Home > Practice Areas > Negligence/Serious Injury > Cases/Verdicts > Man Injured When Prank Goes Awry

Man Injured When Prank Goes Awry

In August 2000, a volunteer firefighter was injured at a firefighter convention in Little Valley, New York. The victim sustained a grade III shoulder separation, requiring two shoulder surgeries. The defendant firefighter's insurance company refused to settle the case. The court scheduled two separate trials with two separate juries: the first to determine liability and the second to assess damages. Attorneys John Comerford and Neil McKinnon presented testimony for five days regarding liability to the jury. The jury deliberated for two hours and found the defendant partly at fault. The parties reached a confidential settlement a few weeks prior to the damages trial.