Notable Wins by Capehart Scatchard

Client: Founders Insurance/Penn National Insurance 

Court: Superior Court of New Jersey -Bergen County

Brief Attorney: Edward F. Kuhn, III, Esq.

**Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances**

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Lulla rear-ended him causing serious and permanent injuries. Plaintiff also alleged that the accident was caused by an unidentified car that stopped short in front of him to allow another unidentified car to exit from a parking lot. As such, Plaintiff sought uninsured motorist coverage from his carrier, Founders Insurance for the negligence of the unidentified cars.

Discovery showed that neither of the unidentified cars acted in any negligent manner. Plaintiff was able to bring his car to a stop without hitting the car in front of him that he alleged “stopped short.” Defendant Lulla testified that Plaintiff stopped in front of him and Lulla was simply not able to stop his car in time before impacting the rear of Plaintiff’s car.

We filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Founders arguing that no negligence could be found on either of the unidentified cars and Plaintiff was thus not entitled to uninsured coverage.

The court issued an order and opinion granting Founders’ motion. The court held that it agreed with Founders’ position that the testimony of the parties proved there was no evidence of negligence on either of the unidentified cars. This was simply a rear-end car accident case between Plaintiff and Lulla. No other cars caused or contributed to causing the accident. Therefore, Plaintiff is not entitled to uninsured motorist coverage from Founders. All claims and crossclaims against Founders were dismissed with prejudice.