Case Histories

$3,167,000 Settlement: Labor Law Scaffold Case

Our client, a bridge painter, suffered devastating injuries when a scaffold he was working on collapsed, dropping him 50 feet to the ground below. The defendants attempted to argue that our client was a recalcitrant worker and did not use safety devices which were available to him. We conducted an exhaustive investigation and retained a series of experts including a mechanical engineer, scaffolding expert and a workplace safety expert. We established that the manner in which the scaffolding was constructed made the safety devices inadequate and unworkable under the circumstances which resulted in this accident. We retained a series of medical experts and a vocational rehabilitative expert to establish disability; and finally we retained a forensic economist to project our client's lost income and financial damages. Our careful preparation and painstaking documentation of every aspect of the case resulted in a settlement without trial.

$1,000,000 Settlement: Medical Malpractice

"The operation was a success but the patient died" was unfortunately all too true for the 72 year old retired father of our client, who had entered the hospital for "routine" prostate surgery. Enroute to the operating room for the third time in 24 hours to stop unexpected and unrelenting bleeding, the patient's breathing tube became dislodged, a development which went undetected until the patient's arrival on the operating suite. Although the third surgical procedure effectively halted the patient's hemorrhage, the lack of oxygen suffered by the patient in transport from the dislodgement of the tube resulted in severe brain damage. A million dollar settlement was reached with the surgeon; the case against the hospital is still pending.

$900,000 Settlement: Medical Malpractice

"Miracle surgery," i.e. a total knee replacement, quickly evolved into a nightmare of complications culminating in the death of this 56 year old airport worker who had been contemplating retirement. A hospital nurse mistakenly placed his newly-operated knee (encased in a knee immobilizer) into a machine designed to continuously flex it as part of a post-op rehabilitation program. The patient was unable to shut off the machine or summon help after the nurse left, subsequently sustaining extensive injury. Although the hospital denied that the patient's injuries had occurred as alleged, our office's identification and pretrial questioning of the nurse involved in the incident led to a clear-cut admission of negligence by the nurse, and a subsequent $900,000 settlement.

$550,000 Settlement: Medical Malpractice

Our 10 month old client developed a rash and fever from the antibiotic (Bactrim) originally prescribed for his ear infection. When the antibiotic was continued in spite of the appearance of the rash and fever, the infant's adverse drug reaction progressed to a severe, life-threatening condition called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

Though defendants argued the inevitability of such a reaction in a susceptible individual such as the infant plaintiff, a line-by-line review by this office of the child's extensive hospital records revealed additional mistakes by the attending doctors, and was key in the offer of a substantial settlement in a case labelled a "loser" by other attorneys.

$500,000 Settlement: Negligence/Products Liability Case

Our client, a New York City Sanitation Worker, suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and related neurological injuries including sudden rage syndrome when the street sweeper in which he was riding filled with carbon monoxide due to a malfunctioning exhaust system. Our client was found in the sweeper unconscious and required hyperbaric chamber treatment. After extensive litigation with the City of New York and the manufacturer of the sweeper, including appellate arguments on the significance of New York City's failure to make available the subject street sweeper for inspection by plaintiff's expert (the City destroyed the sweeper after being notified of the plaintiff's lawsuit), defendant New York City, was found to have been on notice of the street sweeper's defective condition prior to plaintiff's accident. Having succeeded on the motion, plaintiff was able to negotiate a settlement of claim without the necessity of trial.

$460,000 Settlement: Products Liability Case

Our client, a carpenter, suffered traumatic amputation of his left thumb and pinky finger and associated nerve damage when while cutting a piece of wood using a defective miter saw; while shaping a piece of molding, the saw blade jumped from the wood piece causing plaintiff's left hand to enter the path of the blade. Defendants argued that plaintiff's injury was a result of misuse of the saw, that the saw was used without a clamp or vice to hold the wood in place and that plaintiff ignored warnings and instructions. This firm retained a miter saw expert who was prepared to testify the saw was not equipped with, nor had the capacity to accept, any vice or clamp which would have allowed plaintiff to secure wood and avoid placing his hand close to the blade and that the saw failed to have displayed on it any industry standard warnings relating to the minimum safe distance to keep between the saw blade and one's hand. A settlement was reached on the eve of trial after careful preparation and full documentation of every aspect of the case.

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