6-10-09 John Bardis and Helen Bardis v. First Trenton
Insurance Company (A-110-07)
The Court concludes that there are strong reasons supporting the
rule that the Underinsured Motorist (UIM) litigation proceed in
the name of the tortfeasor rather than the insurer, that these
reasons ordinarily militate in favor of identifying the
defendant in the trial by using the name of the tortfeasor, and
that the decision to identify the UIM insurer as the defendant
instead remains a matter left to the sound discretion of the
trial judge should circumstances dictate. The Court further
concludes that payment of PIP benefits for treatment of an
injury is irrelevant to the question of causation of that
injury. In addition, the closing argument by counsel disavowing
his and the actual tortfeasor’s knowledge about the insurer’s
employee and her decisions to make PIP payments had the capacity
to confuse the jury, and its admissioerror.
Richard Sadowski
Assistant Editor
