Verdicts & Settlements

A Canadian family of four was seriously injured when their minivan crashed into an overturned tractor trailer blocking both southbound lanes of traffic in upstate New York. The 23-month-old daughter suffered brain damage with cerebral spastic triplegia of her right arm, right leg, and left leg, a seizure disorder, inability to communicate, and fractures of the right clavicle, right femur, right distal radius, and right ulna. The mother suffered a burst fracture of the L-1 vertebra requiring open reduction and internal fixation with two Harrington rods, right iliac bone grafting, spinal fusion at T10-12, and foraminotomy at L-3; a displaced fracture of the 12th dorsal vertebra; three fractured ribs; and fracture of the left distal ulna with malunion, which required open reduction and internal fixation. The father suffered a displaced fracture of the right distal radius, requiring closed reduction. The 4-year-old son suffered psychological injuries and soft tissue injuries to the forehead, left leg, wrist, and arm. This settlement is reported to be one of the largest personal injury claim settlement amounts in New York state history, having a projected payout of $76,000,000.

A federal jury on Long Island found Nassau County and Armor Correctional Health Services negligent in the suicide death of a former Marine. The suit alleged that the county and Armor were negligent during the decedent’s brief incarceration for driving while under the influence, failing to provide the combat veteran with proper care despite a screening showing that he was a suicide risk.

This structured settlement was for a 32-year-old Con Edison supervisor who was rear-ended by a repair truck while in a company van. He required three spinal surgeries: a laminectomy, a discectomy, and a spinal fusion.

A 45-year-old taxi driver was struck by a car as he attempted to open the rear door of his cab, sustaining severe internal injuries, extensive fractures, neurological damage, and psychological trauma. He required extensive surgical procedures and faces a lifetime of medical problems as well as the need for additional surgery in the future. This settlement was partially structured.

New York State was held liable for the murder and rape of a 34-year-old mother of three young boys by a prisoner wrongly freed from an upstate prison at least 13 years too soon. Damages included pain and suffering as well as past and future loss of guidance to the decedent’s children and past and future lost earnings. This verdict is reported to have a projected payout of approximately $5,400,000 with interest.

A 27-year-old woman fell as a result of her shoe getting caught on rotted wooden planks on an elevated train platform in the Bronx. Injuries included an ankle fracture that required closed reduction and subsequent ankle fusion.

A 49-year-old pedestrian who was pushing a wheelchair was hit by a vehicle backing up in a crosswalk, suffering pelvic and rib fractures as well as a fractured humerus requiring open reduction and internal fixation. He needed extensive rehabilitation. This settlement was structured.

A 38-year-old painter fell from a ladder that collapsed under him. He sustained injuries to his neck and back as well as a facial laceration with scarring.

A 40-year-old male who suffered from sickle cell anemia and late-stage renal failure and could not hear or speak fell in a nursing home after pulling at his permacath, which was used for his dialysis treatment. Our client, who had a history of infections at the permacath site, had walked to the nursing station two hours before his fall, apparently seeking help. Despite recognizing the danger of pulling at the permacath, the nursing home staff did not transfer him to the hospital, did not call for medical assistance, and did not place him on one-to-one supervision until he could be evaluated by a doctor. About two hours later, he pulled out his permacath, which caused him to bleed from the carotid artery. He fell, hit his head, fractured his neck (apparently as a result of osteomyelitis in his cervical spine caused by the repeated infections at the permacath site and his physical ailments), and suffered a heart attack. Our client was taken to the hospital, where he was revived but left paralyzed. Thereafter, he developed pressure wounds to his sacrum and the back of his head. He passed away approximately four months later.

A carpenter fell from a scaffold at Rikers Island when drywall leaning upright against a wall fell, striking the scaffold and causing him to fall. Injuries included herniated discs at L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1, and C5-6, requiring two laminectomies, discectomies at L4-5, and a laminectomy and discectomy at L5-S1 as well as spinal epidural nerve blocks and surgical implantation of an electric neurostimulator in his back to relieve pain.

A 50-year-old man fell over a stanchion left on a sidewalk when a light pole was removed. Injuries included fractures to his left elbow, left wrist, and ribs, requiring multiple surgeries.

A 45-year-old salesman was injured when his car was struck from behind by a leased vehicle on the southbound side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Injuries included brain damage with memory loss and seizures, fractured vertebrae at C-4, fractured ribs, a fractured scapula, hemopneumothorax, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

A 45-year-old man driving on a snow-covered highway struck a guardrail, then got out of his vehicle to set up warning flares, at which time he was struck by another vehicle. Injuries included a fractured right tibia and fibula, requiring surgery, two fractured elbows, a fractured ankle, pelvic fractures, a left knee fracture, skin damage necessitating grafts, and impotence.

A school bus driver transporting students was involved in an accident when her bus was rear-ended by a car. She sustained injuries to her head, neck, wrist, and lower back requiring surgical intervention.

A 29-year-old motorcyclist was struck by a truck that made a left turn and failed to yield the right-of-way. Injuries included fractures of the arm, clavicle, and ribs, nerve damage, collapsed lungs, and artery damage and required multiple surgeries. The case settled after a verdict on liability.

A high school student was injured while attempting to board a city bus when the bus driver closed the door on his foot and drove away, dragging him along and causing a crush injury to his left foot requiring open reduction and external fixation. He was hospitalized for two months and had to undergo additional surgery and skin grafting.

A 37-year-old carpenter died from injuries relating to a two-story fall to the basement through an opening where the stairwell was being made during construction at a Peekskill housing development.

A construction worker received a settlement in a labor law claim after falling from a scaffold and sustaining cervical spine injuries requiring discectomy and cervical fusion and a rotator cuff tear requiring surgical repair.

An immobile female nursing home patient sustained multiple pressure ulcers including stage I, II, III, and IV ulcers to her bilateral heels, which led to her death.

A 45-year-old electrician installing wiring at a Bronx high school was supplied with a ladder covered in soot and greasy substances, then slipped and fell off the ladder approximately 8 feet to the floor. He sustained a displaced and depressed fracture of the right calcaneus requiring surgery, significant scarring, and bone fragments in his foot requiring future bone fusion.

A 33-year-old painter fell 40 feet to the ground from a makeshift scaffold while painting the ceiling in the basement of a New York City building. Injuries included a fractured left (dominant hand) wrist requiring open reduction and internal fixation, a compression fracture to the L-1vertebra, and a herniated disc at L3-4.

The verdict was the result of a fall at a nursing home resulting in a fractured hip.

This compensation was given to the family of a 63-year-old man who was killed by a police vehicle while crossing the street.

A nursing home resident sustained multiple pressure sores and subsequent death.

An elderly male sustained a stage 4 sacrum bedsore.

This medical malpractice claim involved a pregnant woman admitted to the hospital for a cesarean section ten days prior to her death. After the procedure, a right central venous pressure line was inserted. The catheter migrated from the right atrium into the pericardial sac, causing cardiac arrest and death.

A husband and wife were shopping in a department store in the Bronx when the cashier neglected to remove a Sensormatic tag from an item after their purchase. The alarm was activated, and two security guards brought them back into the store and detained them, causing the couple to suffer public humiliation and damage to their reputation.

A 68-year-old brain tumor patient was given the wrong prescription at a national pharmacy, resulting in liver damage and subsequent death.

A female nursing home resident in her 70s sustained multiple bedsores.

This settlement was granted to an almost 80-year-old nursing home resident with multiple stage II, III and IV bedsores.

A male nursing home resident’s fall resulted in blunt head trauma causing a cerebral contusion, resulting in death.

A 45-year-old store owner was crossing the street when he was struck by a commercially owned vehicle, causing injuries including open fractures of the proximal fibula and tibia, a fractured mandible, fractured maxillary bones, a fractured orbit and other facial fractures, a nasal fracture, and fractured teeth. He had to undergo three surgeries.

A nursing home resident with a history of stasis ulcers due to vascular insufficiency developed infection in a foot wound, resulting in gangrene and subsequent amputation and death less than two months later.

A 39-year-old construction worker fell from a ladder at a construction site, sustaining a wrist fracture requiring open reduction and internal fixation as well as nerve damage of the left ulnar nerve.

A 58-year-old operator of a motor vehicle struck from behind who sustained a fractured vertebra brought claims under the underinsured motorist provision.

A 30-year-old laborer was helping to load a rented truck when he was struck by the vehicle when the truck moved in reverse without warning. Injuries included fractures of the right proximal tibia and fibula requiring open reduction and internal fixation with a Grosse-Kempf rod, pseudoarthrosis of the right tibia and right ankle, and a foot fixed at 30 degrees.

A 37-year-old construction worker fell 25 feet from a ladder, sustaining soft tissue injuries including lumbar spine disc protrusion, lumbar radiculopathy and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.

An elderly woman sustained a fractured femur in a fall at a nursing home, became immobile as a result, and passed away less than a year later.

A tenant fell on construction debris in the stairwell in their apartment building, sustaining multiple fractures of the right arm requiring open reduction and internal fixation.

This case involved a quadriplegic nursing home resident with a sacral bedsore.