Sam Martin (left) and Kevin Ferry (right), the owner of the Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry in New Britain. Martin, an intern, assisted Ferry in the firm's representation of a woman who received a $356,976 arbitration award following a car accident. Courtesy photo
Longtime New Britain attorney Kevin Ferry has dealt with clients who had post-traumatic stress disorder following sexual abuse. But in his 26 years as a Connecticut attorney, he had never seen a severe PTSD case following a motor vehicle accident.
That is until he began to represent Pamela Nomura.
Ferry said Nomura's PTSD stemmed from numerous stressful events in her life, ranging from the death of her mother to her husband's cancer, and her sexual and physical abuse as a child. All were triggered following an October 2015 Hartford car accident in which she suffered a neck injury, rib fracture and concussion.
Ferry obtained the services of PTSD expert Dr. Julian Ford, whom he said helped make the case for Nomura. Ford treated Nomura between 150 and 200 times, echoing Nomura's claims that the accident was the trigger for her PTSD.
The defense, however, wasn't buying it.
"Allstate spent a ton of money on an expert [Dr. Kenneth Selig], who examined my client on two occasions, and said the PTSD was unrelated because it was a nonlife-threatening accident. Well, the arbitrator didn't believe them," Ferry said Thursday.
Arbitrator John Kennedy Jr. of Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge awarded $356,976 in damages to Nomura, including $250,000 in noneconomic damages and $106,976 in economic damages for past and future medical treatment.
The arbitration was held remotely on June 12 and the decision was handed down on Wednesday.
Ferry said his strategy was to let his 65-year-old client tell her story during the six-hour Zoom mediation.
"My main strategy was easing her mind and reducing her anxiety so she could show up to the mediation and do the best job she could," said Ferry, who noted his staff gave Nomura a yoga session and did calming breathing in the law firm's wellness studio.
"She was a fantastic witness," Ferry said. "She maintained her composure during the Zoom meeting despite being tired as it was six hours long."
Ferry continued: "I knew we'd win this and win big. Allstate hired an expert witness saying the PTSD was not related to the accident, and tried to silence their own insured. Our expert was just better than their expert."
Ford, the plaintiff's medical expert, is the immediate past president of the International Society of Traumatic Studies.
In his four-page ruling, Kennedy said, "The arbitrator finds that the plaintiff has met her burden of proving that the accident was a substantial factor in triggering the onset of her PTSD symptoms requiring treatment. She is also entitled to damages for physical injuries including neck pain and headaches."
Because of the crash, Ferry said his client left her job as an artistic director and stopped writing poetry.
Allstate's attorney, Hartford solo practitioner William Melley III, didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The arbitration award is binding.
Nomura settled with defendant driver Anthony Famiglietti's carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., for $100,000 about two years ago, Ferry said.
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Sam Martin (left) and Kevin Ferry (right), the owner of the Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry in New Britain. Martin, an intern, assisted Ferry in the firm's representation of a woman who received a $356,976 arbitration award following a car accident. Courtesy photo
