New Jersey Car Accident Lawyers Share How Fault is Determined in Automobile Accidents in New Jersey

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Welcome to Jersey Justice, a

civil law podcast that shares

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practical tips and stories about

personal and workplace injuries.

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Join two of the brightest New Jersey

injury attorneys, Gerald Clark and Mark

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Morris of Clark Law Firm, as they take

you behind the scenes of justice and civil

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law, but first, a quick disclaimer, the

information shared on this podcast is

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for general information purposes only.

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Nothing on this site should be

taken as legal advice for any

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individual case or situation.

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This information is not intended

to create and does not constitute

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an attorney client relationship.

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Today, I'm here with Mark and

Stephanie, and we're going to be

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talking about how fault is determined

in automobile accidents in New Jersey.

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And also we're going to be talking

about accident reconstruction.

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So welcome Mark.

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Welcome Stephanie.

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Thanks for having us.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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So I'm excited to talk about this topic.

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Mark, why don't we start the conversation

off with the , potential client wants

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to know how is fault actually determined

in an automobile accident because a

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lot of times it can be a he said she

said thing unless there's a dash cam

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or there's evidence like the previous

episode we just recorded, what are your

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thoughts on that from a legal standpoint?

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Sure, so 1 of the 1st steps, like,

anytime we take a case on or we're

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investigating cases, we'll look at the

police report and the police support

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isn't necessarily like a be all end

all of who's at fault for the crash.

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But a lot of times there's a lot of good

things in there that that can be helpful.

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, there's motor vehicle

codes that they have.

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If you ever look at a

police report, there's.

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Numbers all up and down the sidelines

and they're on the sides of the document

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and throughout, and those different

numbers actually mean something like there

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will be a code for driver inattention.

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There will be a code if.

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There was sun in the eyes

or anything like that.

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So we'll almost always start by

looking at the police report.

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You know, again, someone

may have gotten the ticket.

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A lot of times we see a careless driving.

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Sometimes you see reckless driving or

unsafe driving, but again, that ticket's

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not automatically going to come in.

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And a lot of times it doesn't

come in, in a personal injury

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case, that's a big thing.

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There'll be witness statements

every once in a while, but, but

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really it comes down to, there's.

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Only so many different types of

auto cases, you'll have like a

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rear end hit a left hand crash.

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Maybe someone runs a stop sign

runs through a red light or what?

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And just kind of doing it over the years.

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I know Stephanie can talk about it too.

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Is you get a sense like if it's a

rear end collision, it's almost always

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100 percent the defendant's fault.

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I mean, I have case after case now

where it seems to be more of like a

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relatively new phenomenon where instead

of just saying like, Hey, yeah, rear

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end collision, they give an excuse.

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Like one guy says my foot cramped, you

know, someone else was like the floor,

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the mats came up and I couldn't hit

the brake pedal, just things like that.

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But at the end of the day, New

Jersey law is pretty straightforward.

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You're responsible for

what's in front of you.

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You have to maintain a

safe following distance.

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If someone stops in front

of you and you hit them.

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It's almost always still your fault,

but sometimes that will come into play.

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If there's like a stop short

allegation, like say it's a three

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car pile up our cars in the middle.

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If the car in front of them stop short,

and then the person behind our client

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rear ended them, they hit into the car in

front, you know, every once in a while,

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there could be a small percentage of fault

put on the person that stopped short, but.

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That's not automatic, and then as crazy

as this is, even if you're going through

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an intersection where there's a green

light going through an intersection

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where you don't have a stop sign, you

still have an obligation to make proper

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observations before you're going through.

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So, pretty rarely, but every once

in a while, we'll see, like, if the

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case goes to arbitration or something

like that, they could put some fault

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on our client who went through a

green light or went through an.

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Intersection without a stop sign,

just because he's still an obligation

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to make proper observations.

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I don't necessarily agree with that, you

know, and I'm sure Stephanie too, like if

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we go to arbitration and our client's got

a green light mind in their own business,

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and someone runs through a red light and

slams into him, like we showed in that

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video clip before, I don't really think my

client should have done anything different

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or, or what, but that's really it.

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Um, at the end of the day, we've,

we've talked about to a lot, like

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Jerry mentioned on one of the last.

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Episodes, like if it's a rear end hit,

they'll still blame our client, like

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throughout the case, say they should

make proper observations, whatever it

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may be, and then get to trial and say,

Hey, you know what, we admit fault.

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And that's not now because they're

trying to be like good guys.

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There's strategic reasons behind that.

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But that's really kind of it.

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Starting points, the police report,

just from doing this, you know, there's

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different jury instructions on different

mechanisms of how crashes occur.

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And then sometimes too, like we'll even.

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If I share my screen real quick, I could

show you like, there's a diagram every

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once in a while in these police reports

that give an indication of what happened.

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Um, let me know when you can see this.

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All right, can you see what's up there?

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Yeah, now we can.

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All right, so this is vehicles

are numbered, you know,

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vehicle one, vehicle two.

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There's almost always a

description of what happened.

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You know, it says like.

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Driver 2 is traveling east, Highway 36,

vehicle 1 came on Eatontown Boulevard,

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struck his vehicle on the driver's side.

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Vehicle 1 then ran off the

road and struck a one way sign.

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Driver 1 said he was crossing Highway 36.

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Driver 1 said he thought he

had a green light signal.

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So you move down to the police

report, it says multiple witnesses

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in the area say that Driver 2 had

the green light, Driver 1 had the

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red light, so that's a good fact.

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In this case, because we've got driver tip

in this particular case, it says dash cam

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video was also submitted on this case file

showing vehicle to had the green light,

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which again, that's very helpful to us.

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That's rare that that happens.

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But so, in a case like that, where you've

got multiple eyewitnesses, you've got dash

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cam footage, and it seems pretty clear

that vehicle 1 had a red light ran through

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the red light and hit into our client.

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I don't really see that being a case

where there would be much liability

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that that could get, put on our client.

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But again, last episode, we went

through, we read the discovery responses

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from the defendant insurance company.

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And they blame our client up and down, say

they should have watched, you know, where

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they were going, follow motor vehicle

codes, all things like that, which,

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which happens in, in all these cases.

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So this one was a little bit more

straightforward than we're used to,

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but sometimes if it's like a more

complicated case, or if it's a really

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bad crash or really bad collision, like

fatalities or catastrophic injuries,

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the police will bring out like a

fatal crash reconstruction unit that

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does a way more detailed analysis.

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Or we'll go out and hire an expert that

that does something along those lines.

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I think Stephanie had a case

like a few years back, that

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that she can talk more about.

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But my understanding, I just.

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Remember from talking with her about

it like it was a girl that was crossing

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the road I think it was nighttime and

it was a really really like bad crash.

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She got real hurt and I don't know enough

about it Stephanie you could tell like if

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you guys had a good report like this So

I did have one of those cases that were

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similar to what you're saying, which is we

received the case in from another attorney

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and the police report was not really

favorable to our client and the other

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attorney was like, I don't think this is

a case, but Once we started digging into

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it, we realized that there was more to it.

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And so what it involved was a young woman

and her friends were getting off a bus.

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Over in freehold, maybe like three

to three in the morning, maybe

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about three o'clock in the morning

and, , they got off the bus and they

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were starting to cross route nine.

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they were in a crosswalk.

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But it was in dispute of whether

they had the right to cross and

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whether the little person was lit

up telling them they could cross.

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And what happened was a woman, she

worked for a paper delivery and she

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had just picked up the papers and she

was on the way to go deliver them.

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And she hit the first person

that my client was with.

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And then she hit my client.

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They went flying, severely injured.

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They had to be airlifted.

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My client had really bad injuries.

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We got the police report.

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They had to do what

Mark was talking about.

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They had to do a detailed investigation.

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A shoe was found here.

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A piece of clothing was found here.

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And it was all marked off,

and it was all measured.

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And when it came to, it did appear as

if they were in the crosswalk, and they

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were kind of about halfway into the

roadway, which is relevant for New Jersey.

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So even if they would have had, even

if the other driver had the green

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light, it was still relevant that

they were halfway into the crosswalk.

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So we kind of did a little discovery.

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Deposed the defendant and she was

this little tiny, tiny woman who could

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barely see over the steering wheel.

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So when we saw pictures of her car

inside her car, first of all, there was

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just crap everywhere, drinks and stuff.

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Papers were in the back and she had to

sit on a thing just to lift herself up

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So I'm not sure whether she even saw

our clients when she was deposed This

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is one of those cases where sometimes

it goes the right way when you have

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a case that seems clear cut against

your client But this woman this driver

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was not the least bit sympathetic.

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She said I thought I hit a deer I

was the one that was up Meaning her,

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she was the one that was so upset.

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She didn't know what happened.

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She thought it was a deer and, you

know, and I explained to her, well,

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once you found out it was Two people

that you hit then what did you do?

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She was oh, I was just so upset So it

was all about her which is super helpful.

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I'll get to that second We did not have

to go to trial But it was going to be

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helpful that she was not sympathetic

a jury would not be sympathetic to her

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Just cut the way she portrayed herself.

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So as we were doing a little bit more

digging That's when we learned, like I

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said, see, seeing pictures of her car.

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Hey, were you delivering newspapers?

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And so then once that happened, then we

brought in the newspaper carrier and they

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tried to say, Oh, she wasn't within our

control, but you know, you only have.

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Access to her, you know, you're only

entitled to go after her car insurance,

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which was only a hundred thousand dollars

So once we started doing some depositions

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and the questions then surrounded whether

The the paper carrier controlled her

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actions meaning that they told her what

time to pick up the papers They told

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her exactly how to deliver the papers.

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They told her what route to take and

so once we determined that then we were

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able to bring the newspaper carrier

in We also had our own investigator go

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out there and what he did, which was

kind of interesting because the other

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driver was saying, Oh no, I was going

to speed limit, I wasn't going too fast.

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And so what he did is one of the

things he went out and did an

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analysis over like an hour.

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hour and a half for three days and saw

that people normally go a certain speed.

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And so we were able to see, Oh, okay.

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So the normal person is going

10, 15 miles over the speed

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limit during that time period.

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So it was most likely that

she was also speeding too.

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So that was super helpful

with respect to that.

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Our client was a doll.

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She was, like I said, she

was seriously injured.

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She had a hard time getting

through her deposition.

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So we just had to keep taking breaks

and keep walking her through it.

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That case ended up settling for 500,

000, probably could have settled

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maybe a bit more if the liability.

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Was clear cut and that kind of goes along

with what Mark was saying in the beginning

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if that would have been a case where she

was in a car and she was rear ended or

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she clearly had the crosswalk sign and

she was driving and then this, I mean,

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she was walking on the crosswalk and this

driver blew a red light, then it would

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have been a whole different story, but

when you're settling it or when you're

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going to trial, there is some liability

that is assessed against this Mike, our

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client who It appears walked against a

red light, but it was still a very, very

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good settlement for that type of case.

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Yeah.

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And Dimple too, I don't want to, I may

have just taken this for granted, but

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like why it matters, like percentages of

fault, like Stephanie's talking about how,

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like her client could have been blamed

for, you know, going against a red light.

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Like if she was found more than

50 percent at fault, then she

224

00:12:12,638 --> 00:12:14,208

would get nothing in the case.

225

00:12:14,618 --> 00:12:17,088

And if there was like, you know,

the case went to trial and a jury

226

00:12:17,088 --> 00:12:21,678

came back and gave a verdict where,

say they awarded 100, 000 and they

227

00:12:21,698 --> 00:12:25,388

determined that Stephanie's client

was 30 percent at fault, like

228

00:12:25,388 --> 00:12:27,788

she'd only be able to get 70, 000.

229

00:12:27,788 --> 00:12:31,688

So the recovery gets discounted by

whatever percentage of fault you are.

230

00:12:31,748 --> 00:12:32,428

And that's what.

231

00:12:32,848 --> 00:12:36,138

The law is in New Jersey, like some

States, it's contributory negligence,

232

00:12:36,148 --> 00:12:40,358

where if you're one iota at fault,

you get nothing like I had a case one

233

00:12:40,358 --> 00:12:41,858

time that got transferred to Maryland.

234

00:12:41,898 --> 00:12:44,548

That was the law down there,

which is really, really tough.

235

00:12:44,688 --> 00:12:47,008

New Jersey's comparative

fault, which is good.

236

00:12:47,028 --> 00:12:50,918

So as long as you're not more than 50

percent at fault, you can recover since

237

00:12:50,958 --> 00:12:55,298

it appears she went against the crosswalk

indicating that she was free to go.

238

00:12:55,418 --> 00:12:57,078

She could have most likely.

239

00:12:57,258 --> 00:13:02,398

Then more than 50 percent at fault,

she was very happy with that, but

240

00:13:02,398 --> 00:13:06,138

that was a case where originally when

we looked at the police report, it

241

00:13:06,138 --> 00:13:07,998

seemed like, Oh, this is not a case.

242

00:13:08,038 --> 00:13:09,128

This is not a good case.

243

00:13:09,128 --> 00:13:11,528

The prior attorney had said now hands off.

244

00:13:11,908 --> 00:13:15,178

And then once we kind of dug into

it a little bit more, got our own

245

00:13:15,178 --> 00:13:17,808

investigator, did a lot of depositions.

246

00:13:18,193 --> 00:13:20,353

Found out some little holes in the story.

247

00:13:20,353 --> 00:13:25,493

You know, we actually actually deposed

the bus driver and everybody up to that

248

00:13:25,493 --> 00:13:29,913

point had said, Oh yes, your clients,

they did not have the right away to walk.

249

00:13:30,253 --> 00:13:34,443

The driver had a green light, but

this bus driver, he let them off.

250

00:13:34,453 --> 00:13:36,103

And as he started pulling away.

251

00:13:36,333 --> 00:13:39,643

I asked him, did you look up

and see what the light was?

252

00:13:39,643 --> 00:13:43,653

And he said, yeah, I think it, I

think the other driver might've

253

00:13:43,663 --> 00:13:45,683

had a red one, but I'm not sure.

254

00:13:45,693 --> 00:13:49,813

So it gave me a little bit of a

doubt where it was like, okay,

255

00:13:49,813 --> 00:13:50,833

everybody else is saying it.

256

00:13:50,843 --> 00:13:52,843

She, the driver definitely had a green.

257

00:13:53,183 --> 00:13:55,883

And then this bus driver was like,

no, she might've had the red.

258

00:13:55,923 --> 00:14:01,023

And so then, which in our case created

a nice little question of fact, because.

259

00:14:01,468 --> 00:14:03,648

Maybe my client didn't

go against the red light.

260

00:14:03,648 --> 00:14:09,008

So little nuances like that are super

important and taking depositions and

261

00:14:09,018 --> 00:14:12,238

finding little nuggets like that,

that can help your client and help

262

00:14:12,238 --> 00:14:14,248

your case are why we do what we do.

263

00:14:14,438 --> 00:14:17,898

So I was sitting here as you were

talking about, like doing the deposition,

264

00:14:17,948 --> 00:14:20,558

this case was way pre COVID, right?

265

00:14:20,968 --> 00:14:23,698

Like this was back in 2016.

266

00:14:24,048 --> 00:14:27,368

So I picture because depositions

for the past three plus years

267

00:14:27,368 --> 00:14:28,598

have all been over Zoom.

268

00:14:29,048 --> 00:14:32,878

Like if that had been a depth over

deposition over zoom, you may have not

269

00:14:32,878 --> 00:14:36,878

even known that she was this like five

foot, nothing person, like I'm seven

270

00:14:36,878 --> 00:14:39,638

feet tall, I'm sitting in this chair

or I'm, you know, four foot eight.

271

00:14:39,638 --> 00:14:40,478

There's no way to know.

272

00:14:40,828 --> 00:14:43,178

So that probably made a big

distinction too, because it paints a

273

00:14:43,178 --> 00:14:46,238

totally different picture, a totally

different analysis of the case.

274

00:14:46,658 --> 00:14:48,998

Like if you're just picturing

someone going along, you're like,

275

00:14:49,118 --> 00:14:50,228

what, like, what could happen?

276

00:14:50,228 --> 00:14:53,228

But then you're picturing some

little old lady or just not

277

00:14:53,228 --> 00:14:56,538

assuming she's old or what picturing

someone like down like that.

278

00:14:56,558 --> 00:14:58,718

That's a totally different analysis.

279

00:14:58,868 --> 00:14:59,568

Absolutely.

280

00:14:59,568 --> 00:15:04,128

And that's why also discovery is great

when you get photos of the, um, cause the

281

00:15:04,128 --> 00:15:07,668

police did a really thorough investigation

and they had photos of her car.

282

00:15:07,668 --> 00:15:12,508

And like I said, it was not only a mess,

but then there was a big pad on her seat.

283

00:15:12,548 --> 00:15:14,328

I mean, like, like three phone books.

284

00:15:15,353 --> 00:15:15,753

Big.

285

00:15:16,053 --> 00:15:18,813

And I remember saying to her, do you,

do you need to sit on that to drive?

286

00:15:18,813 --> 00:15:19,873

And she was like, yeah.

287

00:15:20,123 --> 00:15:24,413

And then, So I think I literally

think that's exactly what happened.

288

00:15:24,413 --> 00:15:26,533

She was this little tiny

lady could barely see.

289

00:15:27,273 --> 00:15:31,353

And it was dark and you know,

they allegedly had dark clothing

290

00:15:31,373 --> 00:15:33,133

on my client and a friend.

291

00:15:33,473 --> 00:15:34,133

Stephanie does.

292

00:15:34,143 --> 00:15:37,273

And this is like a little hype for

her, but she does such a good job

293

00:15:37,283 --> 00:15:40,713

kind of peeling off like the layers

of the onion of cases like this.

294

00:15:40,963 --> 00:15:43,533

Like she's saying, she took it over

from an attorney that rejected it.

295

00:15:43,763 --> 00:15:46,623

And then goes and gets a half

a million dollar recovery.

296

00:15:47,113 --> 00:15:50,083

And just even like talking about

noticing that there's a bunch of

297

00:15:50,083 --> 00:15:53,423

newspapers in the car and like,

were you delivering newspapers?

298

00:15:53,463 --> 00:15:56,963

Because if you're doing something in

the scope of your employment, that opens

299

00:15:56,963 --> 00:16:00,533

up another potential layer of insurance

coverage, which is normally going to

300

00:16:00,543 --> 00:16:01,843

be much higher than someone's just.

301

00:16:02,278 --> 00:16:06,488

Personal auto coverage, so just to even

get into that ballpark of another layer

302

00:16:06,488 --> 00:16:10,808

of coverage was a great step because

these crosswalk cases are not easy.

303

00:16:11,018 --> 00:16:13,238

You talk about like

apportioning liability.

304

00:16:13,628 --> 00:16:15,578

I had 1 where a girl was

crossing and same thing.

305

00:16:15,578 --> 00:16:16,468

It was dark out.

306

00:16:16,598 --> 00:16:18,798

I think she was going against

the light or came out.

307

00:16:18,798 --> 00:16:22,518

She was going against the light, but

she was like 8090 percent of the way

308

00:16:22,548 --> 00:16:24,648

through the intersection when she got hit.

309

00:16:25,068 --> 00:16:26,978

So that was a fact that

was kind of helpful.

310

00:16:27,343 --> 00:16:31,493

And the guy that hit her was like 88,

89 years old or something like that.

311

00:16:31,493 --> 00:16:34,503

So that was kind of another factor

that was like, Hey, look, you know,

312

00:16:34,503 --> 00:16:37,683

reasonable person probably would have

seen her it's kind of helpful there.

313

00:16:37,703 --> 00:16:40,533

And then it, it matters to like

what the insurance coverage was.

314

00:16:40,743 --> 00:16:43,933

I think in my particular case,

it was like a hundred thousand

315

00:16:43,933 --> 00:16:45,633

dollars policy or maybe even less.

316

00:16:45,633 --> 00:16:49,673

And she had a ruptured globe to her

eye, which is like a nasty injury.

317

00:16:49,963 --> 00:16:52,483

And the insurance company, their

analysis is going to be, would

318

00:16:52,483 --> 00:16:56,943

probably be more expensive to fight

that case than just to pay out.

319

00:16:56,943 --> 00:16:59,913

Like Stephanie's case, it's like,

that's not like a, ah, here you

320

00:16:59,913 --> 00:17:01,673

go type of money to give out.

321

00:17:01,673 --> 00:17:04,233

Like that's a really, really good

result in a, in a tough case.

322

00:17:04,403 --> 00:17:06,762

But I'll tell you another

kind of funny story.

323

00:17:06,762 --> 00:17:10,183

I had a client who was also hit

in a crosswalk by another old

324

00:17:10,193 --> 00:17:13,453

gentleman who was small and he

was properly in the crosswalk.

325

00:17:13,483 --> 00:17:13,992

And.

326

00:17:14,137 --> 00:17:17,117

driver that hit him only

had a 15, 000 policy.

327

00:17:17,117 --> 00:17:19,278

And I remember showing up

at the deposition and I was

328

00:17:19,308 --> 00:17:20,308

like, what do you people do?

329

00:17:20,308 --> 00:17:22,018

And why are you not tendering the 15?

330

00:17:22,078 --> 00:17:24,568

He's like, ah, we probably

will after the deposition.

331

00:17:24,588 --> 00:17:28,367

I said, all right, I'm deposing

the guy really nice old guy.

332

00:17:28,908 --> 00:17:31,878

And so I'm kind of asking him

like, what were you doing that day?

333

00:17:31,908 --> 00:17:35,068

And ended up coming out that

he was delivering auto parts.

334

00:17:35,398 --> 00:17:38,318

I asked the question, were you in the

course and scope of your employment?

335

00:17:38,318 --> 00:17:39,728

I phrased it a little bit differently.

336

00:17:39,728 --> 00:17:41,018

Were you working at that time?

337

00:17:41,018 --> 00:17:42,168

Had you just had delivering?

338

00:17:42,168 --> 00:17:46,243

And he was like, Oh, yeah, yeah,

I was working and I remember his

339

00:17:46,303 --> 00:17:49,413

counsel was like, you were working

and I was like, you were working.

340

00:17:49,593 --> 00:17:53,493

Well, I mean that case ended up settling

for eight hundred thousand So had we

341

00:17:53,493 --> 00:17:57,713

not dug that dug into that a little

bit and that was actually a really fun

342

00:17:57,713 --> 00:18:03,963

one in the respect of the auto parts

place This guy had a punch in like

343

00:18:03,963 --> 00:18:09,733

an old fashioned time punch card So I

requested all of his punch cards for

344

00:18:09,963 --> 00:18:12,173

like a year before this incident, right?

345

00:18:12,583 --> 00:18:16,693

And including the day of the incident,

every other time, every other

346

00:18:16,703 --> 00:18:19,043

time the guy worked from 8 to 4.

347

00:18:19,043 --> 00:18:24,583

30, but on this day, and it was an

actual punch out, but on this day,

348

00:18:24,633 --> 00:18:28,193

he allegedly clocked out at 3 p.

349

00:18:28,193 --> 00:18:28,603

m.

350

00:18:28,923 --> 00:18:32,373

And that was the only time

card in all of them that was

351

00:18:32,383 --> 00:18:34,563

handwritten with the guy's initials.

352

00:18:34,958 --> 00:18:41,428

So take it as you will, which I took it as

the auto parts place actually, you know,

353

00:18:42,148 --> 00:18:47,198

it's said that he was clocked out at that

exact time before the incident, meaning

354

00:18:47,198 --> 00:18:49,928

he wouldn't have been in the course and

scope of his employment at the time of.

355

00:18:50,138 --> 00:18:51,338

That he hit my client.

356

00:18:51,678 --> 00:18:53,798

That was like time card, time card.

357

00:18:53,808 --> 00:18:56,048

It was probably 50, 60 time cards.

358

00:18:56,048 --> 00:18:59,218

I had to show the guy and

each one was the same thing.

359

00:18:59,548 --> 00:19:00,448

That was a good one.

360

00:19:00,508 --> 00:19:03,728

That one settled for,

I think over 800, 000.

361

00:19:03,938 --> 00:19:04,288

Yeah.

362

00:19:04,398 --> 00:19:07,708

Like you can't help, but have these

like soapbox moments kind of when you're

363

00:19:07,708 --> 00:19:11,128

doing this, like to call it, but like

play, everyone thinks plaintiff, you

364

00:19:11,128 --> 00:19:13,908

picture like, Oh, the guy that goes and

slips on ice and it's like, Oh, great.

365

00:19:13,908 --> 00:19:16,518

I'm going to go get like money

out of this, that example.

366

00:19:16,828 --> 00:19:20,558

Just doesn't even really stand out

as something that ridiculous because

367

00:19:20,558 --> 00:19:25,248

it happens in so many of these

cases, like construction cases.

368

00:19:25,248 --> 00:19:28,808

You have to file motion after motion

to get like the contract for the job.

369

00:19:29,088 --> 00:19:31,408

It could be like a multi

million dollar job.

370

00:19:31,418 --> 00:19:33,088

And they're like, oh, there's no contract.

371

00:19:33,118 --> 00:19:34,298

Oh, there's no safety plans.

372

00:19:34,318 --> 00:19:37,358

And then 3 court orders later,

they're like, okay, here you go.

373

00:19:37,398 --> 00:19:38,878

Here's the 200 page contract.

374

00:19:38,878 --> 00:19:40,818

Here's, you know, 1000

site photos and like.

375

00:19:41,298 --> 00:19:45,048

All our safety records, but it takes

like thing after thing after thing.

376

00:19:45,228 --> 00:19:47,658

And what Stephanie is talking

about, there's sometimes it's

377

00:19:47,658 --> 00:19:50,368

a jury charge that, that deals

with like spoliation of evidence.

378

00:19:50,368 --> 00:19:54,288

Like if you get rid of evidence to try

and thinking it will help the case, like

379

00:19:54,488 --> 00:19:58,758

the jury can be charged against that, but

like fabricating evidence or people think

380

00:19:58,758 --> 00:20:01,748

that that could be, you know, it's going

to end up helping them out, but you get

381

00:20:01,758 --> 00:20:06,788

good attorneys that pick up on that stuff

and dive into it and it backfires so bad,

382

00:20:07,018 --> 00:20:08,898

or like it makes the case so much worse.

383

00:20:08,898 --> 00:20:13,078

Like Stephanie picking up on that and

going exploring that, like everybody,

384

00:20:13,248 --> 00:20:16,118

well, you would hope everybody sees

through that, what that is, and

385

00:20:16,118 --> 00:20:18,078

like, that adds value to the case.

386

00:20:18,493 --> 00:20:21,733

Like that doesn't mean the guy's

injury is worse or what, but like

387

00:20:22,003 --> 00:20:24,893

everybody's analysis involves

what's a jury going to do.

388

00:20:25,173 --> 00:20:28,503

Every way we look at a case is like,

what's going to happen at trial.

389

00:20:28,543 --> 00:20:30,123

How would a jury perceive this?

390

00:20:30,303 --> 00:20:31,873

It's one thing that the

guy got really hurt.

391

00:20:31,893 --> 00:20:35,313

It's another, then that the defendants

in the case are trying to cover up

392

00:20:35,323 --> 00:20:38,863

evidence to stop this guy from getting

like fair compensation for what happened.

393

00:20:38,913 --> 00:20:41,143

Like that should piss people off.

394

00:20:41,143 --> 00:20:43,223

Like that should get jurors like upset.

395

00:20:43,233 --> 00:20:46,013

And like an angry jury for

us is like, is a good jury.

396

00:20:46,533 --> 00:20:47,833

Yeah, that's a great point.

397

00:20:47,893 --> 00:20:52,803

What I love is it's finding the loophole

and Stephanie's so thorough and Really

398

00:20:52,803 --> 00:20:57,663

noticing the details of what matters in a

case like sometimes It's like the smallest

399

00:20:57,663 --> 00:21:01,263

thing and someone else may overlook

that can make the biggest difference in

400

00:21:01,593 --> 00:21:03,273

What's gonna be the outcome of that case?

401

00:21:03,283 --> 00:21:07,038

So thank you for sharing that

Stephanie Yeah, those like,

402

00:21:07,048 --> 00:21:08,268

what do you mean by that?

403

00:21:08,288 --> 00:21:10,148

Or like, like, why do you say that?

404

00:21:10,148 --> 00:21:14,818

Questions sometimes can open up such

like doors that you would never expect.

405

00:21:14,868 --> 00:21:15,208

Yeah.

406

00:21:15,208 --> 00:21:16,288

So that's just awesome.

407

00:21:16,698 --> 00:21:18,028

And Mark, did you have anything else?

408

00:21:18,078 --> 00:21:19,218

I think that's really it.

409

00:21:19,228 --> 00:21:22,558

Like Stephanie talked about, it

looks like this was really thorough.

410

00:21:22,608 --> 00:21:24,938

The client had taken a bunch of pictures.

411

00:21:25,048 --> 00:21:25,838

It looks like we sent.

412

00:21:26,153 --> 00:21:29,903

Multiple investigators out there,

one like early on in the case just to

413

00:21:30,163 --> 00:21:32,303

document the area and then another.

414

00:21:32,303 --> 00:21:35,383

I think, did you end up doing a

crash reconstruction in the case?

415

00:21:35,383 --> 00:21:35,823

Stephanie?

416

00:21:35,903 --> 00:21:38,783

We didn't have to do a cross

reconstruction because the police

417

00:21:38,783 --> 00:21:41,423

did a thorough got it direction.

418

00:21:41,913 --> 00:21:46,323

Like I said, the point that helped

us in their crash reconstruction

419

00:21:46,973 --> 00:21:49,513

was where the initial impact was.

420

00:21:49,783 --> 00:21:53,823

was, and it showed the initial

impact was in the crosswalk

421

00:21:54,073 --> 00:21:55,173

in the middle of the road.

422

00:21:55,463 --> 00:21:59,203

And in New Jersey, if you are halfway

in the middle of the road in a

423

00:21:59,203 --> 00:22:03,253

crosswalk, even if the driver has a

green light, they're obligated to stop.

424

00:22:03,703 --> 00:22:07,503

Um, so it was very important for

us to show that they were in the

425

00:22:07,503 --> 00:22:11,393

crosswalk and it happened almost

middle of the way through the road.

426

00:22:11,693 --> 00:22:15,313

It all like comes down to as well,

again, again, I guess just jumping up

427

00:22:15,313 --> 00:22:19,233

on a soapbox, like it's just fairness,

like who the heck hasn't crossed

428

00:22:19,233 --> 00:22:21,823

at a crosswalk when there's a green

light, you look like, is it safe?

429

00:22:21,863 --> 00:22:24,323

So that from what I would understand

about that, like, if you're halfway

430

00:22:24,323 --> 00:22:27,483

through crosswalk, that doesn't just

give the oncoming driver card bonds

431

00:22:27,483 --> 00:22:30,553

to the slam into you, you got to

make proper observation and there's

432

00:22:30,653 --> 00:22:32,663

jury instructions up and down.

433

00:22:33,108 --> 00:22:37,048

Like the law that the judge would read

to the jury at the end of the case about

434

00:22:37,058 --> 00:22:40,418

whether someone's in a crosswalk, not

in a crosswalk, whether they've got the

435

00:22:40,418 --> 00:22:42,068

right away or don't have the right away.

436

00:22:42,328 --> 00:22:46,368

So it's not like, yup, you automatically

win just cause you're in a crosswalk

437

00:22:46,368 --> 00:22:49,018

or Nope, you automatically lose

because you weren't in a crosswalk.

438

00:22:49,338 --> 00:22:52,028

And I do have like, it would probably

take me a second to pull it up.

439

00:22:52,028 --> 00:22:55,328

So it might not make sense, but the

idea of like what a crosswalk is

440

00:22:55,508 --> 00:22:58,438

a lot broader than you would think

to, it's not just the actual, like.

441

00:23:00,948 --> 00:23:05,638

Stephanie, when it comes to determining

fault in accidents, right, what

442

00:23:05,648 --> 00:23:10,368

type of car accident is the most

difficult to prove who was at fault?

443

00:23:10,388 --> 00:23:11,368

Is there a particular type?

444

00:23:11,368 --> 00:23:14,328

Because like Mark was saying

earlier, you get hit from behind.

445

00:23:14,328 --> 00:23:16,508

It's usually the person who hit him.

446

00:23:16,748 --> 00:23:17,358

It's their fault.

447

00:23:17,358 --> 00:23:21,758

But is there a particular scenario where

it is hard to determine who is at fault?

448

00:23:22,348 --> 00:23:26,608

We actually have a new case right now

where both of them are saying that they

449

00:23:26,608 --> 00:23:30,828

had the green light in an intersection

with our client saying she had a

450

00:23:30,828 --> 00:23:34,405

green light, the other client saying

they had green light and they don't,

451

00:23:34,435 --> 00:23:39,408

there's no cameras, the police, they

actually did not interview a lot of

452

00:23:39,408 --> 00:23:43,288

the witnesses because they said they

didn't have time apparently, but there

453

00:23:43,288 --> 00:23:46,678

were some witnesses that actually

witnessed that the other driver went

454

00:23:46,678 --> 00:23:49,558

through the green light and we're

trying to find one of those witnesses.

455

00:23:49,633 --> 00:23:52,873

So that one's going to be a

little bit more of a challenge.

456

00:23:52,913 --> 00:23:56,723

We had an actual witness or a lot of

times they have the video cameras in the

457

00:23:56,723 --> 00:24:00,873

intersection that makes it much easier,

but that's definitely a hard case.

458

00:24:01,083 --> 00:24:02,113

A left turn case.

459

00:24:02,113 --> 00:24:05,993

If our client's coming out and making

a left turn and somebody is coming from

460

00:24:05,993 --> 00:24:10,203

their left, , I had one of those cases

was a few years ago and it was a really

461

00:24:10,203 --> 00:24:14,413

nice old guy and he was coming out

and making a left and the other driver

462

00:24:14,423 --> 00:24:17,523

hit him and automatically off the bat.

463

00:24:17,523 --> 00:24:17,693

You.

464

00:24:17,898 --> 00:24:20,528

You would think, well,

your guy was making a left.

465

00:24:20,558 --> 00:24:24,188

He should have, you know, and the other

woman had the proper right of way.

466

00:24:24,628 --> 00:24:29,288

But once again, we kind of did a little

digging and she was on her way to school.

467

00:24:29,288 --> 00:24:32,078

She was a school cafeteria aide.

468

00:24:32,368 --> 00:24:36,058

And so I subpoenaed the records

for the school and showed that

469

00:24:36,058 --> 00:24:37,598

she was supposed to get there.

470

00:24:37,983 --> 00:24:41,193

a lot earlier than she was going

to be getting there, which kind of

471

00:24:41,223 --> 00:24:44,643

supported our theory that she was

speeding up and over that hill.

472

00:24:44,903 --> 00:24:46,233

That definitely helped.

473

00:24:46,233 --> 00:24:49,343

And then we ended up settling

that case for the policy, but

474

00:24:49,363 --> 00:24:50,593

those are definitely tough cases.

475

00:24:50,813 --> 00:24:51,193

Yeah.

476

00:24:51,223 --> 00:24:52,893

I think I covered a

deposition on that case.

477

00:24:52,943 --> 00:24:53,493

I remember that.

478

00:24:53,893 --> 00:24:54,933

Which again, that's awesome.

479

00:24:54,933 --> 00:24:56,373

That's peeling back the onion layers.

480

00:24:56,403 --> 00:24:59,993

I'm telling you, this isn't like, again,

soapbox and like self promotion, but

481

00:24:59,993 --> 00:25:04,593

like, there's not a lot of attorneys and

law firms out there that are going to

482

00:25:04,613 --> 00:25:08,153

take that extra step with an auto case

like that, that Stephanie just talked

483

00:25:08,163 --> 00:25:12,633

about, like subpoenaing the defendant's

employment records to show that she was

484

00:25:12,633 --> 00:25:16,253

late for work, that was a case from what

I recall, where like every case it's,

485

00:25:16,263 --> 00:25:19,663

you know, who's at fault, what are the

injuries, what's the insurance coverage.

486

00:25:20,098 --> 00:25:23,068

Almost always one of those things

is lacking, like are missing.

487

00:25:23,558 --> 00:25:27,238

So I would imagine in that case, the

issue, the thing that was like, you know,

488

00:25:27,248 --> 00:25:29,118

the biggest fight was probably liability.

489

00:25:29,658 --> 00:25:33,328

So like a lot of people just go, nah,

you know, we'll settle this real cheap

490

00:25:33,338 --> 00:25:37,068

or be like, we're not going to take

this case or take a deposition, but like

491

00:25:37,068 --> 00:25:41,938

not go that extra step that Stephanie

went and by getting those records

492

00:25:41,968 --> 00:25:46,528

again, like, ladies and gentlemen,

the jury, my client pulled out and the

493

00:25:46,558 --> 00:25:47,788

defendant was speeding and hit her.

494

00:25:48,323 --> 00:25:48,713

Okay.

495

00:25:48,713 --> 00:25:52,323

Like, whatever, like says you,

you're trying to get my ladies and

496

00:25:52,323 --> 00:25:54,383

gentlemen, my client look both ways.

497

00:25:54,393 --> 00:25:55,513

So no one was coming.

498

00:25:55,823 --> 00:25:58,823

The defendant who works

at a school, she's late.

499

00:25:58,853 --> 00:25:59,553

She's rushing.

500

00:25:59,553 --> 00:26:02,683

She's going downhill, you know,

comes out of nowhere, slams into

501

00:26:02,683 --> 00:26:04,153

her, you know, slams into the client.

502

00:26:04,163 --> 00:26:06,063

Like that's way more compelling.

503

00:26:06,153 --> 00:26:09,223

And that's, again, I imagine probably

a huge reason why the defense in

504

00:26:09,223 --> 00:26:10,953

that case settled, that's awesome.

505

00:26:10,983 --> 00:26:11,913

I remember that case.

506

00:26:12,263 --> 00:26:12,593

All right.

507

00:26:13,053 --> 00:26:14,963

Cause he was a doll, a nice guy.

508

00:26:15,163 --> 00:26:16,723

Which again, that matters too.

509

00:26:16,793 --> 00:26:17,543

Absolutely.

510

00:26:17,963 --> 00:26:18,333

Yeah.

511

00:26:18,433 --> 00:26:20,893

The, the insurance companies

are assessing everything.

512

00:26:20,903 --> 00:26:23,463

Like we tell our clients when

they go to a deposition, number

513

00:26:23,463 --> 00:26:25,003

one, just tell the truth.

514

00:26:25,013 --> 00:26:26,073

That's the most important thing.

515

00:26:26,073 --> 00:26:26,983

You have to be honest.

516

00:26:27,043 --> 00:26:28,653

There's good facts, bad facts.

517

00:26:28,653 --> 00:26:32,283

In any case we can deal with

it, but just don't lie because

518

00:26:32,293 --> 00:26:33,733

that will ruin the entire case.

519

00:26:34,093 --> 00:26:35,613

So we always tell the clients not to lie.

520

00:26:35,673 --> 00:26:40,503

And then we explained to the deposition

is as much about seeing how they present

521

00:26:40,553 --> 00:26:42,163

and like what kind of person they are.

522

00:26:42,483 --> 00:26:45,963

As it is about finding out like

what they recall and what happened.

523

00:26:46,363 --> 00:26:50,023

So like, it goes into every analysis

that the insurance companies do, like.

524

00:26:50,443 --> 00:26:54,373

You know, if we settle a case

or a defense attorney calls up,

525

00:26:54,373 --> 00:26:56,153

look, now your client's real nice.

526

00:26:56,153 --> 00:26:57,783

They presented really

well at your deposition.

527

00:26:57,793 --> 00:26:58,743

Like that matters.

528

00:26:58,743 --> 00:27:00,103

That adds value to the case.

529

00:27:00,443 --> 00:27:03,193

Like the guy that's just like,

you know, this, I can't believe

530

00:27:03,193 --> 00:27:04,683

this jerk slammed into me.

531

00:27:04,693 --> 00:27:06,623

Like, that's not, you don't want that.

532

00:27:06,743 --> 00:27:09,053

And you can only prepare people so much.

533

00:27:09,053 --> 00:27:12,593

Like it's organically going to come out,

what type of person that they are and that

534

00:27:12,593 --> 00:27:14,753

will add or take value away from a case.

535

00:27:14,793 --> 00:27:17,503

You can tell we've had a few

of these crosswalk cases.

536

00:27:17,503 --> 00:27:18,523

If I have this, like.

537

00:27:19,008 --> 00:27:22,678

Children's book looking diagram of

like what is and isn't the crosswalk,

538

00:27:22,928 --> 00:27:26,158

but you can see here and a lot of

Mark and I were talking about it.

539

00:27:26,178 --> 00:27:27,948

It's called the stop and say stopped.

540

00:27:28,568 --> 00:27:32,058

It's basically the if you're halfway

into the crosswalk, like Mark

541

00:27:32,058 --> 00:27:33,848

showing you that you got to stop.

542

00:27:34,143 --> 00:27:38,693

Yes, I had the case actually this guy

who's a retired postal worker and like

543

00:27:38,753 --> 00:27:43,693

every day he went on the same route

did the exact same walk every day for

544

00:27:43,813 --> 00:27:47,533

I forget how many years so his career

was spent walking around neighborhoods

545

00:27:47,533 --> 00:27:51,143

as a postal worker and then like and

his retirement his favorite activity

546

00:27:51,143 --> 00:27:52,693

was going for like these morning walks.

547

00:27:53,038 --> 00:27:56,898

And he stepped out in an area like

here where my mouse is where there's

548

00:27:56,908 --> 00:28:01,178

not necessarily like a white line

crosswalk or crosswalk that looks

549

00:28:01,178 --> 00:28:04,308

like what's shown there and he stepped

out from behind a telephone pole.

550

00:28:04,328 --> 00:28:07,538

The defendant said and started

crossing here and he got hit

551

00:28:07,578 --> 00:28:08,568

and he got hurt really bad.

552

00:28:08,568 --> 00:28:12,628

I think he was in a coma like for a

couple of days and it was only 100, 000

553

00:28:12,628 --> 00:28:15,738

insurance policy, but they were like

fighting on that and fighting on that.

554

00:28:15,738 --> 00:28:16,083

And I yeah.

555

00:28:16,433 --> 00:28:18,913

Got this little diagram,

I'm pretty positive.

556

00:28:18,933 --> 00:28:22,823

This is from the New Jersey department

of transportation or website.

557

00:28:22,923 --> 00:28:24,783

So this is actually

like a legitimate thing.

558

00:28:24,943 --> 00:28:28,263

I think I used it as a deposition

exhibit and they ended up tendering

559

00:28:28,603 --> 00:28:29,943

the full policy in the case.

560

00:28:30,273 --> 00:28:33,183

We've talked about the last

episode, how awesome it is when

561

00:28:33,183 --> 00:28:34,493

you have like dash cam footage.

562

00:28:34,828 --> 00:28:35,998

Pictures and all that.

563

00:28:36,038 --> 00:28:39,198

It's one thing to stand up there and

say, ladies and gentlemen, you don't need

564

00:28:39,198 --> 00:28:40,908

white lines for it to be a crosswalk.

565

00:28:40,918 --> 00:28:44,778

Even if you're just crossing at the end

of the street, that counts as a crosswalk.

566

00:28:45,138 --> 00:28:48,258

It's one thing to say that it's another

thing to put up this illustration

567

00:28:48,578 --> 00:28:51,478

and be like, here you go, guys,

people go to movies, like they love

568

00:28:51,478 --> 00:28:52,928

looking at pictures, all that stuff.

569

00:28:52,968 --> 00:28:54,703

There's a reason they're very effective.

570

00:28:54,843 --> 00:28:56,653

That's a great example, Mark.

571

00:28:56,653 --> 00:28:59,243

Yeah, thanks for sharing that

because it just lays it out

572

00:28:59,253 --> 00:29:00,793

visually for everyone to see.

573

00:29:01,153 --> 00:29:03,243

Stephanie, is there anything

else that you wanted to share?

574

00:29:03,283 --> 00:29:08,123

Sometimes it's just a matter of digging

in and finding the little nuances and

575

00:29:08,123 --> 00:29:12,333

finding the inconsistencies in somebody's

statement or examining a picture.

576

00:29:12,663 --> 00:29:14,213

And then you, you take it from there.

577

00:29:14,743 --> 00:29:15,753

Yeah, I would agree.

578

00:29:15,753 --> 00:29:20,083

I would say I can probably count

on one hand, maybe two, like the

579

00:29:20,083 --> 00:29:22,323

amount of times we've had to get

like a crash reconstructionist

580

00:29:22,323 --> 00:29:23,073

or reconstruction expert.

581

00:29:23,073 --> 00:29:27,943

If it's like a rear end hit,

there's no reason to do that.

582

00:29:27,973 --> 00:29:32,133

So I don't want people listening to think

like, Oh, you know, I was rear ended.

583

00:29:32,163 --> 00:29:33,153

Why reconstructionist?

584

00:29:34,613 --> 00:29:36,263

Because usually it's a lot of money.

585

00:29:36,578 --> 00:29:40,378

And if it's not going to tip the needle

one way or the other, it's just, it's

586

00:29:40,378 --> 00:29:43,548

a waste of everyone's time and time

and money, because that's a lot of

587

00:29:43,548 --> 00:29:45,358

times of balancing in a case like this.

588

00:29:45,743 --> 00:29:49,633

If it's a close call and if it's like

a, he said, she said, it's not even

589

00:29:49,633 --> 00:29:52,523

guaranteed that a crash reconstruction

is going to make a difference.

590

00:29:52,943 --> 00:29:56,153

So you just got to be selective

on, on the case you use them.

591

00:29:56,153 --> 00:29:58,503

And yeah, I think Stephanie spoke to that.

592

00:29:59,093 --> 00:30:00,003

Yeah, that makes sense.

593

00:30:00,013 --> 00:30:00,633

That makes sense.

594

00:30:00,653 --> 00:30:02,423

Well, this has been a great episode.

595

00:30:02,543 --> 00:30:03,703

Thank you so much.

596

00:30:03,713 --> 00:30:07,363

And for our guests out there, if you

do have questions for us, you can

597

00:30:07,363 --> 00:30:09,543

submit your questions to questions at.

598

00:30:09,828 --> 00:30:11,468

Jerseyjusticepodcast.

599

00:30:11,468 --> 00:30:16,398

com to have your question featured on the

show where we will be answering it live.

600

00:30:18,473 --> 00:30:19,723

And there you have it, folks.

601

00:30:19,773 --> 00:30:22,663

Another episode of Jersey Justice Podcast.

602

00:30:22,883 --> 00:30:26,283

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Dive into more episodes

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609

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And check out our show

notes for more information.

610

00:30:46,443 --> 00:30:50,173

If you're navigating legal issues and

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611

00:30:50,173 --> 00:30:55,203

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612

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Again, 1 877 841 8855.

613

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