1. Court Orders Substantial Reduction in Pain and Suffering
Damages in Severe Orthopedic and Brain Injury Trauma
Case
A 26 year old restaurant deliveryman was bicycling in
the Bedford-Stuyversant section of Brooklyn on June
4, 2005, on his way to make a food delivery from
King’s Men Restaurant, when a car struck him from
behind.

2. Jing Xue Jiang flew through the air and the
next thing he remembered was waking up
at Kings County Hospital.
Jiang sustained fractures of his left leg,
right arm and several spinal vertebrae, a
concussion and a subarachnoid
hemorrhage. While the cause of the
accident was not much of an issue (at trial
defense counsel acknowledged the driver’s
negligence), the parties disagreed
completely about the proper amount of
pain and suffering damages due Mr. Jiang.
On May 6, 2010, a Kings County jury ruled
on the amount of damages and returned a
pain and suffering verdict in the sum of
$6,000,000 ($3,000,000 past – 5 years,
$3,000,000 future – 44 years).

3. In Jiang v. Dollar Rent a Car, Inc. (2d Dept.
2012), an appellate court has now ordered a
$1,000,000 reduction in the damages award.
The judges found that the verdict for past and
future pain and suffering exceeded by
$500,000 each what was reasonable
compensation. The reduced award now
stands at $5,000,000.
Here are details of the injuries sustained by the plaintiff (there
was no mention of them at all in court’s decision):
Left Leg – compound, comminuted tibia and fibula fractures
requiring external fixation and then internal fixation with a rod
and four screws
Right Arm – compound radius and ulna fractures requiring open
reduction and internal fixation with a metal plate and seven
screws
Spinal – C-4 fracture of vertebral body and T-12, L-1, L-2 and L-3
transverse process fractures
Ribs -six bilateral fractures
Brain – countercoup injury with diffuse axonal shearing that
caused permanent brain damage.

4. Defense counsel disputed the existence
of any brain injury and argued that the
injuries were exclusively orthopedic; as
to the orthopedic injuries, the defense
medical experts (orthopedic surgeon
Herbert S. Sherry, M.D., neurologist
Monette G. Basson, M.D. and
neuropsychologist David M. Mahalick,
Ph.D.) concluded that Jiang’s head injury
was minor and had resolved quickly, he
was steadily healing and would need no
further surgery of any kind.

5. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that Jiang sustained
devastating orthopedic and brain injuries:
an orthopedic expert (Drew A.Stein, M.D.) opined that
plaintiff remained in great pain with significant limitations
in range of motion in his leg and arm and will almost
certainly require an ankle or knee replacement or both.
a neurosurgical expert (Jeffrey D. Klein, M.D.)
recommended that Jiang undergo a cervical diskectomy
and fusion with plating at C4-5.
a neurologist (Jerome Block, M.D.) and a
neuropsychologist (Marcia Knight, Ph.D.) testified that
Jiang suffered a serious traumatic brain injury (TBI) with
chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, bradyphrenia
(slowness of thought) and impaired memory and
executive functioning.

6. Inside Information:
This was likely one of the last personal injury cases in
which a rental car company could be held vicariously
liable under New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law Section
388 in view of a 2005 federal law (the so called Graves
Amendment) which preempts such cases and applies to
lawsuits filed after August 2005 (Jiang filed a month
earlier).
Jiang was born in China, emigrated here in 2002 and lived
in the back of the Chinese restaurant where he worked.
He spoke only Mandarin and Fuzhounese and had to
testify through an interpreter.
In closing arguments, plaintiff’s attorney asked the jury to
award $15,000,000 for pain and suffering damages,
including $9,000,000 for brain injuries; defense counsel
said that the jury should award damages only for
plaintiff’s orthopedic injuries (he did not suggest a figure).
The jury also awarded and the appeals court affirmed
$125,000 for future medical expenses.
http://www.newyorkinjurycasesblog.com

7. POSTED BY ATTORNEY RENE G.
GARCIA
Some of our clients have suffered
this kind of injuries due to a serious
accident. The Garcia Law Firm, P.C.
was able to successfully handle
these types of cases. For a free
consultation please call us at 1-
866- SCAFFOLD or 212-725-1313