A court case can be a harrowing experience. There is the acrimony of taking the witness stand and being put under pressure and there is the strain that a court case can put upon your family. Hiring the right lawyer can be crucial to how you will be recompensed.
The following people hired the right lawyers. You should too.
Medical Malpractice Verdicts
In one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in U.S. history, a Florida jury awarded $216.7 million to a Tampa man left brain-injured and disabled after emergency room personnel misdiagnosed a stroke as a headache. The award included more than $100 million in punitive damages. The verdict is the nation’s largest medical malpractice verdict so far this year, the third largest in U.S. history and the largest in Florida history, according to attorneys for the family.
In what is being called the biggest personal-injury verdict in state history, a Middlesex County jury awarded nearly $40 million to the family of a Dracut boy born with severe brain damage in 1996 after a traumatic delivery at a Lowell hospital. After deliberating for about 6 1/2 hours, the jury found Dr. Jacqueline Halladay, an obstetrician and gynecologist, negligent for having waited more than five hours to deliver the baby, Philip Antonelli Jr., in a caesarean section, despite signs of severe fetal distress. (2005 Case)
Personal Injury Verdicts
An appeals court in California upheld an earlier jury verdict of $82.6 million to a woman who was paralyzed as a result of a defective design in a Ford automobile. The ruling surprised legal experts because the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered a reconsideration of the previous ruling in light of the reasoning from previous Supreme Court case Philip Morris USA v. Williams, which ruled that jurors cannot punish a defendant for harm to third parties when determining punitive damages. The new ruling upholding the previous award did not, in the appellate judge’s opinion, punish Ford for injuries to third parties, but rather upheld the ruling highlighting the repeated nature of Ford’s action. $55 million of the $82.6 million total were punitive damages.
Stella Liebeck, 79 years old, was sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car having purchased a cup of McDonald’s coffee. After the car stopped, she tried to hold the cup securely between her knees while removing the lid. However, the cup tipped over, pouring scalding hot coffee onto her. She received third-degree burns over 16 percent of her body, necessitating hospitalization for eight days, whirlpool treatment for debridement of her wounds, skin grafting, scarring, and disability for more than two years. Despite these extensive injuries, she offered to settle with McDonald’s for $20,000. However, McDonald’s refused to settle. The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages — reduced to $160,000 because the jury found her 20 percent at fault — and $2.7 million in punitive damages for McDonald’s callous conduct. (To put this in perspective, McDonald’s revenue from coffee sales alone is in excess of $1.3 million a day.) The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to $480,000.
Construction Accident Verdicts
A New York, NY jury granted $10.7 million to Rupert Natoo, a construction worker who claimed that he sustained a brain injury in a 10-foot fall from a ladder. Natoo alleged that the fall caused brain damage that has caused him to require constant supervision and assistance. Natoo claimed that he now has severe attention, concentration, cognitive function and memory problems. The jury found awarded $10,778,184 to Natoo, plus an additional $300,000 to his wife.
A 32-year-old construction worker from the Dominican Republic was awarded a $3.3 million settlement after he fell from a scaffold that was missing important safety devices. The man broke numerous bones, causing complications to his sickle-cell anemia and sexual dysfunction. His New York construction accident claim ensured that he and his family were taken care of for life.
Bizarre Verdicts
A Chicago area woman was struck in the head by an errant golf ball while gardening in her back yard and is suing the golf course and the golfer who allegedly hit the ball. According to legal documents, Lillian Demo is seeking more than $100,000 in damages for unspecified injuries sustained after being struck by golfer Raymond Kinney’s ball. Demo’s lawsuit alleges that Kinney failed to properly aim and execute his swing, failed to warn her that the ball was heading her way, and failed to exercise reasonable care for the health and safety of others. Demo lives just south of St. Andrews Golf & Country Club.
A Michigan woman has sued Starburst’s parent company, Mars Inc., maker of the fruit chews candy, claiming that the candies are so chewy that they should come with a warning label. Victoria McArthur of Romeo, Michigan is seeking more than $25,000 in damages for “permanent personal injuries” she allegedly suffered after chewing on Starburst’s yellow candy. McArthur claims that after about three chews her jaw literally locked and was pulled out of joint. As a result, she claims she now suffers from a condition known as temporal mandibular joint dysfunction, more commonly referred to as TMJ, which allegedly causes trouble chewing, talking and sleeping. (Source: FoxNews.com)