Civil suits to ramp up in 2018 Schoharie limo crash

The next chapter is starting in the Schoharie limo crash story, and it will likely be a very long, drawn out chapter.

Now that the criminal case against limo operator Nauman Hussain has been resolved, a long list of civil suits will ramp up, and the biggest target will be on Mavis Discount Tire.

Right in the middle of Nauman Hussain’s plea agreement, it says "the proximate cause of the 2001 Ford Excursion’s catastrophic brake failure was Mavis’ failure to properly service the vehicle."

That essentially tees it up for the numerous, pending civil suits against the national auto repair chain.

"There have been a series of motions made by Mavis disclaiming any liability in this case," said Daniel S.L. Rubin, with Girvin & Ferlazzo.

They were the first law firm to file a civil suit, representing the family of 29-year-old victim, Amanda Rivenburg. Rubin says attorneys for the families have been able to defeat those motions by Mavis, but he expects similar tactics going forward.

"If I were Mavis’ attorney, I would be very, very afraid of the verdict that’s going to come down in this case," he said. "You have a significant loss of life, you have some pretty despicable facts in terms of what they failed to do. I think a delay is a definitely a tactic that they’re willing to employ."

Mavis has been silent of late, failing to respond to requests for comment, including several over the last 24 hours. However, they released a statement in June 2020 to NewsChannel 13:

"Mavis bears no legal responsibility for this tragedy and the events that led up to it, and we will defend ourselves vigorously against all claims."

It took three years for the families to see the conclusion of the criminal case. How much longer could the civil matters drag on?
Hear Rubin talk about that, and what his advice would be for Mavis if they were his client, by watching the video of Jerry Gretzinger’s story.