Pre-Trial Motions Establish Defendant’s Liability in Auto Accident Case

In the case of Conrad v. Bertola, Dupée & Monroe was able to get summary judgment on the issue of liability for our client who was injured in a car accident. This means that the arguments we put forward in court papers and pre-trial motions proved that the defendant was liable to our client as a matter of law, and there was no need to have a trial on the issue of liability. The only issue to be resolved at trial would be damages, or the amount of money the defendant owed our client for the injuries he caused.
The case involved a motor vehicle accident that occurred in the Orange County city of Newburgh in 2011. Our client was driving northbound on Carpenter Avenue when the defendant pulled out into the street across traffic in an attempt to make a left turn from the parking lot of his apartment complex. The defendant crossed directly in front of our client, who did not have time to avoid colliding with the defendant; our client suffered serious injuries in the collision.
Since our client had the right of way under Vehicle and Traffic Law 1143, and the defendant’s violation of VTL 1143 caused the impact, we established a prima facie case that our client was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The defendant tried to raise the issue of comparative negligence because the plaintiff did not take steps to avoid the accident, but the court recognized that our client did not have enough time to react and granted our motion for summary judgment on the issue of the defendant’s liability.