Trial Magazine

Jorge Amparo, 45, was traveling on an interstate highway in rainy conditions during heavy traffic. Evans Delivery Co. driver Jose Ayala was operating an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer in the roadway’s middle or left lane while talking on his ­cellphone. As Amparo stopped for traffic in the left lane, Ayala rear-ended his vehicle, causing it to collide with the vehicle in front of him. Emergency workers used the jaws of life to extract Amparo, who was taken to a nearby hospital. He underwent a diskectomy to treat a herniation at L5-S1 and required rehabilitation. Despite this treatment, he has been diagnosed as having failed back syndrome, necessitating physical therapy and epidural injections. He also suffers from post-concussion syndrome, which affects his ability to concentrate or continue working as a forklift operator earning $70,000 annually. His medical expenses were almost $302,000.

Amparo and his wife sued Ayala, Evans Delivery Co., and truck owners Daniel E. Matos and D. Matos Transport, Inc., alleging that Ayala had been following too closely behind Amparo and was distracted by a phone call at the time of the collision. The plaintiffs asserted that Ayala had either entered the left lane or lost control of the ­tractor-trailer before rear-ending Amparo’s vehicle.

The jury awarded approximately $15 million, including more than $727,500 to Amparo’s wife.

Citation: Amparo v. Ayala, No. FST-CV16-6029461-S (Conn. Jud. Dist. Stamford/Norwalk May 22, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Brenden P. Leydon and Nicholas E. Wocl, both of Stamford, Conn.; and Todd Miller, Allentown, Pa.

Plaintiff experts: Paul Atchley, cognitive psychology, Lawrence, Kan.; Stephen Benanti, accident reconstruction, Framingham, Mass.; Alex Karras, life care planning, Jamison, Pa.; Walter Guntharp, trucking industry, Indianapolis; Guy Fried, physiatry, Philadelphia; Gene Salkind, neurosurgery, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.; and Andrew Verzilli, economics, Lansdale, Pa.

Defense experts: Richard Bernstein, orthopedics, Hamden, Conn.; and Kirk O. Cummings, trucking, Lapeer, Mich.