OUTCOME: Money for the bicyclist, reduced medical bills
•We just settled a bike/car collision case at Madison's intersection with the City's highest accident rate. A car turning right on red was looking left for oncoming traffic, and failed to notice a bike... rider who had just started to cross with the walk light directly in front of the motorist. The injured bicyclist had recently obtained new employment, and his health insurance was scheduled to start in a couple of weeks. In addition to getting him money for his pain and suffering, we were able to resolve the outstanding medical bills for 50% of the original amount.
Personal injury
Car accident-soft tissue injury
Jan 01, 2015
OUTCOME: Compensation for the injured
Settled a lawsuit for $110,000 in December for a client who suffered soft tissue type injuries when she was rear-ended in Walworth County by an uninsured motorist who then filed bankruptcy. Most of our... cases are settled or won without the need for a jury trial.
DUI and DWI
OWI/DUI arrest
Jan 01, 2014
OUTCOME: Charges dismissed
•Defective taillights: A common reason for our clients being stopped by police is defective equipment-a headlight out, a taillight broken or not working-that sort of thing. These traffic stops seldom o...ccur in daylight hours. Most occur after 10pm when there are fewer cars on the road for officers to watch, and, one might guess, police officers would be more likely to want to make a traffic stop to see if the drivers have been drinking. In our recent case, client had one bulb out in her taillight, but did have a working taillight on both the passenger and driver sides of her vehicle. There was no bad driving involved-just the taillight, according to the police report. A recent Court of Appeals case determined that these lights don't have to be perfect-a driver just has to have a working taillight on each side of the vehicle to warn those coming up from behind. At our law office, we read the law, and we were aware of this new case. We brought it to the attention of the Court, and after some in-court discussion and argument, the Court found that we were right, the traffic stop was improper, and therefore all evidence obtained from the traffic stop was suppressed. With no evidence to present, the City attorney did not contest our motion to dismiss the case.
Personal injury
Slips and falls-money for your injury
Jan 01, 2014
OUTCOME: Money for these innocent victims
•We recently settled four slip/fall cases out of our Madison office. These cases are always difficult, and many lawyers don't even want to discuss slip/fall cases with potential clients. We do quite we...ll with them- one involved a tenant who fell on a defective step at her rental property, and was settled without filing a lawsuit for $45,000. Another involved a tenant who caught her foot on a broken stair, causing her to fall, and this one also settled without having to file suit for $17,500. A third injury was caused by a negligent car dealership when an employee moved a car from the showroom, but failed to remove the clear lexan pieces that were under the car tires to protect the floor- that case was in suit, but settled before trial for $41,000. The final slip/fall case we resolved in December for $100,000- landlord failed to remove build-up of snow and ice from the trash and recycle area he provided for tenants, and as could be predicted, a tenant fell, fracturing her leg. We told all of these people the WE CAN HELP, and their cases were resolved with good results
Personal injury
Moped death
Jan 01, 2013
OUTCOME: Money for the family
•We handled a wrongful death case that was turned down by a large personal injury law firm that told the client there was no insurance available. We found insurance and obtained more than $400,000 for... the family that lost its father.
DUI and DWI
OWI Collateral attack
Jan 01, 2013
OUTCOME: Reduced charges
•Collateral Attacks: What? Yes, the latest thing for those who did not learn from their first couple of OWI convictions, and now have a 3rd, 4th, 5th offense OWI charge. Yes, we tell those clients of o...urs that it would be a lot less expensive for them to drink at home and not drive, but everyone makes mistakes. Some make them more frequently than others. So, what is a collateral attack? Simply put, we look at client's prior convictions to see whether it appears that they were advised of their right to have an attorney, and of their right to trial. If it appears the prior Court took some shortcuts, or did not document client's proper waiver of these rights, we can challenge the right of the Court in the new case to count one or more of the prior convictions. That is a collateral attack. We have been successful 50% of the time when we have brought these challenges. When successful, the clients get much less jail time, less revocation time, and smaller fines. In one recent 5th offense felony case, we successfully challenged one prior conviction, and that resulted in client being convicted of a 4th offense misdemeanor rather than a felony. Saved him money for fines, avoided many months of jail time, and avoided him becoming a felon. Your attorney should be aware the benefits of a collateral attack in the appropriate case. We are.
DUI and DWI
DUI? OWI? Maybe not!
Jan 01, 2012
OUTCOME: Reduced to inattentive driving
•In Fond du Lac, we were successful in getting an OWI charge reduced to inattentive driving when we discovered the arresting officer failed to follow the rules for conducting a breath test, along with ...other errors he made in procedure.
Personal injury
Fall at fast food restaurant
Jan 01, 2012
OUTCOME: Money for the injured client
•We recently settled a claim against a fast food restaurant involving a fall due to ice build-up near their entry door. The cause? No, not a bad winter in Wisconsin. It was due to a bad roof design-to ...prevent water from dripping on customers as they entered, the store had a flat bar at an angle on the roof which directed the water away from the entrance, and onto a portion of the sidewalk where customers walked. What happened? In winter, as ice and snow melted on the roof, it ran down until it hit the barricade, and was directed onto the sidewalk, where it promptly froze. It had to be a frequent problem, but no one bothered to put salt on it. After our claim, the restaurant reconstructed the roof to make it safe, so not only did our client receive compensation for his injury-he helped prevent injury to others by encouraging the restaurant to correct the problem. That is one of the goals of our personal injury system- to make places and products safer for consumers. It worked here!
