Rachael practices in our Casualty Department in the areas of premises liability, motor vehicle liability, dram shop liability, products liability and other personal injury matters. Rachael has represented a broad range of individuals in a wide variety of law suits, including many high exposure cases involving commercial vehicles, trucking matters and fleet vehicles. Rachael has also defended large, complex products liability matters in both state and federal court. As an experienced trial lawyer, Rachael has obtained defense verdicts throughout New Jersey.
Additionally, Rachael handles insurance fraud and Special Investigation Unit (SIU) litigation. In this area of fraud investigation, she works closely with our clients assessing and analyzing fraud by both medical providers and falsified claims brought by her client's insureds. She has broad experience in New Jersey Personal Injury Protection (PIP) litigation and appears regularly before the courts and administrative bodies.
Graduating in the top 25 percent of her class, Rachael received her law degree from Rutgers Law School in 2004. While there, Rachael was the new developments editor for the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion. She had the opportunity to clerk for Camden County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Kassel from 2004-2005.
Rachael is an active member of the Milton H. Allen Elementary School’s APAC and volunteers her time with various sport teams for the Medford Youth Athletic Association and Shawnee Ice Hockey Club. Rachael also spent several years as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, serving on the Mercer County chapter’s fundraising committee.
Results
Arbitration Victory Secured in Excessive Testing Case
We successfully defended an insurance carrier in a New Jersey no-fault arbitration matter. The claimant, a pain management provider, filed an arbitration demand in the amount of $125,218 in connection with a baseline urine toxicology screen and subsequent presumptive and confirmatory testing performed on a monthly basis to monitor a patient’s medication regimen. We successfully argued that the extensive testing was being performed without regard to the needs of the patient. After arguments were heard, the arbitrator issued an award in favor of our client, finding that the excessive testing was not medically necessary, saving our client more than $100,000.
Summary Judgment for Spa in Wrongful Death Case Involving Whirlpool.
We obtained summary judgment in a wrongful death case arising from an alleged drowning in a whirlpool at a spa. The decedent, a 73-year-old woman, was found unresponsive by a lifeguard in the client’s whirlpool. There was no evidence as to how long the decedent had been submerged in the hot tub before she was found. The Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and listed the decedent’s primary cause of death as hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with cardiomegaly. Drowning was listed as a significant contributing factor. The plaintiff argued that our client was negligent by positioning the lifeguard in such a manner that the lifeguard would not have a direct line of sight to the bottom of the whirlpool from the lifeguard station, and that, had the plaintiff been discovered earlier, she could have been resuscitated. The defense produced an expert liability report stating that the client was in compliance with all applicable codes and standards. The defense also presented an expert medical report from a cardiologist who opined that the plaintiff suffered sudden cardiac death and could not have been resuscitated. Plaintiff’s counsel relied upon the Medical Examiner’s conclusions to prove medical causation and did not serve a liability report. Without reaching the issue of liability, the court found that the plaintiff did not meet the burden of proof on medical causation. The plaintiff could not simply rely upon the Medical Examiner’s conclusions as to the cause of death as he is not an expert in cardiology.
