Wilson v. County of Westchester et al.
Oct 06, 2014OUTCOME: Unanimous Defense Verdict
Wilson Elser: Derrico and Ninan Win Unanimous Defense Verdict in High Exposure Personal Injury Case Donald Derrico (Partner-White Plains) and Gigio Ninan (Associate-White Plains) obtained a unanim ... ous liability defense verdict in New York Supreme Court, Westchester County, in a case in which the plaintiff’s demand was $5 million. The jury deliberated for less than one hour. The case involved a bus-knockdown of a pedestrian in Mount Vernon by the defendant bus company on a rainy morning in October 2011. The plaintiff, who lived three blocks from her workplace, claimed that she was walking to work when she was struck in the crosswalk by the front of one of the defendant’s buses. The plaintiff underwent rotator cuff, pelvic fracture and spinal fusion surgeries. Don and his team, which also included Lorraine Girolamo (Associate-White Plains), parachuted in to defend the municipality, which owns the bus company, and the municipality’s excess insurance carrier less than two-and-half weeks prior to the trial date. The defense strategy, which was pivotal to the success of this case, involved Don and Gio arguing and winning the in limine applications to preclude the bus driver’s prior accident and the internal report and hearing conducted by the defendant bus company related to this accident, which resulted in attributing fault to the driver and dismissing him from duty.