Client is Fighting for the Right to Present His Personal Injury Case to a Jury
Client, a painter hired to help finish a hotel build in New Hampshire, sustained life altering, permanent crush injuries when a stack of thick, heavy glass fell on his leg.
Prior to Attorney Diaz's representation, client hired counsel who withdrew representation. The trial court dismissed the first lawsuit when client, then unrepresented, did not notify the court of substitute representation.
Attorney Diaz took on the personal injury case and filed a second lawsuit claiming damages for the same injury. The defendants, large construction companies represented by big law firms, moved to dismiss the second suit. The defendants argued that when the trial court dismissed the first lawsuit the case was over and a second suit could not be filed.
"New Hampshire courts must make every effort to reach a judgment on the merits, to achieve the ends of justice unobstructed by imaginary barriers of form."
Over the plaintiff's objection trial court granted the defendants' motion. Attorney Diaz appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court asking it to reverse the trial court's dismissal.
On Appeal, Attorney Diaz argued that the defendant construction companies sought dismissal of the second lawsuit based on an imaginary barrier of form over substance. Under New Hampshire law, the trial court made a mistake by not allowing his client to present his case to a jury. See Appellant's brief:
Oral argument was held in March 2022. The matter was argued before a panel of New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices. As of November 12, 2022, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has not yet published its decision.
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