Appellate Court Reverses Trial Court in Elevator Accident

$ 2.2 Million Dollar Bridge Construction Accident

$394 Verdict: Bosco's 1st Trial in Car Accident - 3/25/1983 - He starts his career as a winner (perhaps not)!

On February 9, 1983, John Bosco was admitted to the bar of the State of New York. By March 25, 1983, he had taken his first jury verdict in a trial in the Supreme Court of Westchester County. John Bosco's erstwhile boss, Philip Damashek, handed him a file and said, 'Go try this case'. It was early 1983. It was an Allstate case. Allstate had the reputation of happily accepting their policy holders premiums but only reluctantly paying out benefits to injured claimants. Moreover, the venue was Westchester County - a venue not distinguished by the generosity of its jurors. In addition, Bosco was up against the serious injury threshold. In an auto accident case there are four elements that a plaintiff must plead and prove at trial: negligence, causation, injury and seriousness. A plaintiff must prove all four. If a plaintiff does quite well and proves three out of the four elements of an auto accident case, the plaintiff loses! All a defendant need do is knock out one of the four elements. A plaintiff must prove 100% of the four elements. All a defendant need do is prove one - 25% to win. Obviously, it is harder to be plaintiff than a defendant. The State of New York defines one of the elements of an auto accident case, seriousness, to be death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, a loss of a fetus, a permanent injury, a significant injury or being disabled for 90 days out of the first 180 days after an accident. When a plaintiff hurts his neck or back, seriousness is the element on which the defense focuses. Faced with all of these hurdles, in his infinite wisdom, Bosco's boss sends him to Westchester County to try his first case. Before beginning, Bosco's friend, Richard Ancowitz, suggested that he put a property damage expert on the stand to prove the damage to the vehicle which Bosco did. After 10 days of schlepping from Staten Island to Westchester every morning, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Bosco's client for the princely sum of $394 in property damage. Bosco had one his first trial! Implicit in the verdict, however, for those readers who notice, was no jury award for personal injuries. The Westchester jury had found that Bosco's client had not suffered a serious injury. Bosco was happy that the verdict was not unanimous. One juror held out in Bosco's favor. Bosco's client did not share his happiness.

 

Appellate Division reverses erroneous jury verdict and orders a new trial.

Our clients often ask us, What is my case worth? It is a question whose answer is not always clear.

In the early nineties, a young woman named Dara hired John Bosco of Bosco, Bisignano & Mascolo, Esqs. LLP to handle her case. She was the passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend. Late one night, her boyfriend lost control of the car and struck a guide rail. Our client fractured her ankle. It was diagnosed on the day of the accident and appeared in the hospital record. The insurance company for the boyfriend refused to pay her fair and adequate compensation so John Bosco started a lawsuit.

There are a number of elements that together consitute a 'prima facie' case. In a motor vehicle lawsuit, there are 4 elements:

1. Negligence
2. Injuries
3. Causation
4. Rising to the level of seriousness

A plaintiff has the burden of proving all of the elements not just some of a prima facie case. In a lawsuit arising from an automobile accident, one of the elements of a case that a plaintiff must prove is that the injuries rise to the level of serious. A serious injury is defined under New York State law to be death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, fracture, loss of a fetus, a permanent injury, a significant injury or being disabled for at least 90 out of the first 180 days after an accident. A defendant can be negligent, a plaintiff can be injured and there can be causation between the negligence and the injuries yet, if there is no serious injury, the plaintiff loses. In other words, a plaintiff must bat 4 or 4. Negligence, causation, injury and serious injury all must be proven. If a plaintiff fails to prove any one of these elements, a plaintiff loses. All a defendant need do is bat 1 for 4 to win. If a defendant knocks out one of the four elements that constitute an auto accident case, the defendant wins.

Getting back to the story.

John Bosco tried Dara's case twice. The first time the jury came back with a verdict of no serious injury. Even though the fracture was in the hospital record and a fracture is a serious injury as a matter of law, the jury told Dara that she lost. Of course, John Bosco was not satisfied with the outcome so he appealed. On appeal, John Bosco managed to persuade the appellate court that the verdict was erroneous and the appellate court reversed the verdict and ordered a new trial.

At the new trial, the insurance company again did not want to settle the case. John Bosco tried the case for a second time. This time the jury returned a verdict of a quarter of a million dollars!

So what is a case worth? One jury thought it was worth zero and another $250,000.00. Is there any wonder that it is hard to tell what a case is worth?

The opinion of the Appellate Division Second Department is attached below.

 

$1.15 million for Motorist shot by Cop