Interesting Cases

Siegel & Siegel has recently helped clients in the following cases:

PERSONAL INJURY: FALL AT PARKING LOT OF EMPLOYERS LANDLORD

A woman from Trenton, employed as a paralegal with another firm, retained us after she slipped and fell on ice at her employers parking lot after working overtime. We prosecuted a lawsuit against her employer's landlord for failure to remove ice from the parking lot. She suffered an internal derangement of her knee, which required her to undergo arthroscopic surgery. Despite physical therapy, she was left with some degree of permanent injury to the knee. She also had unpaid medical bills and lost time from work. After thoroughly preparing the case for Trial, the insurance company for the Landlord saw that we meant business and, after negotiations paid a settlement of $195,000.00.

UNPAID MEDICAL BILLS FROM A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

A Princeton woman suffered a herniated disc in a motor vehicle accident. Her insurance company refused to pay $38,000 in medical bills for her surgery and aftercare. The company's doctor argued that the herniated disc was not caused by the accident. Siegel & Siegel went to Arbitration against the insurance company and the arbitrator ordered the insurance company to pay all of the medical bills, legal fees and costs.

MUNICIPAL COURT: LEAVING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT

An East Windsor man was involved in a motor vehicle accident during the early hours of the morning. He was unable to report the accident right away, but reported it later that day. The police investigated and charged him with leaving the scene of the accident. A finding of guilt would result in a mandatory six-month loss of license. The police refused to agree to a fair plea bargain, insisting that our client plead guilty. We tried the case and after a thorough cross-examination of the investigating police and without our client testifying in his own behalf, the Court found him not guilty of leaving the scene. He paid a nominal fine for failure to report the accident promptly.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

A temporary restraining order was entered against our client transferring custody of his minor son from him to the ex-girlfriend. The order also denied him visitation rights. Siegel & Siegel was retained to defend the charges. We interviewed all witnesses, researched the law and tried the case. The judge found that there was no domestic violence, terminated the Restraining Order and returned custody of the child to our client.

PERSONAL INJURY & MOTOR VEHICLE

A South Brunswick man suffered a fractured hip, broken arm and facial injuries in an auto accident. He was not wearing his seatbelt. The insurance company for the negligent driver used their resources to hire a seatbelt expert to tell the jury that our client would not have been injured if he had worn his seatbelt. We obtained our own seatbelt expert to fight the insurance company's expert. We even researched all prior opinions given by the insurance company's expert in similar matters. When the insurance company saw that we were well prepared, we were able to negotiate a settlement in excess of $200,000 on the day of Trial.

CRIMINAL LAW

A young man was accused of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in a conservative South Jersey County. When the police investigated a complaint of noise at a shore home, they discovered a number of small bags of pot in plastic bags. The seizure of the marijuana and the search of the young man's possessions were legal because the pot was in plain view. There was no realistic defense to the charges. The Prosecutors Office wanted to indict our client for dealing, forcing him to take a guilty plea that would be with him for life. After recommending that our client work with a psychologist to analyze his risk for a repeat offense and assuring the Prosecutor that the client's parents would exercise strict custodial supervision over him, the prosecutor agreed to recommend our client for pre-Trial Intervention. This means that there was no conviction, our client served 18 months of Court probation and he will be allowed to petition the Court to Expunge the arrest from his permanent record.