Cherry Hill, NJ (June 18, 2025) – After a nine week trial, on June 9th Rawle & Henderson partners Michael Dunn and Susan Dean obtained defense verdicts for their commercial farming clients in Camden County, New Jersey (NJ) Superior Court. The plaintiffs in the consolidated action, involving an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) accident, claimed injuries including an above-knee leg amputation and traumatic brain injuries.

Both plaintiffs alleged that Rawle’s clients, a Limited Liability Company engaged in commercial farming and the individual owner of the business, improperly placed a stationery trailer housing migrant farm workers on what plaintiffs claimed was public property/a public right of way. The Municipality where the accident occurred was also a named defendant.  The accident involved a single passenger ATV operated by the 29-year-old male plaintiff, which collided with the trailer. The male plaintiff sustained a traumatic brain injury and other internal injuries; the 26-year-old plaintiff passenger, a registered nurse, suffered an above-knee amputation of her left leg and other injuries.

Ms. Dean and Mr. Dunn established that the ATV was being operated in violation of applicable Municipal ordinances, including the fact that it was a single passenger vehicle; no helmets were worn by either occupant; and the ATV was being operated on a public road at 1:00 a.m. in the morning when the accident occurred. Evidence presented at trial by the defense toxicologist demonstrated that the driver of the ATV had a blood alcohol content nearly double the legal limit at the time of the accident, and that he was significantly impaired as a result.

In addition, the defense established that their clients were not the cause of the accident, and that the placement and location of the trailer did not constitute a public nuisance, nor a dangerous condition of public property.

Throughout the trial and closing arguments, the plaintiff passenger alleged she could never return to work as a registered nurse because of her injuries. Her economic damage claims alone exceeded $10M, and her lowest pre-trial settlement demand was $20.5 million. The second plaintiff, the driver of the ATV, claimed to have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident, and his experts maintained that he was susceptible to early dementia due to the traumatic brain injury. His lowest pre-trial settlement demand was $8.5 million.

After deliberating less than three hours, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict finding the plaintiff driver negligent, and that his negligence was the sole proximate cause of the accident. Neither of Rawle’s clients, nor the co-defendant Municipality were determined to be at fault for the accident.

About Rawle & Henderson LLP:  Founded in 1783, Rawle & Henderson has been recognized by the American Bar Association as the oldest law firm in continuous practice in the United States. With 11 offices in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, its lawyers represent the interests of corporations, businesses, individuals and their insurers.  For more information, visit http://www.rawle.com