Anne was a taxi driver who was stopped for a traffic signal when she was struck from behind by a severely intoxicated driver. Anne was, because of her injuries, forced to find another profession, and t...his settlement enabled Anne to move on with her life and to be able to make choices, and be a survivor, rather than be a victim. Anne's case was challenging because, although she did not know it, Anne was already suffering from extensive arthritis in her hip and back, which was arguably going to get a lot worse very soon whether she had been injured in the car accident or not. Through working with Anne's doctors, we were able to prove that all of her treatment and disability was caused by this drunk driver, and the drunk driver was made fully accountable.
Personal injury
Celia M. pedestrian accident
Jan 01, 2016
OUTCOME: 500,000.00
Client suffered a fractured left shoulder for which she needed surgery when she was struck in the crosswalk as a pedestrian by a driver who had run a red light. and failed to see pedestrian.
Wrongful death
Yazzie pedestrian wrongful death
Dec 07, 2015
OUTCOME: Confidential
Decedent was run over by a commercial vehicle that was backing uphill, against traffic. Investigation revealed that truck driver was on his cell phone at the time he ran over and killed this pedestrian...
Car accident
Glasper auto accident
Jul 01, 2014
OUTCOME: 1,800,000.00
Our client Glasper was riding as a passenger in a pick up truck when the truck struck another vehicle which had violated the truck driver's right of way. Glasper's injuries were not immediately evident... and he was treated as if he had a whiplash. The full nature and extent of his injuries were carefully examined and presented through the use of medical and other forensic experts including an economist and a vocational rehabilitation expert. The challenge was in demonstrating a future income differential for Mr. Glasper, because of his arguably good recovery.
Brain injury
Kenny S pedestrian accident
Jul 17, 2013
OUTCOME: 1,750,000.00
Pedestrian struck in crosswalk suffers brain injury. Challenging because injured client had very benign employer who took him back to work and gave him a promotion six months after injury. Challenge wa...s to prove that client had diminished earning capacity because he was and is such a high functioning person.
Wrongful death
Ellis vs Oakland Housing Authority
Jan 01, 2005
OUTCOME: confidential settlement
This is a wrongful death case for the loss of a child in a fire. While the fire was accidentally caused by the child's mother, the smoke alarms installed by the landlord in the apartment were inadequat...e and also inadequately maintained and tested. The key to this case was that the defendant was using a different standard of testing for different apartments they owned and controlled. We were able to show that the smoke detector must not only be tested for battery strength but also for its ability to actually sense smoke.
Defective and dangerous products
Ochoa v Big Japanese Motorcycle Company
N/A
OUTCOME: 1,360,000 settlement loss of leg
Settlement in favor of a motorcyclist for loss of leg below the knee due to defective motorcycle assembly at bike shop. Witness said client was doing a wheelie immediately before his accident. the bike... was only a few weeks old when it went into a violent wobble and ejected Cruz into a telephone pole
Wrongful death
Pan v Private Bus Company
N/A
OUTCOME: Wrongful Death Settlement of 1,000,000.00
Ten year old Daniel Pan was run over and killed by a private transit bus while riding his bicycle from the sidewalk into the crosswalk just three doors down from his home. Daniel had been riding his bi...cycle on the wrong side of the street He had ridden in front of a bus that was making a right turn, and the bus driver did not expect a bicycle rider to cross from her right side. The police report was 100% against Daniel. All six police officers who responded to the scene blamed Daniel and said the bus driver was not at fault. The television reporters all reported that the tragedy was the bicycle rider's fault. After meeting Daniel's heart-broken parents, I launched my own investigation, taking the witnesses back to the scene of the bicycle death and videotaping their interviews. We hired experts in accident reconstruction, human factors such as vision and hearing, bus driving and maintenance, bicycle safety, psychology, and forensic photography. We rented an identical bus and hired a child actor who rode the same bicycle at the scene of the bicycle/bus accident and we reconstructed the accident. We took a videotaped deposition of the driver of the bus and learned that she was poorly trained and inexperienced. We took the videotaped depositions of all of the witnesses, and learned in great detail everything they could remember. Armed with all of this information, we were able to demonstrate that the bus driver should have expected Daniel to be riding there because this was the route that many children took home from school at that same time of day. Most importantly, the bus driver should have seen Daniel and had seven seconds to see and perceive him on the sidewalk and entering the intersection. Although the bus driver blamed a blind spot at the front of the bus, we measured the height of Daniel and the bicycle, and using the actor, showed that Daniel was easily visible if the driver had maintained a proper lookout. And we got ready for trial. Finally, just two weeks before trial, the bus company was made accountable.
Wrongful death
Vossler v Big Car Rental
N/A
OUTCOME: Settlement of 1,375,000
Rental agency rented car with a bad tire to lady in middle of Winter. As a result lady spun out in light snow and was killed by oncoming truck. Decedent was a wonderful woman with a very impressive fam...ily, a great driver, and we proved that rental car company had inadequate system for maintaining and inspecting rentals. The company was made accountable for this family's loss
Personal injury
Martin v Big Trucking Company
N/A
OUTCOME: $1,000,000 settlement
14 year old boy run over by big rig mid block in middle of the night, losing leg. Truck driver said he was trying to escape an attack by another person and truck company claimed that 14 year old was tr...ying to climb onto side of truck and fell off. Police against us. Witness against us. Truck driver against us. We were able to show through biomechanical engineering and accident reconstruction that the truck driver was not telling the truth and that boy was actually in front of truck and not trying to climb onto the side of the truck. The witness turned out to be unreliable and this trucking company was made accountable
