A jury award obtained in March by the Bridgeport-based law firm Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder is ranked the 12th largest monetary settlement nationally for 2013, American Lawyer Media announced recently. New York City-based American Lawyer Media publishes the National Law Journal.
A federal jury awarded $41.75 million in the case involving a girl who contracted a life-altering disease while on a school trip to China.
Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder represented Cara Munn of New York City, a former student of The Hotchkiss School, a private boarding school in Lakeville. In 2007, Munn joined a school-organized trip to China, where she contracted tick-borne encephalitis that ultimately left her unable to speak.
“Our top-50 ranking, called ”˜Big Money Wins,”™ catalogs the extraordinary accomplishments of plaintiffs”™ lawyers using the best measure available ”” the amount of the jury verdict award or settlement,” said Lisa Ann Roberts, spokesperson for the National Law Journal.
The full list was published by the journal Oct. 22.
“The verdict in Munn v. Hotchkiss waves a red flag in front of school officials who fail to take basic safety precautions to protect the minor children in their care,” said attorney Antonio Ponvert III, who represented Munn and tried the case. “Cara and her family are hopeful that her experience will protect other children from life-altering injury.”
The journal also said the award is the largest nonmedical malpractice award in Connecticut history to date.
In an earlier case, D”™Attilo v. Viscarello Maternal-Fetal Care, Koskoff attorneys obtained the largest medical malpractice judgment in Connecticut history. Attorneys Kathleen Nastri and James Horwitz obtained a superior court award of $58 million in 2011 for the family of Daniel Jacob D”™Attilo, who suffered severe cerebral palsy at birth as a result of critical errors on the part of his obstetrician.
