April 20, 2023
Partner Matt Finkelstein of London Fischer LLP was recently granted summary judgment by the Hon. Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York in a personal injury action arising out of a collision between a truck and E-scooter at the intersection of Jackson Avenue and Queens Boulevard in Queens, New York. The defendant driver was proceeding with a green light towards the intersection when the E-scooter driver attempted to cross the roadway against the red light in front of the truck. The collision caused multiple fractures and hospitalized plaintiff for several days.
At the earliest opportunity, Mr. Finkelstein removed the case from Supreme Court, Bronx County to Federal Court, retained an accident reconstruction expert to assist in the investigation and deposed the responding officer and the traffic agent to establish that the defendant driver had the right of way. Through expert discovery and a deposition of plaintiff’s expert, Mr. Finkelstein convinced Judge Cote that the plaintiff’s expert opinions as to the truck driver’s negligence were “conclusory”, unreliable and thus inadmissible under the Daubert standard, codified in Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Judge Cote determined that the defendants proved, as a matter of law, that plaintiff was negligent and that there was no evidence of negligence by the defendant driver, thus making plaintiff’s negligence the sole proximate cause of the collision, warranting dismissal of the lawsuit. The decision was not appealed.
Judge Cote’s Opinion and Order may be accessed below:
