T. Lehman

Following a four-week trial where the plaintiff was awarded over $7 million for a traumatic brain injury sustained after jumping from a moving school bus, the court determined the costs payable by the defendant.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs up to the date of the plaintiffs' offer to settle, and substantial indemnity costs thereafter.

The court adjusted the 2005 Costs Grid for inflation to determine appropriate hourly rates for counsel.

In assessing disbursements, the court reduced several expert witness fees because the plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient information regarding the experts' hourly rates and time spent.

The court also disallowed the premium for adverse costs insurance, finding it was not a compensable disbursement as it did not advance the litigation.

Total costs of $741,266.08 were awarded to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiff suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a multi-vehicle highway collision.

He lost control of his vehicle after being cut off by an unidentified driver, struck the median, and was subsequently T-boned by the defendant's vehicle.

The court found the unidentified driver 70% liable and the defendant 30% liable for following too closely.

The plaintiff was awarded over $3.2 million in damages, primarily for future care costs.

The plaintiff's claim against his own insurer for unidentified motorist coverage was dismissed because the identified defendant was found partially liable.

The plaintiff in a motor vehicle accident case moved to admit his out-of-court statements to police for substantive use, as he suffered from post-traumatic amnesia and could not testify to the events.

The court admitted the statements under the principled approach to hearsay, finding them necessary and sufficiently reliable, corroborated by an independent witness.

The court also excluded the investigating officer's written commentary in the accident report, ruling it was inadmissible opinion evidence beyond the officer's expertise.

The plaintiff in a motor vehicle accident action moved to admit several 911 calls into evidence under the principled approach to hearsay.

The plaintiff suffered a head injury and had no memory of the collision, and the callers were either unavailable or had impaired memories, establishing necessity.

The court found the calls possessed threshold reliability as they were made contemporaneously with the events to emergency services without motive to fabricate.

The motion was granted, and the 911 calls were ruled admissible.