Page 28 - CLT060721

28 ■ JUNE 7, 2021

VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS

Connecticut Judge Awards Nearly $550K

Following Bench Trial in Personal Injury Case

By Robert Storace

estimony during a one-day bench trial from
the victim of a two-car accident, his wife and
This treating physician helped clinch a $544,806
verdict, according to plaintiffs counsel Jessica Ayala.
The words under oath of all three individuals, but
especially plaintiff Leland Rummel and Dr. Michael
Halperin, cemented the verdict in New London Su-
perior Court, Ayala said.
“My client’s testimony was very compelling,” said
Ayala, a litigation attorney with Carter Mario Injury
Lawyers in Milford. “He was personable and honest,
and talked of the many limitations as a result of the
accident. He sits at work for 10-hour shifts as a 911
dispatcher, and that causes great pain. He also told
the judge that he has difficulty caring for his yard,
bending and doing things like shoveling snow,” Aya-
la said.
It was perhaps though the testimony of Hal-
perin, who is with Orthopedic Partners in North
Franklin, that could have been the deciding factor
for Superior Court Judge Cynthia Swienton, Ayala
said.
Leland Rummel was injured after the white Mazda
While the defense tried to make the argument he was driving was struck on the front driver side by
that Rummel’s injuries—primarily to his lower another motorist. The case went to verdict in a bench
back—dated back to 2011 when an MRI on that part trial Wednesday and Rummel was awarded $544,806.
of his body showed a disc bulge, Halperin countered Courtesy photo.
the lower-back surgery Rummel underwent after Halperin testified Wednesday “that there was a
the January 2018 Montville car crash was because of link to the accident and that the surgery was because
that collision. of the crash and not because of a preexisting condi-
“Dr. Halperin was very helpful to our case,” Ayala tion. The defense had an expert that said otherwise,”
said. “Although the 2011 MRI showed a disc bulge, Ayala said.
he never had surgery or treatment or recommenda- Rummel’s surgery following the car accident in-
tion of surgery. It was an isolated incident,” Ayala volved a fusion of two vertebrae in his lower back,
said. Ayala said.

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