Charlie Buttrey

November 16, 2019

I have returned from a delightful few days in Edinburgh where, for whatever reason, the wifi connection I had would not let me access the blog.

Which brings me to today’s post (courtesy of a regular reader), combining three of my favorite things: the law, sports and coaching.

It seems that 15-year-old Jake Mesar, a freshman at Bound Brook (N.J.) High School was playing baseball.  As he attempted to stretch a double into a triple, the third-base coach told him to slide. He did, but in so doing, he sustained a grisly injury to his ankle, requiring five surgeries, and ending any dreams he might have had of a future in competitive athletics. So, Jake’s parents did what any parent in similar circumstances would do.

They sued.

Specifically, they alleged that the third base coach was reckless.

Some seven years after the incident, following an appeal which overturned the trial court’s initial dismissal of the action, the case went to trial.

Not surprisingly, the jury concluded that the coach (who would not have had to have paid out of his pocket for any damages, since he was covered by the school district’s insurance policy) was not reckless.

But imagine the reverberating consequences had the verdict gone the other way.

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