New Jersey resident Patrick Conroy drowned after his vehicle left the travel portion of the parking lot at Cos Cob Town Marina and plunged into the water. The town of Greenwich, which owns the marina, agreed to settle the case for $600,000. Courtesy photo.

A Cheshire attorney has secured a $600,000 settlement for the estate of an 80-year-old New Jersey resident who drowned after accidentally driving his van off a parking lot and boat ramp known as the Cos Cob Town Marina.

The town of Greenwich owned and controlled the parking lot and boat ramp, so the case hinged on municipal liability, said plaintiff attorney Frank Bartlett Jr., founder of Bartlett Legal Group.

The town argued the only remedy was for the plaintiff to sue under the state's highway defects statute, under Section 13a-149, which governs damages for injuries from defective roads and bridges.

Bartlett said his team investigated the history of the marina and learned that in the 1960s and 1970s, the marina had barriers which would have prevented plaintiff decedent Patrick Conroy from going into the water. An amended lawsuit was filed Aug. 6. The incident at the boat ramp occurred in September 2015.

"We had to be creative because of municipal liability," Bartlett said. "Because this marina was adjacent to the roadway, the town argued the sole remedy available for us was the highway defects statute. But it's difficult to win under that statute because you have to show the dangerous condition was the sole proximate cause of the injury sustained. If the plaintiff is even 1% negligent, then the claim fails." It's not clear why Conroy, who was attempting to negotiate a turn, drove into the water.

Bartlett said he rejected using the statute as a defense and instead learned, through his investigation, of the barriers that were in place at the marina in the 1960s and 1970s. Bartlett said he would have argued to a jury that Greenwich was negligent in removing those barriers decades ago.

"The sole issue for us was going to be whether or not the marina constituted a nuisance, and whether the town's act in removing the barriers contributed to this accident," Bartlett said Monday.

The case settled Dec. 5. Jury selection was slated for Dec. 18.

Greenwich Assistant Town Attorney Aamina Ahmad told the Connecticut Law Tribune Monday that the town is  considering placing barriers at the site. She also said that "over the course of the litigation, both sides spent a lot of money defending the case."

Noting that Bartlett originally filed a $6.5 million offer of compromise, Ahmad said, "There was a significant reduction from what they first asked for to where we ended up. I think the plaintiff had started out with a much higher expectation. The town takes these cases very seriously and fully vets them."

The $600,000 settlement, Bartlett said, will be divided. He said $180,000 will go to the estate, while $420,000 will go to the plaintiff's family members who were at the marina and witnessed the drowning. These witnesses included Conroy's son, John, John Conroy's wife and four of Patrick Conroy's grandchildren.

The family, Bartlett said, had just dropped their boat off at the marina and Patrick Conroy was attempting to bring the family vehicle to the parking area. Patrick Conroy was trapped in his vehicle and drowned, Bartlett said.

In court papers, the town argued that Conroy was partly responsible for his own death in that he "failed to be watchful of his surroundings, failed to exercise reasonable care for his safety in the manner in which he was operating his vehicle."

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