SKETCHES OF COURT: Jury returns $14.8M damages verdict in labor law trial
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Loren Baily-Schiffman listens as attorney Jeff Korek (standing), of the law firm Gersowitz Libo & Korek PC, conducts a direct examination of a witness in the labor law trial Canfield vs. Forman Jay LLC. To Korek’s left is his associate, Shantae Johnson. Court clerk Lydia Santiago is seated at left, and court reporter Scott Isaacs transcribes the proceedings.
The 54-year-old plaintiff was injured in February 2011 when he fell off a platform while working on a movie set, fitting thatch tiles to the roof of a Tiki hut. Liability was determined before trial to be 100 percent against the defendant. The plaintiff sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) and suffers from significant and permanent frontal-lobe brain impairment.
In addition, the TBI has rendered the plaintiff deficient in executive functions like decision making, judgment and impulse control. He also suffered from pseudobulbar affect, a secondary neurological condition characterized by episodes of involuntary crying or laughing. He has relied on a home health aide since the accident.
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