Michael Coccaro suffered injuries to his spine after a car Henry Oam was driving hit head-on the vehicle his wife was driving near Danbury. The case settled for $130,000. Courtesy photo

Plaintiffs attorney Jon Norris knew showing his client in action before the car crash at the center of the lawsuit was vital to win the personal-injury case.

The client, 38-year-old Danbury resident Michael Coccaro, had been fit and active before suffering injuries to his spine and legs.

So Norris capitalized on that. He knew he had a winning case if he could show the court Coccaro's promotional video depicting the plaintiff's work as a martial arts instructor.

"The range of motions he showed on that video that he can no longer do really helped our case," said Norris, an attorney with Danbury-based Alan Barry and Associates. "The video showed my client splitting a basket with his foot. It showed him spinning and kicking in slow motion and how he kicked the basket head high and it burst open. That was really convincing."

But after the crash, Coccaro needed five injections to ease the pain in various parts of his spine, his attorney said. He also suffered herniation of various discs, with pain going down both legs. Today, three and a half years after the accident, Norris said Coccaro "still has limitations with movements and extended sitting or standing. He still suffers and is trying to treat conservatively with physical therapy."

Plus, Coccaro can no longer teach teenagers, which caused him to lose a big part of his business.

"He went from instructing teens to working with 5- and 6-year-olds, which was less physical work," the attorney said.

And the everyday discomfort was also clear during the litigation.

"My client could not sit through the deposition for more than 20 minutes until he had to stand," Norris said.

Coccaro sued MetLife Group Inc., doing business as Metropolitan Insurance Co., and Danbury Mall LLC, doing business as the Danbury Fair Mall in December 2018. He later dropped Danbury Fair Mall as a defendant.

The case settled for $130,000 on March 11.

According to Norris and the complaint, Coccaro was a passenger in his wife's vehicle when another driver, Henry Oam, crossed the center line near the Danbury Fair Mall and struck the passenger side of the Coccaro car.

Law enforcement officers cited Oam for operating a motor vehicle without a license, traveling too fast for conditions, and failure to drive on the right. Oam was also driving without insurance, so Coccaro's policy with Metropolitan Insurance paid the settlement.

Norris said his initial demand was for $220,000. He said one reason for settling for $130,000 was that "in a few days we knew that the courts would probably be closed down [due] to the coronavirus. I was very motivated to settle this case."

Coccaro had about $60,000 in medical expenses, and the case was settled in part due to a pretrial conference with Superior Court Judge William Lavery, Norris said.

Representing defendant Metropolitan Insurance was A. Richard Mason of Rocky Hill-based Law Offices of James M. Pickett. Mason didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.

In court pleadings, the defense argued it had insufficient information to comment on the plaintiff's assertions that Oam was at fault for the accident, and left it for the plaintiff to prove his case.

Assisting Norris was colleague Greg Klein.

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