Mom not liable on oral promise of payment for son’s surgery

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted February 13, 2023 11:23 AM

The question for a superior court judge in New Jersey was whether the common law “leading object” exception to the statute of frauds applied to a mother’s alleged oral guarantee of payment for a surgeon’s emergency-room work on her adult son after a skateboarding accident.An insurance company paid $1,423 of a $50,626 bill for emergency room services from an out-of-network doctor who worked on William Ralling’s face, elbow and hand. The doctor’s company, Atlantic Plastic & Hand Surgery, sued William’s mother, Sheryl …

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