11/12/2009
James v. Colonial Steel Corp. and Robert Goodlett
In James, Suzanne Lodge and Peter Lo Palo successfully argued that a lower court decision to set aside a defendants’ verdict at trial and grant a new trial was issued in error and should be reversed. After a damages-only trial, Peter Lo Palo obtained a defendants’ verdict, with the jury determining that plaintiff had not sustained a “serious injury” as per the Insurance Law of the State of New York. Plaintiff’s counsel moved to set aside the verdict as against the weight of the evidence and the trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion.

The Appellate Division, First Department, agreed with our position that the jury’s verdict was reasonable under the circumstances and based upon the evidence that was elicited at trial. As such, the Appellate Division reversed the trial court, denied plaintiff’s motion and reinstated the verdict.