| Persistent Legal Work Pays Off - Injury In An | | | | defendants. In order to overcome this, we |
| Accident Whos held Liable? | | | | had to rely on a theory of law called the |
| | | | relation back doctrine. This legal doctrine |
| Here is an example of how extra effort and | | | | holds, in part, that if a party who is not |
| attention to detail can substantially raise | | | | named in the lawsuit is closely related to |
| the value of a personal injury case. | | | | the parties that are and, that party is aware |
| | | | of the claims and, that party knows it should |
| Taxi owners in New York consistently create | | | | have been named, in the first place, it can |
| individual corporations for each taxi | | | | be added to the lawsuit, even if the statute |
| medallion/taxicab, even if they own dozens. | | | | of limitations has run out. Here, we argued |
| This case involved a very sophisticated | | | | that not only were those elements met but, |
| businessman who owned approximately a dozen | | | | that if it weren't for the sneaky way the |
| taxi cab companies, each of which operated as | | | | companies were set up, we would have known |
| part of a larger enterprise but, appeared to | | | | they were viable defendants from the outset. |
| the public to be individual operations. At | | | | |
| the time I took over the case, it appeared | | | | The second problem was that even after we |
| that our client, who had lost his leg from | | | | named all these different companies it was |
| the knee down as a result of the accident, | | | | unclear to what extent each one would be |
| would be limited to the minimal (twenty five | | | | responsible for our client's injuries and, it |
| thousand dollar) policy on the car that hit | | | | was also unclear how much insurance coverage |
| him. Fortunately, after some hard work and | | | | they would have to satisfy his claims. To |
| effective motion practice we were able to | | | | complicate matters, several of the companies |
| negotiate a settlement of close to one | | | | had been dissolved and, it was unclear what, |
| million dollars, still less than what the | | | | if any assets any of them actually owned. |
| injury would have been worth in a clear | | | | Here we got lucky. |
| liability case but, almost forty times what | | | | |
| he stood to get before the work was done. | | | | In the time between the accident and the |
| | | | addition of these other parties to the |
| The cornerstone of the revised strategy arose | | | | lawsuit, the owner of the companies had sold |
| at the defendant's deposition. The witness, | | | | all of them, lock, stock and barrel, to Coach |
| a dispatcher, testified that she was employed | | | | Transportation, the giant Canadian bus |
| by the same company that owned the cab but, | | | | company. While this still left open the |
| when I pressed her to produce a pay stub, | | | | issue of whether we could actually prove |
| which she had in her pocket, we found out she | | | | Coach was liable, it eliminated the questions |
| was actually employed by one of the other | | | | about whether there would be any money |
| companies owned by the same man. We then | | | | available at the end of the day to compensate |
| learned that the dispatch office, garage, | | | | our client. |
| book keeping staff, etc., were all shared | | | | |
| among the various companies. | | | | Ultimately, after some further discovery, |
| | | | including a long, intense deposition of the |
| My research turned up a New York State | | | | former owner that revolved mainly around the |
| Supreme Court case from a few years earlier | | | | maze of corporations he had created and the |
| that dealt favorably (for our purposes) with | | | | way they worked together, we settled for |
| a similar situation. The court in that case | | | | close to a million dollars. |
| held that when a group of companies operates | | | | |
| as a single entity but, presents itself as | | | | As I noted above, this was a discount for a |
| discrete corporations, it constitutes a | | | | below the knee amputation, even in a |
| "fraud upon the public" which can be | | | | conservative venue like Nassau County but, |
| redressed by holding all the companies and | | | | even though we won on some important |
| maybe even the principals liable, instead of | | | | procedural issues that allowed us to add the |
| limiting the injured party's right to | | | | other companies and, ultimately Coach, as |
| recovery to just the one, small corporation | | | | defendants, there was a serious question as |
| with no assets and minimal insurance | | | | to whether, when push came to shove, the case |
| coverage. The theory was applicable but, | | | | could actually be proven against them. If it |
| there were several obstacles to overcome. | | | | couldn't, our client would be stuck with the |
| | | | same twenty five thousand dollars that was on |
| The first problem was that the statute of | | | | the table from the get go. In the end, he |
| limitations had long since run out on the | | | | made the right decision. He would have been |
| case, meaning that it was too late to start a | | | | taking too big a risk by taking the case to |
| new lawsuit naming the other corporations as | | | | trial. |