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A $6 Million global settlement was reached on Dec. 7, 2018, in three Middlesex County suits stemming from a motor vehicle accident that killed three people. The caption is Estate of Kleiman v. Estate of Fairchild.

According to lawyers involved in the litigation, William Fairchild was driving south on Route 9 in Old Bridge on March 5, 2016, when his Ford Escape crossed the grassy center median and collided head on with a northbound Honda Accord driven by Hope Wells, 37. Fairchild, Wells and a passenger in Wells' vehicle, Charles Kleiman, 62, were all killed in the crash. Kleiman's mother, Lillian Kleiman, 86, and his wife, Dorothy Slattery, 62, who were also in the Honda, were seriously injured.

Fairchild, 45, was employed by Mountain Millwork of Bayville, which owned the vehicle he was driving. An autopsy revealed Fairchild had marijuana and tramadol, a narcotic pain reliever, in his system at the time of the crash, said Gabriel Halpern of Pinilis Halpern in Morristown, who represented Lillian Kleiman.

Slattery, Lillian Kleiman, and the estates of Wells and of Charles Kleiman, filed suits against Fairchild and Mountain Millwork.

Lillian Kleiman sustained a collapsed lung and fractures of the spine, ribs and legs. She was hospitalized and in a rehabilitation center for six months after the crash, and died two years later, according to Halpern.

Slattery sustained fractures of the left arm, spinal fractures and broken ribs. She had four surgical procedures in the weeks after the crash, according to Andrew Calcagno of Calcagno & Associates in Cranford, who along with Glenn Farrell of the same firm represented Slattery and the estate of Charles Kleiman.

Mountain Millwork didn't dispute liability and tendered its $1 million underlying policy and a $5 million umbrella policy with Selective Insurance, according to Calcagno.

The three suits were settled during mediation on Dec. 7, 2018, with Jack Lintner, a former presiding Appellate Division judge now with Norris McLaughlin.

Under the settlement, Slattery and the estate of Charles Kleiman jointly received $4.2 million; the estate of Wells received $1 million; and Kleiman received $800,000, according to Calcagno.

Halpern confirmed the settlement.

The lawyer for Wells' estate, Douglas Burns of Kraemer Burns in Springfield; and Louis DeMille Jr. of Zirulnik, Sherlock & DeMille in Hamilton, who represented Mountain Millwork and the Estate of Fairchild, did not return calls about the case.

— Charles Toutant

$1 Million Auto Case in Essex

Khuu v. Signorelli: A man who sustained a back injury in an accident in traffic on Route 17 settled a suit he filed in Essex County for $1 million on Dec. 26.

On May 27, 2015, Hong Khuu was driving his minivan on southbound Route 17 in Paramus when Victor Signorelli, 23, failed to stop his pickup truck and rear-ended Khuu's vehicle, according to Khuu's attorney, Lance Bitterman of Fredson Statmore Bitterman in Bloomfield.

Khuu, 50 at the time of the accident, underwent chiropractic and physical therapy treatments, and injections, but ultimately had a one-level fusion with implantation of hardware at the lumbar level, Bitterman said, noting that Khuu was out of work for 11 weeks but was able to return to his job as a machine setup operator.

The truck Signorelli was driving was owned by a business, Ting Inc. R. of Anderson, South Carolina, which held the policy on the pickup truck. The accident occurred in Passaic County, though the suit was filed in Essex based on residency, Bitterman said.

The parties were through discovery and had a Jan. 28 trial date, but settled following mediation with Daniel Mecca, a former Superior Court judge, of the Mecca Law Firm in Paramus.

Christopher Conover of Ahmuty, Demers & McManus in Morristown, for the defendant, didn't return a call about the case.

— David Gialanella