Peter Verniero

“ In keeping with that analysis, the Court focuses on the nature of plaintiff's injury and the method by which it was repaired, and places insufficient emphasis on whether the loss of the bodily function objectively satisfies the Act's high bar to recovery. Respectfully, the Court's approach runs the risk of lowering the Act's threshold to the point where it may no longer ensure, as the Legislature intended, that taxpayers are liable for non-economic damages only in aggravated circumstances, when a claimant's loss of a bodily function is permanent and substantial. ”

“ I do not minimize plaintiff's condition or the costs of her surgery. Assuming that she satisfies other elements of the Act, plaintiff would be entitled to full reimbursement of her medical expenses. (The Appellate Division concluded that a trial is necessary to determine whether the recessed valve box was a dangerous condition and whether plaintiff should otherwise be entitled to economic damages. Those aspects of the panel's decision are not before us for review.) For purposes of non-economic damages, however, plaintiff cannot satisfy the rigorous standard embodied in the Act. ”

“ On the other hand the Legislature recognizes that while a private entrepreneur may readily be held liable for negligence within the chosen ambit of his activity, the area within which government has the power to act for the public good is almost without limit and therefore government should not have the duty to do everything that might be done. ”