Joseph Baiocco (Partner-White Plains, NY) and Eian Weiner (Associate-White Plains, NY) secured a complete defense victory in a personal injury action in the New York Supreme Court, Orange County, on behalf of Wilson Elser’s trucking company clients. The case arose from two consecutive motor vehicle accidents on Interstate 84. During the first collision, a co-defendant forced our clients' tractor-trailer off the roadway, leaving it disabled on the left shoulder and partially obstructing the left lane. Approximately fourteen minutes later, the plaintiff collided with the stationary tractor-trailer, allegedly sustaining severe and permanent injuries and asserting negligence claims against all defendants. Throughout the litigation, the plaintiff sought $1.25 million to settle the matter. Still, based on our evaluation of the liability and medical evidence, no settlement offer was extended on behalf of our clients. 
 

Joe and Eian successfully moved for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff failed to meet New York's "serious injury" threshold under Insurance Law § 5102(d). Although the plaintiff relied on a surgical recommendation and expert medical proof in an effort to create an issue of fact, the court found Wilson Elser’s orthopedic independent medical exam established a prima facie entitlement to judgment by demonstrating a full range of motion, normal motor strength, and no functional deficits, and ruled that the plaintiff's expert affirmation was inadmissible under the amended requirements of CPLR 2106. The court further held that the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact due to unexplained treatment gaps and only minor range-of-motion limitations. Accordingly, the court granted our motion, dismissed the complaint in its entirety, granted the co-defendants' related serious injury cross-motion, and denied the remaining liability motion as moot. In the related action brought by the passenger in the plaintiff's vehicle, the White Plains team also successfully opposed the co-defendants' separate summary judgment motion seeking dismissal on proximate cause grounds by demonstrating triable issues of fact as to whether the initial collision created a continuing highway hazard and whether the subsequent collision was a foreseeable consequence of that condition. Although the court ultimately did not address the merits of that motion after dismissing this action on threshold grounds, it denied the co-defendants' liability motion.