Congratulations to BBS Member Jim Blumenthal on Defense Verdict

Congratulations to BBS member, Jim Blumenthal, who won a defense verdict in a jury trial in Bergen County, New Jersey which followed an appeal from a $200,000 arbitration award. At trial, negligence was admitted and the defense was on the tort threshold. The plaintiff presented testimony from her orthopedic surgeon who performed her knee surgery and testified that the plaintiff suffered a meniscal tear in the accident. The plaintiff also presented testimony from her pain management physician who testified that the plaintiff will require a cervical fusion surgery necessitated by the injuries caused in the accident. The defense relied on a radiologist who compared the plaintiff’s pre- and post-accident MRI studies and testified that there was no imaging evidence of an injury caused in the accident. The jury found that the defendant’s negligence was not the proximate cause of a permanent injury and the plaintiff was not awarded damages.