Following "No Liability" Jury Verdict in Favor of PMOH's client, Attorneys Rita Barone and Katherine Lyons Win All Issues on Appeal!
On behalf of PMOH client Zhengling Yan, attorneys Rita Barone and Katherine Lyons recently won on all issues raised before the Appellate Division following a jury verdict of no liability against the plaintiff/appellant. After Ms. Barone obtained a successful defense verdict in the case tried before the Hon. Joseph Rea, J.S.C. in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex Vicinage, plaintiff appealed Judge Rea's refusal to grant a new trial and denial of plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict. Plaintiff's request for a new trial was based, in part, on a potentially prejudicial comment by a defense expert which the Appellate Division found had been skillfully deflected by Ms. Barone and, therefore, was not a significant issue at trial. Regardless, the Appellate Division agreed with respondents that it was the plaintiff/appellant who expanded upon the allegedly prejudicial comment and that plaintiff's claim of error should be denied based upon the doctrine of invited error. Plaintiff also appealed the inclusion of a jury charge requested by Ms. Barone, consistent with the holding in Mockler v. Russman, 102 N.J. Super. 582 (App. Div. 1968), certif. denied, 53 N.J. (1970), permitting the jury to find no negligence on the part of a defendant whose vehicle skidded in snowy conditions as long as his conduct was reasonable in light of those conditions. The respondent's brief, co-authored by Ms. Barone and Ms. Lyons, was instrumental in achieving this stellar result.
The Appellate Division's opinion is accessible at Carter v. Yan, No. L-3742-08, 2011 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 659 (App.Div. Mar. 16, 2011). Carter v. Yan, No. L-3742-08, 2011 WL 890811 (N.J. Super. A.D. Mar. 16, 2011).