Shunjin Yan injured her thoracic spine following a head-on collision in Farmington in 2017 in which she was sitting in the front passenger seat. The case settled this week for $400,000. Courtesy photo

A senior partner at a Middlebury-based law firm has secured a $400,000 settlement for a 48-year-old woman who suffered an injury to her thoracic spine following a head-on collision in Farmington in 2017.

In a case that hinged on whether plaintiff Shunjin Yan's injury stemmed from the two-car crash, Yan's attorney, Joseph Foti Jr. of Moore, O'Brien & Foti, said he was able to push back on the defense. To do this, he sent his client to a doctor, who established a causal relationship.

"The defense was claiming the injury to my client's thoracic spine was degenerative in nature, and therefore not related to the accident," Foti told the Connecticut Law Tribune Friday. "The doctor we sent her to treated her, and she benefited from his services. He also said the injury was due to the accident, even though my client had testified in deposition that she had prior significant issues with her midback."

Yan, who is from Queens, New York, was a passenger in a Cadillac Escalade, which she said the defendant struck head-on. She said she was injured, prompting her to file a lawsuit in Hartford Superior Court in August 2017. She alleges she suffered injuries to her thoracic spine, head, neck, arms, chest, back and ribs.

Yan's attorney said defendant Jay Burman admitted to police that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, had driven across the yellow line, and had crossed into traffic traveling in the opposite direction.

"Mr. Burman told police that he felt fatigued, and was looking to pull over, but fell asleep," Foti said.

Responding law enforcement officials issued Burman a traffic infraction.

The case was settled Dec. 2, following two days and six hours of mediation in front of retired Judge Michael Reilly.

Attorney Larry Adler, of the Adler Law Group in East Hartford, represented the driver and a second passenger in the Cadillac Escalade in which Yan was traveling. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Defense counsel was Christian Sterling, an attorney with Hartford-based Katz & Seligman. In court papers, the defense denied any claims that Burman was negligent.

"We all had our own unique view of the case," Sterling told the Connecticut Law Tribune Friday, without elaboration. "But my client and I are very satisfied with the outcome."

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