CALIFORNIA CASES

Motorcyclist Fatality

Settlement: $4,250,000

Plaintiffs, the wife and two adult daughters of decedent, alleged that defendant driver and his employer were responsible for a fatal motorcycle versus pickup truck accident (Mescher v. Terra Linda Farms, Fresno County Superior Court, plaintiff attorney:  Warren R. Paboojian).

Construction Zone Accident

Verdict: Defense

Plaintiff contended defendant failed to obtain an engineer-approved traffic control plan, and the traffic control was negligently set up such that it created a funnel effect causing a truck to run over plaintiff bicyclist (Barreras-Martinez v. Tomovich & Associates, Los Angeles County Superior Court, defense attorney:  Yuk K. Law).

Medical Battery/Fraud

Verdict: $1,000,000

Neurosurgeon allegedly botched piriformis release surgery, cut into patient's leg without consent; jury awarded $200K for negligence, $500K for medical battery, and $300K for fraud (Froesch v. Chambi, Orange County Superior Court, plaintiff attorneys:  John C. Adams III, Thomas D. Rowley).

Early Settlement Agreement

Settlement: $950,000

Plaintiffs alleged medical negligence caused a newborn to suffer severe brachial plexus paralysis of her arm, shoulder and hand; defendant doctor offered policy limits minus $50K discount for early settlement (Confidential v. Confidential, Orange County Superior Court, plaintiff attorney:  Carl A. McMahan).

Asphyxiation-Video Retained

Settlement: $1,000,000

Decedent, an adult with developmental disabilities, was assaulted and battered by 24-hour custodial care staff and then never provided medical care; video surveillance captured the assault (Confidential v. Confidential, Kern County Superior Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Matthew C. Clark, Neil K. Gehlawat).

Asphyxiation-Video Deleted

Settlement: $3,400,000

Plaintiffs alleged that decedent was wrongfully killed by defendant deputies; and alleged that defendants confiscated bystander phones and deleted videos of the incident (Garlick v. County of Kern., Eastern District Federal Court, plaintiff attorneys:  David K. Cohn, Neil K. Gehlawat).

Corneal Abrasions

Verdict: Defense

Patient claimed anesthesiologist failed to protect her eyes during surgery causing bilateral corneal abrasions (Andrich v. MacCarthy Orange County Superior Court, defense attorney:  Jamie A. Mason).

Grandparents/Grandson Injured

Settlement: $1,500,000

Grandparents and grandson suffered injuries in a freeway rear-end collision; defendant driver settled for full policy limits (Doebereiner v. Choi, Orange County Superior Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Darren O. Aitken, Atticus N. Wegman).

Party Bus Doors Fail

Settlement: $4,020,000

A man fell from a moving party bus onto the freeway and was killed because the pneumatic door system failed to keep the doors closed (The Estate of Christopher Joseph Saraceno II v. Hyros Corp., Los Angeles County Superior Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Christine D. Spagnoli, Christian Nickerson).

Multi-Vehicle Collision

Verdict: Defense

Plaintiff claimed $10 million in damages for pain and suffering stemming from her stopping for crossing pedestrians and then being rear-ended in a multi-vehicle collision (Ramirez v. Abouchian, Los Angeles County Superior Court, defense attorney:  K. Robert Gonter Jr.).

Truck vs. RV

Verdict: $3,642,000

A 40,000-pound 10-wheeler truck slammed into an RV at 45 mph; plaintiff an unbuckled RV passenger required bilateral carpal tunnel surgeries, a three-level cervical fusion plus probable future surgeries (Pebley v. Estrada, Ventura County Superior Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Greyson M. Goody, Sevy W. Fisher).

NATIONAL CASES

Brain Injury

Verdict: $4,356,001

Plaintiff alleged mild traumatic brain injury as well as disc herniations, numerous fractures and other injuries as a result of a multi-vehicle rear-end accident (Fortson v. TT of Indian River, Inc., Florida – Brevard County Circuit Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Mark S. Roman, Morgan Gaynor, Douglas R. Beam).

Hysterectomy Death

Verdict: $5,008,922

During a robotic hysterectomy, the tip of a plastic trocar lacerated the left common iliac artery and the bleeding went unnoticed causing a 36-year-old female to die (Sawyer v. Brown, Illinois – Tazewell County Circuit Court, plaintiff attorneys:  Bruce R. Pfaff, Matthew D. Ports, Dick Williams).