|
|
|
|
SOME INTERESTING CASES HANDLED BY THIS FIRM
|
|
| |
- Automobile Collision: A 35 year old male-client legally operating a 1991 Cadillac automobile at a speed estimated at 50 mph, sustained a significant right knee injury when a second automobile, traveling in the opposite direction, executed a left-hand turn at an unmarked intersection, across the path of his vehicle, causing a "T-Bone"-type collision. The client's air bag deployed and the floor of the driver's compartment of his vehicle crumpled upwards, smashing his knees against the dashboard of the vehicle. The client was subjected to multiple knee and leg surgeries in which his patella was replaced by an artificial kneecap and left him with some continuing pain and discomfort and a significant loss of use of the leg. This case was settled for $400,000.00 after lawsuit was filed but prior to trial and after the insurer was served with a Consumer Protection Demand Letter.
- Construction Site Fall: A 35-year-old experienced ironworker inexplicably fell some 22 feet to the ground while constructing an elementary school. No one witnessed his fall and only circumstantial evidence was available to determine the cause of the fall. The base of a wind brace, which had not previously been welded in place, had fallen over the side of the building at the same time as plaintiff fell. It was reasoned that plaintiff had fallen or rested against the brace and when it fell over the side, so did the plaintiff. Plaintiff fell onto a huge boulder protruding above the ground and upon cement piping left at the base of the framed building. Plaintiff was apparently working alone at the time of his fall. Plaintiff was not tethered although he was wearing his safety harness. Defendant's site supervisor testified that he had observed ironworkers, employees of a sub-subcontractor, working on the deck of the building 22-30 feet above the ground without being tethered. Due to his injuries, the plaintiff was unable to testify as to the cause of the fall and his resultant injuries. Plaintiff sustained severe brain trauma, lacerated his spleen, suffered the collapse of both lungs, permanently injured his knee forcing him to walk with a cane, was in the hospital in ICU for 2 weeks in critical condition and was hospitalized for 8 weeks and then as an outpatient for many months thereafter. Plaintiff can never work as an ironworker again. Plaintiff pursued a worker's compensation claim as well as a third-party negligence claim against the general contractor and a subcontractor. Plaintiff incurred some $400,000 in medical expenses and lost wages that were paid by the worker's comp. insurer. At mediation the worker's compensation insurer waived its claims for reimbursement of its payouts to date and offered an additional $100,000 to settle the claims. The insurers for the general and the subcontractor agreed to pay $650,000.00, making the total benefit to the plaintiff of $1,150,000.00.
- Slip and Fall: While visiting her sister-in-law, a resident in elderly housing, our 76 year old client was tripped by a berm or curbing which was purposely located by the property owner to straddle two painted, delineated automobile parking spots which faced two other similarly situated parking spots in the middle of the poorly lighted parking lot. The client sustained a severe injury to her right shoulder, which required surgery and the implant of a humeral prosthesis. The defense argued that the lot was sufficiently lighted and that the client had to pass the curbing to enter the building after parking her vehicle. After suit was filed and a Consumer Protection Demand Letter was forwarded to the insurer, this slip and fall case settled for $60,000.00 and the medical bills and liens were negotiated downward by the firm.
- Medical Malpractice: The client sustained minor injuries but lost the life of his race horse in a single vehicle automobile collision which plaintiff argued resulted from a fainting spell brought about by high blood pressure medication which was dispensed by the defendant-doctor who failed to give notice to the client-patient that the use of the particular high blood pressure medication could possibly result in "hypotension" or fainting spells while behind the wheel of his pick-up truck towing his horse trailer. At trial the client was awarded $65,000.00 for his aggregate losses.
- Medical Malpractice: The plaintiff, a 34 year old HVAC professional, underwent recurrent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in November of 1997 and immediately thereafter experienced severe pain in urinating, lifting, (including his newborn son), moving his bowels, riding a bicycle, and generally during times of movement of his midsection. He felt abdominal soreness, lost time from work and could not be intimate with his wife. He lost some 35 pounds of weight and feared eating and drinking for the pain he knew each would cause. This pain and suffering and mental anguish continued for three and one-half years during which he was subjected to a host of treatments and testing including: urinalysis, urograms, varicocelectomy, EKG, ureterogram, 4 cystoscopies, ultrasounds, MRIs, bone scans, etc. He was prescribed a number of painkillers for relief. Eventually he had issues with the prescription pain medication that failed to provide adequate relief. Plaintiff's misery caused an irretrievable breakdown of his relationship with, and marriage to, his wife. In June of 2001, the second of two errantly placed sutures was removed from plaintiff's bladder and the mesh from the hernia repair was separated from the bladder dome. He immediately experienced relief for the very first time in three and a half years. The defense reasoned that since there were 4 cystoscopies over three years, the first two of which revealed no suture, the third of which revealed only one suture, (which was removed in October of 1999), and the last of which revealed the second suture in June of 2001, then the sutures must have eroded into the bladder over time, as a natural result of the hernia operation. The defense expert testified that the treating physician followed all protocols and did not breach his duty of care to his patient. At trial however, defendant's expert testified that while this was his theory, he had never before heard of sutures from an inguinal hernia repair migrating to the bladder and then eroding into the bladder over time. He also testified that it did sometimes happen that sutures were errantly placed into the bladder during such hernia operations. Plaintiff's expert and defendant both testified that they had never heard of the mesh from an inguinal hernia repair migrating to the bladder nor had they heard of sutures from such repair eroding into the bladder over time. After five days of trial and eight hours of jury deliberations, the jury returned a plaintiffs' verdict, awarding the plaintiff $325,000 and his wife $100,000. With interest, the judgment entered for the plaintiffs for $652,000.00.
- Premises Liability: The client was visiting a local batting cage, was wearing the required headgear, and was standing properly in the batter's box when a rubber coated ball discharged from the automatic pitching machine struck him directly in his eye. The client's cheekbone and nose were fractured in several places and the client's eyesight was permanently impaired as a result of the injuries he sustained. No warning signs were posted to put the client on notice that while he was properly in the batter's box, stray balls could be pitched at high speed toward his body or head. This case was settled on behalf of the client for $100,000.00 prior to institution of litigation.
- Dog Bite: A five-year-old boy was bitten in the face by a neighbor's dog, which dog had recently undergone groin surgery but was allowed to roam the yard freely. The child-client was under the age of seven and so was benefited by the statutory presumption that he was not committing a trespass or tort at the time of the attack. The child sustained facial lacerations and scarring in two visible segments of 2.5 cm and 1.0 cm on his cheek near his nose. The child was severely traumatized by the event suffering nightmares through at least the date of settlement. Medical expenses incurred were $509.00 with estimated future costs of $4,000.00. With a structured settlement for the minor child, the case settled with the insurer of the homeowner for a grand total of $109,690.00 by his 21st birthday.
|
| |
"WHERE THE LEGAL PROFESSION IS STILL A SERVICE BUSINESS"
Law Offices of
Byron L. Taylor
645 E. Washington Street
North Attleboro, MA 02760
Call Toll Free: 1-866-435-4781
|
|
 |
|
Contact Our Office for Help Today! |
|
|
|
