automobile Accident Case Due to Inability to Distinguish Between Lumbar Permanency Plaintiff Suffered in Two Different Accidents

By on March 18, 2019 in NJ Litigation, Permanency with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Abigail Perdomo claimed to have suffered a lumbar injury causing two disc bulges at L4-5 and L5-S1 in a December 2010 automobile accident. Thereafter, in November 2013, plaintiff was again in an automobile accident and testing showed that she had the same two bulging discs. In Perdomo v. Orgacki, 2018 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS […]

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Expert Testimony Not Needed to Substantiate Pecuniary Value of Loss of Child’s Advice, Guidance, and Companionship in Wrongful Death Action

By on March 15, 2019 in NJ Litigation, Wrongful Death with 0 Comments

This case arises from a tragic highway collision in which the defendant Stephen Rando’s SUV fatally struck the plaintiff’s son, Patrick Dutton, as he was riding his bicycle. The jury found that the defendant was 60% responsible for the accident while the plaintiff’s son Patrick was 40% responsible. The jury awarded the plaintiff, Patrick’s mother, […]

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Retailer Found Not Liable for Fall in Parking Lot Due to Snow and Ice Based Upon Ongoing Snowstorm

By on March 8, 2019 in Negligence, NJ Litigation with 1 Comment

Plaintiff Folusho Oyebola fell in the Walmart parking lot during a snowstorm and sued Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Tree Fellas, LLC, Walmart’s snow contractor, for her injuries. In Oyebola v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2019 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 432 (App. Div. Feb. 25, 2019), the issue was whether either defendant breached a duty of care […]

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Plaintiff’s Counsel Barred from Asking Plaintiff at Trial Whether Passenger in His Vehicle Suffered an Injury

By on March 1, 2019 in Civil Lawsuits, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Haroon Rashid claimed to have suffered an injury while working as a jitney driver when his vehicle was struck on the passenger side by defendant’s vehicle shortly after plaintiff picked up passengers from a local casino. One of the passengers was thrown from her seat, injured, and taken to the hospital by ambulance. In […]

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Food Poisoning Claim Against Restaurant Dismissed Due to Lack of Proof

By on February 22, 2019 in Claims, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Kathleen Nicholson and John Nicholson sued the Outback Steakhouse (“Outback”) after Kathleen became ill after eating at the Outback. She claimed that her dinner at the Outback was the source of the Salmonella bacteria that caused her illness. In Nicholson v. Bloomin Brands, Inc., 2018 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1817 (App. Div. July 30, […]

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Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Claim Arising from Auto Accident Barred Due to His Inability to Establish a Permanent Injury as Required by Verbal Threshold Law

By on February 15, 2019 in Claims, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Hector Reyes claimed to have suffered personal injuries as a result of an automobile accident with defendant John Stanley. Plaintiff’s automobile insurance policy contained the limitation on lawsuit option (i.e., “verbal threshold”) which limited his ability to sue for noneconomic damages (i.e., his pain and suffering) under the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act, specifically […]

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Loss of Control Over Motor Vehicle Due to Slippery Substance on Roadway Does Not Definitively Establish Negligence

By on February 8, 2019 in Negligence, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Fr. Babu T. Paramel (“Paramel”) was in a motor vehicle accident with defendant Merca Martinez (“Merca”) on Rt. 7 in Jersey City. Prior to the accident, Paramel had been driving eastbound on Rt. 7 and Merca was travelling westbound. As plaintiff was driving over a bridge, Merca lost control of her car due to […]

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Third Circuit Rules that Plaintiff May Sue Insurance Carrier under the Consumer Fraud Act for Deceptive Practices with Respect to her Personal Injury Claim

By on February 1, 2019 in Civil Lawsuits, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Ana Lidia Alpizar-Fallas sued Progressive Garden State Insurance Company (“Progressive”) and one of its agents, claiming that the Progressive agent violated the Consumer Fraud Act due to deceptive business practices. Alpizar-Fallas was insured by Progressive, as was the driver of the other vehicle. She claimed to have suffered a personal injury in a car […]

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Plaintiff Unable to Meet Verbal Threshold Based Upon Family Doctor’s Opinion Of Decline in Mental Status Due to Car Accident

By on January 25, 2019 in Civil Lawsuits, NJ Litigation with 0 Comments

Plaintiff Ann Giesguth was in a motor vehicle accident with a car driven by defendant Anthony Costanza. A week after the accident, she was found unresponsive and was taken to the hospital.  She was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. The hospital notes indicated that she “apparently suffered a closed head injury, TBI (traumatic brain injury) […]

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