Verdicts and Settlements

S.B. v. Dave Perkins Excavating, Inc. Plaintiff sustained a low back injury when he stepped into a manhole on a construction site that had been covered only with a piece of sheetrock by employees of the defendant. Plaintiff underwent a posterior/anterior fusion of the lumbar spine, which did not provide much in the way of pain relief. The case was settled with the contractor for $1 million, believed to be the highest settlement for this type of construction site injury in Minnesota.

D.L. v. Paone . Plaintiff, a millwright who worked constructing and maintaining industrial machinery, slipped and fell, breaking his leg when he slipped and fell on some ice at the top of his driveway. He missed about 6 1/2 weeks of work. Through discovery we learned that the landlord had removed the gutters on the roof above the garage, which would have prevented the ice buildup, which was caused by snowmelt from the roof, dripping onto the driveway surface. The case went to trial and a successful verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $38,000 was recovered.

T.N. v. City Property Management . Plaintiff was injured while lifting weights on a Universal Gym in his condominium complex. The weight machine malfunctioned because of poor maintenance and improper repairs. The offer from the defense was $2000, "take it or leave it." The jury, in Maricopa County Superior Court, decided that the plaintiff should receive $90,000.

R.J. v. Geico Insurance Co. . Plaintiff sustained a fractured cervical vertebra when his car crashed into another vehicle that pulled out in front of him at an intersection, failing to yield the right-of-way to the plaintiff's automobile. In six months we were able to recover $100,000 from the liability insurance company for the at-fault driver, plus an additional $100,000 from plaintiff's underinsured motorist coverage with Geico.

S.S. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance . Plaintiff's automobile was proceeding northbound on a rural highway in Anoka County. Another driver, coming in the opposite direction, swerved her car into plaintiff's lane, causing a head-on collision. The defendant claimed that she swerved to avoid hitting a deer. An accident reconstruction, however, established that the deer hit the side of the defendant's vehicle, and then the defendant swerved and changed lanes. We argued that the change of lanes was unnecessary. Within eight months we were able to recover $100,000 from the defendant's automobile insurance company and an additional $100,000 from defendant's own insurance company State Farm, for underinsured motorist benefits.

D.R. v. Hudson Advisors, Inc. . Plaintiff worked in an office building in Phoenix, on the second floor. The staircase from the first floor to the second-floor was covered with polished Spanish tile, and the hand railings on the stairs were more decorative than functional. They were comprised of large, round, concrete spindles, and a very large, very wide, flat "hand rail". This hand rail was so wide, that it was impossible to grasp. One day, while descending the stairs, with her hand resting on the "hand rail", plaintiff slipped on the polished tiles and damaged her left knee. She incurred about $2,000 in medical expense and there was a possibility of future surgery, which would have cost approximately $6,000. We sent an architect to this site who did an inspection and discovered that the so-called hand rail violated several applicable building codes for the city of Phoenix. The case settled shortly thereafter for $31,000.