Attorneys

Todd Drayton is a civil trial attorney with Martin, Kane, Kuper whose litigation expertise crosses multiple practice areas.  Mr. Drayton primarily represents victims in personal injury matters, which include medical malpractice, automobile accident, fall down and product liability cases.  Mr. Drayton also presently manages the firm’s mass torts litigation department, which includes almost 70 clients with defective hip claims against Stryker Corporation and numerous other clients with claims against the manufacturers of Levaquin, a pharmaceutical drug linked to various tendon ruptures in the body.

In April 2010, Mr. Drayton appeared before the Appellate Division and successfully argued the matter of Ruben Betancourt v. Trinitas Hospital, a high profile case involving controversial end-of-life issues, which include a patient’s constitutional right to direct his or her own healthcare.  At issue in Betancourt was whether or not Trinitas Hospital, over objection of the Betancourt family, could unilaterally terminate life-sustaining medical care to Reuben Betancourt based upon its own internal opinion that continued treatment was “medically futile.”  In August, the Appellate Division rendered a published opinion agreeing with Mr. Drayton and several amicus curae appearing on behalf of the Betancourt family, and dismissing Trinitas Hospital’s appeal.  By declaring moot all issues raised by the hospital, the Appellate Division let stand the lower court ruling that denied Trinitas Hospital from unilaterally terminating Mr. Betancourt’s life-sustaining medical care.

According to elder law and estate attorney, Donald Vanarelli, Betancourt was one of the most requested judicial opinions in 2009. (See e.g., http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2009/11/betancourt-v-trinitas-most-requested-nj.html. For excerpts of the oral argument, see the below articles.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/nj_appellate_court_to_rule_on.html

http://njtoday.net/2010/04/30/trinitas-wants-ok-to-refuse-life-support-to-patients

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/05/new_jersey_needs_independent_p.html

For further reaction to the decision, see the below articles.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/nj_appeals_court_declines_ruli.html

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/08/nj_court_rightly_urges_legisla.html

http://njtoday.net/2010/08/13/appeals-court-dismisses-”do-not-resuscitate”-case

http://njjewishnews.com/article/statewide/two-orthodox-groups-back-patient-autonomy

http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/2010/08/17/court-declines-to-weigh-in-on-nj-end-of-life-case/43686

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100819_Who_should_decide_when_care_is_futile_.html

Last year, Mr. Drayton filed suit in another high profile case highlighting the hate crime in New Jersey which has notoriously come to be known as “poppy hunting.”  In Estate of Tista v. Glaspar, et. als., Mr. Drayton represents the family of the late Lazaro Tista, an undocumented Hispanic father of eight, who was robbed and savagely beaten to death in 2007 in Plainfield.  This case marks the first time the State’s Attorney in Union County has ever prosecuted anyone under New Jersey’s bias crime statute. (See e.g.,
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/family_of_plainfield_man_beate.html)

In October 2010, Mr. Drayton was interviewed on camera by James Dolan of ABC’s Eyewitness News in connection with the reported suicide of Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi.  Mr. Clementi’s suicide garnered national headlines last September when the freshman reportedly jumped from the George Washington Bridge to his death after a sexual encounter with him and another man was secretly broadcast over the internet.  At the time, ABC News was investigating whether or not bias or hate crime charges could be brought against the individuals accused of secretly making the broadcast.

Among some of his recent accomplishments, Mr. Drayton won unanimous verdicts of $250,000 and $168,000 in Middlesex County Superior Court in motor vehicle accident cases where his clients claimed permanent injuries arising solely from disc bulges, herniations or muscle spasm.  Mr. Drayton also won a similar verdict for another of his clients in Somerset County Superior Court under largely the same facts.  In all cases, the defendants unsuccessfully asserted defenses under New Jersey’s verbal threshold law.

Prior to joining Martin Kane Kuper Mr. Drayton practiced in the areas of product liability, pharmaceutical injury and asbestos litigation with the law firm of Seeger Weiss LLP of New York for nearly a decade.

Mr. Drayton received his Juris Doctor degree from the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  While in law school, he received several distinctions, including the highest honors for legal writing and research.  Prior to law school, Mr. Drayton graduated from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.  As an undergraduate, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Political Science and English, and was inducted into Sigma Tau Delta, National English Honor Society.  There, too, Mr. Drayton distinguished himself receiving numerous academic honors, most notably “Collegiate Scholastic All-American Scholar” and “Distinguished African-American Student.”

Mr. Drayton is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Areas of Practice:

• Personal Injury
• Medical Malpractice
• Product Liability
• Mass Torts
• Class Actions
• Municipal Matters

Litigation Percentage:

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:

• New Jersey, 1997
• Pennsylvania, 1998

Education:

• Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
  Juris Doctor, 1997
  Honors: Best Paper of Semester, 1995
  Honors: Distinguished Class Performance, 1994
  Honors: Dean’s Honor List, 1996, 1997
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA, 1994
  B.A.
  Honors: Dean’s Honor List, 1992
  Honors: Collegiate Scholastic All-American Scholar, 1994
  Honors: Distinguished African-American Student, 1994
  Honors: National English Honor Society, 1994

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• Pennsylvania Bar Association, 1998 – Present
  Member
• New Jersey State Bar Association, 1997 – Present
  Member

Past Employment Positions

• Seeger Weiss LLP, Associate, 2000 – 2008

Pro Bono Activities

• The Love of Jesus Family Church, 1999 – Present

Fraternities/Sororities:

• Omega Psi Phi