SLIP AND FALL ON NEGLIGENTLY MAINTAINED PARKING LOT DELAWARE COUNTY PA
Jul 20, 2005
OUTCOME: $ 205,000.00 JURY VERDICT
I had the privilege of representing a man who suffered injuries to his neck and shoulder when he slipped and fell on a patch of ice located just 20 feet from the entrance to his place of employment. Th...e ice had accumulated over the previous weekend. The defendant property owner and its' snow removal company failed to properly inspect the premises prior to the opening for business on a Monday morning and failed to properly salt, sand or cinder the area in question. My client did not retain me until 18 months after his accident. Initially, he was thought to have suffered only a fractured shoulder. However, as time went on and as symptoms began to appear in his arms and legs in the form of weakness and spasm, it was ultimately determined, after 16 months, that he had sustained a herniated cervical disc, which was pressing directly against his spinal cord. Thus, in May of 2002 he had surgery to correct the herniated disc, however, the longstanding pressure of the disc material against the spinal cord resulted in permanent injuries. In spite of his injuries, my client was able to return to his job as a social worker for a local Department of Children and Youth Services and continues in that employment to this date. After a 5-day trial, the jury deliberated for 7 hours and ultimately found the property owner 100% responsible for my client's injuries and awarded my client the sum of $205,000.00. Most noteworthy was the fact that my client was found to be free of any comparative negligence on his part.
Defective and dangerous products
DEFECTIVE BAND SAW SEVERS MEAT CUTTER'S HAND
Oct 08, 1993
OUTCOME: 1.4 MILLION DOLLAR JURY VERDICT
In January 1991 I received a phone call from a potential new client in response to a small local advertisement I had taken out. He wanted to know whether he was being paid the correct amount of workers... compensation. After a short discussion in which I advised him that based upon the information he had given me, it was my opinion that he was being paid the correct amount of workers compensation, I asked him how long he had been out of work and what the nature of his injury was. He responded that he had been out of work for approximately 4 months and that he had cut off his hand while at work using a meat-cutting band saw. After listening to the facts of this accident, it became clear to me that an investigation was warranted into the design of the particular meat-cutting band saw my client was using at the time of his injury. After being retained to represent this man, I spoke with several engineers and colleagues, most of whom were of the opinion that it would be a very difficult case, at best. Suggested theories ranged from "the machine should have had a foot pedal" to "there should have been a guard" to "there should be a guard and a foot pedal". None of these theories sat right in my gut. Then, on a quiet Friday afternoon, while staring at a picture of the particular meat-cutting band saw, I asked myself "Why did this man's hand get cut off?" After some time staring at the picture, it became apparent to me like a train heading down the track. My client's hand got cut off because the design of the table saw required the operator to walk around the high speed moving blade from the working position to the location of the on/off switch in order to turn off the machine. After having used this machine without incident for several years, on the fateful day of my client's accident, he tripped while walking from the operating position to the on/off switch, his arm falling into the blade and cutting his hand off at the wrist. This case went to a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on October 4, 1993.
My sole theory of liability was that the machine was designed defectively. It should have had an on/off switch at each operator location and should not have required a meat-cutter to walk around the dangerous moving blade in order to turn off the machine. On the first night of the trial, my seven-year-old son fractured his wrist while playing at the park across the street from our home. Because I was preparing with one of my experts for the second day of trial, I was unable to be at the hospital with my boy. On the third day of trial, my wife and I received a phone call from a social worker with whom we were working to adopt a baby. We were told that the birth mother was about to be induced and that we should sit by the phone waiting to hear of the birth of our child. I therefore made my closing argument to the jury on Thursday afternoon October 7th not knowing whether I would be in the courtroom for the verdict. On Friday morning October 8th, the jury deliberated until approximately 1:00 p.m. and rendered its verdict at approximately 1: 30. A unanimous jury found that we had proven that the meat-cutting band saw was defective and assessed damages against the defendant and in favor of my client in the sum of $1.4 million dollars. The defendants thereafter appealed the jury verdict to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately affirmed the verdict. Fortunately for my client, his hand was surgically reattached although he never regained full use thereof. As for the call from our social worker that was placed on Wednesday of the week of trial, our daughter was born the same day as the jury rendered its verdict. Needless to say, she often asks me to tell her the story about the day she was born and I am only too happy to oblige her.
Car accident
NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT OF COMPANY TRUCK TO INTOXICATED EMPLOYEE
Dec 15, 1991
OUTCOME: Significant confidenial settlement as trial was imminent
Throughout the course of my career, I have represented hundreds of clients in a variety of legal matters. Some stand out as being most memorable to me for a variety of reasons. The most memorable was a... female client who, while driving home from an AI-Anon meeting (a support group for families of people with drinking problems), was hit head-on by a drunk driver. My client sustained numerous physical, mental, and emotional injuries as a result of this accident. I recall being retained by my client's husband because my client was unconscious in the hospital. For the first few months after the accident, all of my contact was with my client's husband. Then, one day, I received a phone call directly from my client. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear this woman's voice and to have a conversation with her. She was calling me from the hospital shortly before she was to be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital. After a period of time in the rehabilitation hospital, she was released to return home and eventually was able to return to her job as a secretary.
After we filed a lawsuit against the drunk driver and the company for which he worked, it became apparent that there was insufficient insurance coverage to fully compensate my client for the grievous injuries she had suffered including multiple fractured ribs, a broken ankle, a severe laceration of her forehead and scalp, and organic brain injury. Through the discovery process that takes place prior to trial, I was able to determine that at the time my client was attending the AI-Anon meeting, the defendant was getting drunk with his boss. Despite the fact that the defendant was sitting at a table for several hours drinking with his boss (the owner of the company) the defendant was allowed to drive a company van while intoxicated. This "negligent entrustment" of the company van to the intoxicated employee created a separate and distinct theory of liability against the defendant company for which there was a separate insurance policy to provide additional coverage to compensate my client for her injuries. Shortly before trial was to commence in 1991, the case settled for a substantial sum of money. To this day, I refer to that particular client as one of my "heroes" because of her spirit and intestinal fortitude in the way she recovered and overcame the severe injuries inflicted upon her by the defendants.
