Cox v. Valley Fair Corp.

I must dissent from the Court’s affirmance of the Appellate Division’s remand of Ruby Cox’s suit for a new trial as to damages. I take this position because I am of the view that the trial summation by counsel for plaintiffs constituted reasonable advocacy of a client’s cause and did not offend the rule as reaffirmed by this Court in Botta v. Brunner, 26 N.J. 82 (1958), prohibiting an attorney from importuning a jury to use a per diem formula to measure damages for pain and suffering.

The Court in Botta v. Brunner, in holding that it is improper for an attorney “to suggest to the jury in…