Verdicts & Settlements
County Jury Awards Winola Road Car-Accident Victim $275G
Scranton Times 10/3/98
A $275,000 damage award and two rulings for the defense were among the verdicts reached by Lackawanna County juries following trials during the current term of civil court.
The award was made to a woman who was injured in a 1995 vehicle accident along a second of Winola Road in Clarks Summit that has been the subject of debate over the way traffic on it should be controlled.
The verdicts in which the defendants were not found liable involved a plastic surgeon who surgically removed a skin cancer and a 1996 traffic accident at Hickory Street and North Washington Avenue.
Gloria Brower, Factoryville, who suffered a fractured forearm and a rotator cuff injury, was the recipient of the monetary award in the Clarks Summit mishap. The defendant in the case, presided over by Senior Judge S. John Cottone, was Yong Kum Chang, 803 Puritan Road, Waverly.
The accident happened when Ms. Brower's vehicle traveling toward State Street, was struck by a car that pulled out of Center St. The opening of a nearby shopping center, which greatly increased traffic, sparked spirited arguments on where and what kind of traffic signals should be placed in the area.
A pre-trial summary filed by Attorney Matthew Cartwright, who represented Ms. Brower, said she was seeking $300,000 the limits on the defendant's auto insurance policy. The summary said the insurance carrier, which was represented by Atty. Carl Guagliardo, was offering $68,000.00
