NEW YORK MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

Knee Injuries

A $225,000 settlement obtained for 25-year-old interior designer who was struck by a hit and run driver operating an allegedly stolen vehicle.

Motor Vehicle Liability - $225,000 settlement

WRS associate Joseph Stoduto was able to obtain a settlement of $225,000 on behalf of a 25-year-old interior designer from Queens. The young woman was pinned between two parked vehicles in Manhattan after a moving truck struck one of the vehicles while attempting to navigate a very tight turn, propelling it forward into our client, causing her to suffer a very serious knee injury, which required surgical intervention. The moving truck then fled the scene of the accident.

The defendant in the case was able to prove that the moving truck in question had actually been stolen by an employee who took the vehicle without their permission and was operating said vehicle outside the scope of his employment as a moving helper.

During the course of the litigation Mr. Stoduto discovered that this very same employee fled the scene of our client’s accident and caused another accident just a few blocks away. He also discovered that the second accident resulted in litigation in another county wherein it was already determined that the employee in question was in fact operating the vehicle with sufficient permission and consent from the vehicle’s owner. Mr. Stoduto used the certified trial transcript from the prior litigation involving the same employee to obtain a judgment on liability against the defendant in our case, in spite of the defendant’s proof in our case that the moving truck was in fact taken without the permission of the vehicle owner.

Mr. Stoduto was then able to negotiate a settlement in the amount of $225,000 for our client’s past and future pain and suffering as the case awaited trial.

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