Lawyers: Aunt Who Sued Nephew Was Forced To Go To Court
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Lawyers for a New York City woman who unsuccessfully sued her nephew for injuries sustained after a lively greeting at his birthday party four years ago say she was forced to go to court by Connecticut law and was "never looking for money" from him.
Jennifer Connell's $127,000 lawsuit against 12-year-old Sean Tarala was rejected by a jury Tuesday. Connell said she broke her wrist when Tarala, then 8, jumped into her arms, causing her to fall.
"I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen I love you,' and there he was flying at me," she said. "All of a sudden, he was there in the air. I had to catch him, and we tumbled to the ground."
Connell's law firm, Conneticut-based Jainchill & Beckert, said Tarala's parents' insurance company offered her $1 and Connell had no choice but to sue to help pay for medical expenses.
Peter Kochenburger, an insurance law specialist at the University of Connecticut School of Law, said state law typically requires those claiming injury to sue the individual responsible.
"When you sue and when a lawyer takes a case like this, they have to consider the consequences," CBS2 legal analyst Rikki Kleeman told WCBS 880' Stephanie Colombini.
"I think any reasonable look at it would make her look like a very, very bad aunt," she added.
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