Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman makes it look easy. In December, litigator David Mazie and associate Beth Baldinger won a groundbreaking verdict against a child protective services agency. It was one of the largest verdicts against such a defendant and the largest jury verdict in New Jersey history, Mazie said. The jury awarded $166 million to then-4-year-old Jadiel Velesquez, who was left brain damaged when his father beat him two months after the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services learned of possible abuse but didn’t remove him from his home. The state offered to settle for $10 million, but Mazie held out, and with good reason — Mazie said he hasn’t lost a jury trial since the 1990s.
John North, the attorney who represented the state, said having a “sympathetic plaintiff” played in Mazie’s favor. Still, he added, “I don’t want to take away from Dave in terms of his preparation for a case. You have to get the right experts and put on a good case to the jury.” North is at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis. The case now heads to a state Superior Court judge, who will consider a possible retrial.
