AUTOMOBILES – ACCIDENT – DAMAGES
04-2-3400 Rizzo v. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, App. Div. (per curiam) (15 pp.) Plaintiff’s van was broadsided by another vehicle, causing the van to flip on its side, dragging plaintiff’s elbow along the ground and causing severe injuries. Here, plaintiffs appeal from the judgment of no cause of action in favor of defendant, New Jersey Manufacturers Ins. Co. on their UIM claim, and the order denying their motion for a new trial, or in the alternative, additur. Finding that the jury’s evaluation was skewed by a cramped consideration of only the final result of the operative procedures endured by plaintiff, i.e., how plaintiff’s scar appeared at trial, and failed to include any fair and reasoned consideration of the other aspects of plaintiff’s claim for damages, the appellate panel concluded that the verdict was manifestly unjust and that plaintiff is entitled to a new trial on the issue of damages. [Decided April 8, 2009.]
