Articles

Premises Liability

$1.95 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR PARALYSIS

In one of the largest lawsuit settlements in Ocean County, a Red Bank man who was paralyzed in a tree-cutting accident settled part of his suit for $1.95 million.  Mr. M. was hit b a falling tree while he was at Central Regional High School.  Mr. M. was there with a volunteer group from the Beachwood Yacht Club who had undertaken to cut down trees for the school district.  One tree was already on the ground when Mr. M. arrived and he was hit when the second tree toppled.  The impact fractured four vertebrae in his spine.

Mr. M., who was represented by Norman Hobbie, was a retired 16 year veteran of the Eatontown Police Department and is a single parent to his twin daughters.  The yacht club agreed to pay $1 million while members involved in the tree cutting settled for several amounts totaling another $950,000.