OUTCOME: $4.2 million dollar verdict for plaintiff
I proved that my client's colorectal surgeon violated the standard of care by failing to consult client's prescribing neurologist about management of anticoagulation (Coumadin) for surgery, instead ins...tructing him to stop the medication five days prior to the procedure causing a severe intraoperative ischemic stroke and resulting permanent stroke deficits including right hemiplegia and epileptic seizure disorder.
Personal injury
Hutchinson v. City of Shelton
Dec 08, 2015
OUTCOME: $339,000.00 plaintiff's verdict
I represented a young man who proceeded through a stop sign controlled intersection without stopping causing a violent collision with another car and a fracture of his tibia - fibula bone in his right ...leg. Our claim proceeded under Connecticut's municipal highway defect law which requires towns and city's to maintain their streets and intersections free of hazards and defects. Unfortunately, that law carries with it a very high evidentiary standard of proof known as sole proximate cause. In its simplest terms, sole proximate cause means that there can be no other substantial cause for producing an accident other than the one being claimed. We ultimately proved that the City of Shelton failed to exercise reasonable care under the statute for failing to trim back overgrown vegetation that we claimed blocked my client's view of the stop sign, and that the City's violation was the sole proximate cause of the collision. During trial, the City claimed that: 1) there was no defect in the sign; 2) it was not negligent; and 3) my client was inattentive while driving and therefore responsible for the accident. Prior to trial, the City declined to make any settlement offer to compensate my client, claiming instead that the accident was his fault and refusing to voluntarily accept any legal responsibility. After the first day of evidence, the City changed its mind and offered us $50,000 to settle which we refused.
