Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Westchester Senior Counsel Tristan Smith, with the assistance of law clerk Emily Hunt, was granted summary judgment dismissal of a plaintiff’s complaint in a motor vehicle accident action filed against the firm’s client, a major national trucking company, in Orange County Supreme Court.
The plaintiff was driving her midsize SUV on the New York State Thruway and alleged that while passing the client’s tractor-trailer on the right-hand side, she was sideswiped by the tractor. As a result, she alleged that she sustained spinal and left shoulder injuries and, ultimately, had to undergo arthroscopic surgery on her left shoulder. The plaintiff claimed that the client was at fault for the accident due to making an unsafe lane change and that she sustained a qualifying serious injury as defined under the New York Insurance Law.
With the support of medical expert affidavits, Smith and Hunt argued that the plaintiff’s surgery was not causally related to the accident but was instead due to degenerative conditions. The GRSM team further argued that her various spinal bulges and herniations pre-existed the accident and that she therefore did not sustain a qualifying serious injury under New York law.
The court held that Smith and Hunt met the burden of proof required on such a motion and granted it in its entirety. Opposing counsel then moved to vacate and renew. Smith opposed that motion as well, pointing out several procedural and substantive flaws in the second motion. The court agreed with Smith’s arguments and denied the plaintiff’s motion to vacate and renew as well, thereby dismissing the case.