A Hartford court returned this verdict following a five-day trial.  The plaintiff was a rear seat passenger in a car when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree.    Plaintiff sustained multiple fractures, and spent ten days in the hospital.  

45 year old woman injured in an auto accident on Route 6 in Farmington wins a jury verdict that eclipsed Geico’s offer to settle for 20,000.00 by a factor of 113 times!  Bad faith claim against Geico is being pursued. 

An eighteen year old sustained blunt traumatic injuries resulting in his death after being involved as a passenger in a motor vehicle crash following a party where he and several other underage people were served alcohol. Our office brought claims on behalf of the deceased and was able to recover monies for the estate under both motor vehicle policies (driver and owner of the vehicle had separate policies); an underinsured motorist claim and a social host liability claim. We settled very quickly with the at-fault driver/owner of the vehicle, then collected the remaining amount due under the under-insured portion of the motor vehicle coverage available; and then settled with the social host after conducting numerous depositions. The case involved complex legal theories and difficult hurdles to overcome in establishing liability based on numerous facts including the decedent’s level of intoxication, his whereabouts after leaving the party and the extent of the social host’s involvement in service of alcohol.

For the Glastonbury family whose daughter was killed in a motor vehicle accident following two nights of teen drinking at a Glastonbury home in 2013, the litigation nightmare is over. The party house in Glastonbury in 2013 was “Finks House”. The Finklestein’s home was where the juniors in High School would gather most every weekend. Every gathering would be an occasion to consume alcohol, smoke pot and have sex. For the 16 and 17 year old Glastonbury kids, a place to play grownup. The end result of the Las Vegas in Glastonbury for the Glastonbury High School students, Class of 2014, is that a beautiful, promising girl, never got the chance to graduate.

Sixteen year old kids don’t have the maturity to understand the dangers of alcohol. In fact, our case law says very clearly. In Ely v. Murphy, 207 Conn. 88, 89-90, 540 A.2d 54 (1988), the Court first held that adults could be responsible for serving/providing/purveying alcohol to minors due to their incompetence and inability to understand the specific dangers of drinking while driving. The law also says that a homeowner is responsible for the results of underage drinking in his home. Relevant case law suggests that homeowners may be liable when they have created a permissive atmosphere of underage drinking. Whether the homeowners are home when the damage is done or not, is irrelevant. In Schwarz v. Piro, No. FSTCV106004487S, 2015 WL 522060, (Conn. Super. Ct. Jan. 9, 2015), the Court held that a defendant may incur social host liability where he or she has provided a venue for consumption of alcohol by minors; see also Reynolds v. McAvoy, Superior Court, judicial district of Danbury, Docket No. CV–02–0346701–S (November 4, 2004) (Nadeau, J.); and Geise v. Gipstein, Superior Court, judicial district of New London, Docket No. CV–09–5010726 (January 25, 2011) (Martin, J.) (holding that “a duty of care exists on behalf of the social host of a party where underage drinking is encouraged, regardless of whether the intoxicated minor consumed alcohol purchased by the social host, or alcohol brought from outside the premises. Whether that duty of care was breached … and the defendant knowingly or negligently provided a venue for his minor guests to consume alcohol, constitutes a genuine issue of material fact …”). In addition, our Courts have consistently held that most defenses, such as assumption of the risk, are not viable against an underage drinker or victim that is driven by an intoxicated driver.

24 year old former Division 1 NCAA soccer player and semi-professional soccer player involved in a serious motor vehicle accident where defendant crossed the double yellow in an attempt to pass another vehicle. Plaintiff sustained a serious right knee injury, requiring two surgeries and resulted in a 7% permanent partial disability. First offer was $200,00.00. Case settled for $435,000.00.

A woman cited for making an illegal u–turn was hit by an approaching vehicle on New Year’s Eve during a snow storm.

An Eastern Connecticut State University student was visiting the University of Connecticut with some friends. While walking home from an off-campus party, he was struck by a car which fled the scene. The young driver crashed his car into a tree about a mile from the scene and reported that accident to police, but not the fact that he had struck our client. The Eastern Student was unconscious and suffered facial injuries and a badly fractured leg.

Drunk driver rear-ended Plaintiff’s van, pushed van forward into Plaintiff who was walking around the front of the van. Case affirmed on Appeal. Hartford Superior Court. 2002.

27-year-old employee of Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar killed by her General Manager who drank to excess at a Barcelona Wine tasting dinner. Settlement exceeded limits of all Dram Shop claims.

32 year old attorney rear ended. Suffered 7.5% permanent partial disability to neck. Allstate offered $32,500.00. Hartford Superior Court. 2003.

5 injured in a Berlin Turnpike car crash. New Britain Superior Court. 2003

53 year old commercial truck driver killed by reckless UPS tractor trailer truck driver. Award $1.5 million by New London Jury. Surviving Spouse Award $1.875 million.

Honorable Judge Tyma rendered a $38,500.00 Verdict in Bridgeport Superior Court on a case involving disputed liability where Defendant claimed that Plaintiff was obstructing roadway with her vehicle at the time Defendant came down the roadway. Plaintiff maintained that she was properly in her driveway and that Defendant, while traveling at excessive speed, lost control of his vehicle and hit a snow bank, took out two mailboxes, and then struck Plaintiff’s vehicle in driveway. Plaintiff sustained injuries to her left arm, shoulder, back, and neck. Defendant’s last offer was $5,000.00.

Client, whom was involved in a 3 car pile up, resulting in two different impacts, sustained significant injuries to her back and neck that resulted in substantial medical bills and lost wages. Due to collateral source offsets, client would have had to obtain a $275,000.00+ verdict to net the same amount as settlement figure.

The Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry recovered $5.2 million dollars from UPS for a UPS tractor trailor accident that UPS said was 100% our clients fault. This case was tried before a jury and we won $3.88 million. UPS appealed to the Connecticut Appellate Court raising 8 issues on appeal. We won on every issue. UPS appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court and we convinced the court it shouldn’t even bother hearing what UPS had to say. We won again. With pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, the amount UPS paid us in June, 2015 was more than $5.2 million

A motorcyle police officer was severely injured when another vehicle took an improper u-turn directly in front of the path he was traveling. The police officer was in the course of performing his duties at the time of the accident. He sustained significant injuries including: an open right tibial shaft fracture; a 2 cm laceration caused by the projection of tibial bone through the skin; and injuries to the chest, pelvis, right leg, and right hand. The officer’s right leg fracture required immediate surgery and placement of a rod and several screws. Total losses resulted in over $75,000 in medical bills and lost wages. Our office settled very quickly with the at-fault party for his policy limits and then recovered an additional $185,000 from under-insured motorist coverage.

A woman was struck in the side of her foot by a small rock sent through the roof of Costco by a nearby blasting operation. New Britain Superior Court. 2010.

Elderly man who had let floor refinishing crew into son’s apartment suffers badly burned leg when workmen failed to turn off stove pilot light. Flooring stain ignites causing flash fire resulting in second and third degree burns to leg. No lost wages and all medical bills paid by health insurance.

The Plaintiff fell from the second story of a residence he was helping to construct and now suffers permanent paralysis. OSHA reports showed that there were no industry required railing or safety harnesses at the job site.

A plumber and a plumber’s helper were injured when the basement stairs they were walking down collapsed. Case settled on the first day of jury selection. Parties participated in meditation two weeks before trial which helped frame the issues and bring the case to a point where it could be settled soon after.

The firm represented Mr. Rodriguez on multiple felony charges. Mr. Rodriguez was observed by a joint task squad of local and state police based on a tip provided by a confidential informant. Rodriguez was seen with a garbage bag which was later searched by police and found to contain 700 bags of heroin. He was charged with possession with intent to sell, possession within 1500 feet of a school and numerous other felony charges. The jury found the defendant not guilty of all charges.

Not Guilty of 8 of the 9 charges at trial and the sole conviction dismissed on appeal before the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Plaintiffs attorney Monique Foley of Ferry Law knew she had a good case in which an elderly driver struck her client in a crosswalk, injuring his head, back and right knee.

Man Wearing Wrong T-Shirt Assaulted and Drowns.

A Wal-Mart shopper was entering the store on a rainy day and slid on the wet floor and landed on her back. Several months later, she developed increased neck symptoms and ultimately had neck surgery.

A man assaulted at a fast food restaurant by an employee recovers a confidential amount from the fast food restaurant. We alleged negligent training, negligent supervision, and negligent hiring. This case settled after several depositions of the manager and employees on duty as well as the orthopedic surgeon who operated on our client.

Jury awarded $2,800,000.00 to Plaintiff and $90,000.00 to Plaintiff’s wife. Plaintiff’s award was reduced to $2,044,000.00 after jury found Plaintiff 27% comparatively at fault. Final verdict $2,134,000.00.

Construction site work zone injury brought under the exception to worker’s compensation statute– negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

Plaintiff sustained foot injury after being run over by a 2,000-lb. trailer towing a 7,200 lb. Skid-Steer bobcat. Eyewitness standing next to Plaintiff testified that Plaintiff walked into the path of the trailer.

The Defense hired an engineer to scientifically test Plaintiff’s version of the accident, testifying that it could not have possibly happened the way that Plaintiff said.

Defense had over 130 hours of surveillance of Plaintiff, and had but 13 hours of tape. Defense showed around 1 hour of tape, while we showed around 1 hour and 10 min. of the surveillance to prove how bad Plaintiff’s injuries really were.

We also called a truck driving expert, pain management doctor, and an orthopedist to trial.

Travelers Insurance Company had a 1-million-dollar insurance policy and an umbrella policy above that. Travelers’ highest offer was $500,000.00. Several judges who pre-tried the case suggested the case would settle for 1 million dollars and in New Britain, it would be hard to convince a New Britain jury to provide a verdict higher than that. This case proved that a New Britain jury can be fair and care about people who are injured.

We filed suit to obtain money damages for acts of abuse and neglect. Our office obtained over 30,000 pages of documents from the defendant’s long term care facility. We hired an expert in administration of long term care facilities, a psychologist to provide expert opinion on the long term consequences of physical and emotional abuse, and a life care planner to determine the expenses for future medical needs due to the abuse. We expertly picked apart in deposition the president of the company and the managers who failed to properly hire, train, and supervise the employees who committed the abuse. The end result was a very satisfying settlement for our two clients.

A New Britain jury awarded over $1.7 million dollars to a 22 year old Avon woman who was badly burned on her back when she caught fire while standing next to a propane heater. The Christian Youth Fellowship d/b/a Mountain Lake Bible Camp, Inc., in Warren, Connecticut, permitted a caretaker to perform personal repairs to his son’s truck in a small garage on its property. The caretaker’s son and our client were in the garage for a couple of hours when the caretaker came to check on them. They said it was cold and asked him to bring a propane tank so they could light the construction style, top hat heater. The heater was so old that the labeling was worn off and nobody would determine the make or model. The fire investigators testified that similar units have a clear to combustible of 6 to 10 feet.

Although our client admitted to hospital personnel that she was standing too close to the heater and caught fire, the jury found her just 20% at fault. The defense argued that plaintiff was a trespasser. We argued that she was a gratuitous licensee by virtue of the owner of the bible camp not objecting to other friends of the caretaker’s son who he discovered in the garage weeks earlier.

Nobody claimed ownership of the heater. The defendants blamed the caretaker for supplying the propane, the son for lighting the heater and the both of them for not warning the plaintiff to stand back. The Warren fire marshal and state trooper fire investigator agreed that the heater was not supposed to be used inside a building filled with flammable and combustible materials. The Warren fire marshal testified that the garage should have had a fire extinguisher.

Plaintiff filed an offer of compromise for $925,000.00 within 18 months of the return date, so approximately $220,000.00 in interest will be added to the verdict when the court enters judgment.

Attorney Monique Foley and certified legal intern Cara Cavallari assisted Attorney Ferry at trial.