June 1, 2001
On April 13, 1996, the defendant tortfeasor was traveling west on Washington Street in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, when he entered the intersection of Washington Street and Ridgewood Avenue and collided with the plaintiff's vehicle. Although each party maintained that they had the right of way in the intersection, evidence produced during discovery indicated that the defendant entered the intersection against a red light.
Prior to the April 13, 1996 automobile accident, the plaintiff had undergone multiple surgical procedures related to a pre-existing work related injury sustained in 1987. A laminectomy, discectomy, and foraminotomy were performed at the L4-L5 level of his lumbar spine on July 7, 1989. During this procedure, a bilateral fusion was also attempted from L3 through L5 with the insertion of bone graft from the right iliac crest and a spinal stimulator. The fusion ultimately failed, and another bilateral fusion was performed on December 16, 1992, all prior to the current claim.
Following the April 13, 1996 automobile accident, the plaintiff treated conservatively for seven months. He then underwent a series of seven epidural steroid injections in his lumbar spine over a two year period between November 1996 and November 1998. Ultimately, he came under the orthopedic care of a spinal surgeon in Montclair, New Jersey in 1999. This surgeon diagnosed the plaintiff with a disruption of a fibrous union that had formed since his previous surgery of 1992. On March 1, 1999, a third surgery was performed, which included removal of the posterior lumbar L3-L4 and L4-L5 segmental instrumentations, reinsertion of the L3-L4 and L5 pedicle screws and rods, posterior bilateral arthrodesis at L3-L4 and L4-L5, implantation of an internal bone stimulator and an anterior lumbar arthrodesis at L3-L4 and L4-L5.
The plaintiff, a father of two, had been employed as a "starter" or building doorman. He stopped working almost three years after the April 13, 1996 automobile accident, and never returned to employment.
The underlying case failed to settle initially despite the catastrophic nature of the plaintiff's injuries because the defense disputed liability, maintaining that the plaintiff ran the red light at the intersection. Further, the defense took the position that the plaintiff's injuries were not causally related to the accident.
John Ratkowitz settled the case for the available insurance policy limits of the defendant soon after the case was listed for trial.
