SKETCHES OF COURT: Trip and fall trial results in $450K damages award
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Larry Martin listens as plaintiff’s attorney Elise Langsam (standing), of the Langsam Law firm, conducts a direct examination of the plaintiff in the premises liability trial Teresa LaBosco v. Park Central Hotel. Defendant’s attorney Kevin McGinnis, of the law firm Correia, King, Fodera, McGinnis & Liferiedge, is at right.
LaBosco, 64, was in the company of friends for a night out in March 2015 when she allegedly caught her foot on the edge of an outdoor rug in front of the entrance to the Park Central Hotel. LaBosco testified that she was bloodied and severely injured in the fall, when her front teeth were pushed back into her throat and she sustained a fractured right wrist.
Expert witnesses for both parties did not dispute that LaBosco’s injuries were causally related to the accident. LaBosco underwent extensive dental treatments by her dentist, an endodontist, and an oral surgeon for procedures inclusive of root canal, teeth extraction, bone grafts, and titanium post implants, over a period of several months. Expert witnesses testimony for the plaintiff maintained that LaBosco has a related lisp, and that she will need to repeat the painful dental procedures.
LaBosco claims that her right wrist remains stiff and weak and as a result she has difficulty grasping. An expert witness orthopedist testified that LaBosco sustained ulnar nerve damage and will likely develop traumatic arthritis for which she will need fusion surgery.
The jury awarded damages in the amount of $275,000 as compensation for past pain and suffering, and $175,000 for future pain and suffering over the course of five years. LaBosco’s life expectancy is 18 years. The award will be reduced proportionately in accordance with the prior liability verdict of 49 percent against the plaintiff and 51 percent against the defendant, in the trial that resolved last week in Kings County Civil term.
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