Seven Figure Confidential Settlement

A thirty two year old man was killed when a defective rear tire detreaded causing his girlfriend's vehicle to go out of control and crash in West Alabama. Until less than two months before the accident the tire had been the original equipment spare tire and never used. The tire had been recalled but the manufacturer had failed to include the OEM spare tire in the recall or to notify subsequent owners of affected vehicles of the recall.

$8.20 million verdict

Highway construction defects in violation of industry standards and a state contract led to the tragic death of a 4 year old child and catastrophic injuries to her mother. Investigation revealed that the accident was caused by serious defects in the interstate highway that was being resurfaced by a road contractor. Discovery revealed that the state highway department tried to assist the contractor in covering up the defects after the accident. After a week long trial the jury returned this substantial verdict.

$1.4 million settlement

In this trucking accident case the 30 year old victim was working for a Montgomery wrecker service. While assisting a stranded motorist he was run over by a speeding and out of control 18 wheel truck. He sustained a broken back and crushed foot but luckily regained the ability to walk. This accident was particularly egregious because police were also assisting the stranded motorist at the scene and had their flashing blue lights on and the wrecker truck also had its flashing amber lights on in the area before the accident.

$850,000.00 settlement

Failure to follow basic electric standards led to a fire at a Montgomery hotel office that completely destroyed the building and all of its sophisticated contents. Thankfully, the office building was detached from the guest rooms or this fire could have proven fatal. Investigation revealed that the regional electric company that had been hired to install a neon light system on the office exterior failed to properly ground the system in violation of the National Electric Code which was the cause of the fire. Discovery revealed that the electric company also failed to obtain a final inspection on the system from the city inspector as required by law. This case was settled just weeks before trial.

$200,000.00 verdict

Wrongful death verdict against a chiropractor. In this strange and sad case the decedent, a well known and respected state capital police officer, signed up to fight in a "Bad Man" contest involving three rounds of no holds barred fighting. The officer won the heavy weight fight but then collapsed dead of a heart attack in the ring. The chiropractor, who had been hired by the traveling fight company to act as a prefight and ring side physician, negligently approved the officer to engage in the fight despite multiple high blood pressure readings and morbid obesity.

$5 million judgment

Assault and battery. An Indiana woman was seriously and permanently injured when a rock flew threw the windshield of the vehicle in which she was traveling as a passenger striking her in the throat. She died at the scene but her fianc�, a paramedic, successfully revived her. In this shocking case, the rock was thrown from an interstate overpass by a group of young men who considered it to be a prank.

$125,000.00 verdict

Insurance fraud verdict against Liberty National Life Insurance Company. The agent sold several whole life insurance policies to a middle aged homemaker including a policy on the life of her former husband of 35 years. When the ex-wife attempted to take a loan on the policy covering her former husband to help pay for expenses of back surgery the company refused maintaining that only the insured person was the owner of the policy who could take out a loan against the policy. Discovery revealed that at the time the agent sold the policy he knew that the victim's ex-husband would be considered the owner of the policy and that the ex-wife would have no policy rights despite being the purchaser. The majority of the jurors wanted to return a seven figure verdict.

$300,000.00 settlement

Products liability lawsuit against a car manufacturer resulted in this substantial settlement. The victim was a young and vibrant woman who worked full time as a nurse. While driving her Renault car the heater core failed causing scalding water from the radiator system to spray into the passenger compartment causing severe third degree burns to her lower leg and ankle. She had to endure multiple skin graph surgeries. Discovery revealed that there had been dozens of other similar heater core failures in this particular model car.

8 figure confidential settlement

Defective tires on a vehicle prone to roll over led to a single vehicle crash on the interstate. As a result a female passenger, a professional travel agent and event planner, suffered catastrophic and life altering injuries. Protracted litigation of this products liability case led to a confidential 8 figure settlement moments before the trial was set to begin.

$750,000.00 settlement

Motor vehicle accident in South Alabama. The Plaintiffs, migrant workers from Pennsylvania, were traveling through Alabama on their way to Texas when their van was rear ended at high speed by an 18 wheeler on Interstate 65. The collision killed 2 of the workers and injured several others. This case was settled after the trucker's insurance company refused to settle the case for any amount and suit was filed. After a full day of mediation in New Orleans the insurance company agreed to pay the majority of available insurance coverage.

$500,000.00 judgment

Motor vehicle accident case involving a speeding log truck that ran a red light and collided with the victim's vehicle near Troy Highway and Taylor Road in Montgomery. The father of 2 was pinned inside the vehicle for several hours. He sustained a broken arm and fractured orbital bones in his face as a result of the trucker's negligence.

$200,000.00 verdict

Insurance fraud and bad faith case. The victim, a North Alabama timber farmer whose hydro ax caught fire and burned up was forced to file suit against an Indianapolis based property casualty insurance company that refused to pay his insurance claim. Pre suit investigation revealed that the Indiana man that the insurance company claimed could fix the destroyed piece of timber equipment had never repaired a hydro ax in his life and had advised the insurance company that the machine was a total loss and not repairable. The Federal Court jury returned the verdict after a week long trial. A majority of the jury wanted to return a million dollar verdict given the fact there was no basis whatsoever for the company to deny payment of the claim.

$3.5 million verdict

Medical malpractice against a major regional hospital arising out of a botched phlebotomy venipuncture procedure (a simple blood draw). The victim of hospital negligence, a 50 year old retired nurse, lost her right arm as a result. Discovery revealed that the hospital's lab department's written guidelines for blood draws was sub-standard and that phlebotomy personnel had not been properly trained as to proper venipuncture techniques and procedure. After a one week trial the jury returned a $3 million verdict for the patient and a $500,000.00 verdict for her husband.

$1 million settlement

A young mother of 2 was killed on the Southern Boulevard of Montgomery when a 18 wheel truck driver fell asleep during morning rush hour traffic and ran over the victim killing her instantly. This wrongful death case was settled for policy limits. Unfortunately she left a husband and two small children.

$200,000.00 settlement

Nursing home neglect led to the death of an elderly patient after the staff repeatedly failed to give the patient his Albuterol breathing treatments in a timely manner. The nursing home attempted to cover up the death but evidence discovered during litigation revealed the truth. Surprisingly two members of the nursing staff admitted in deposition that the patient was not receiving his breathing medication and that nursing records had been forged. The actual cause of death was a subject of hot dispute in this case.

$200,000.00 settlement

Insurance fraud case. The victims were an elderly couple from central Alabama who purchased life insurance from a door to door sales agent for a major life insurance company. The agent collected premiums monthly in person. After paying for the policy for several years the agent began to pocket the monthly premiums paid by the couple. The company cancelled the policy and refused to believe the insureds that they had made all payments. Despite the fact that they were both illiterate, this wonderful couple was not stupid: they had saved every single monthly receipt of the premium payments. Litigation and discovery proved that the agent was stealing the premium money and that the company had virtually no supervision over it's sales agents in the field.

$150,000.00 settlement

Gun shot injuries. Customer at a truck stop was accidentally shot by an incompetent and poorly trained security guard. Luckily this was only a flesh wound.

$150,000.00 settlement

Wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution settlement arising out of a bogus theft of property charge. The victim, a middle aged lady, sold a house and removed certain items of personal property (unattached doors) and the purchaser recklessly filed a theft of property charge resulting in the arrest of the seller. After a several day circuit court jury trial I won on an acquittal for this lady and subsequently settled the wrongful arrest/ malicious prosecution claim.

$160,000.00 settlement

Drunk driving case. The victim was a neonatal nurse returning home after working the night shift at a local hospital. The drunk driver ran a stop sign causing a "T-bone" collision. The young lady sustained a severe concussion and whiplash. She was pregnant at the time but thankfully the baby turned out just fine.

$90,000.00 settlement

Slip and fall knee injury at VictoryLand Dog racing track. The facility had mopped the ladies bathroom but negligently failed to rope off the bathroom or place warning cones to warn patrons of the slippery floor.

$430,250.00 settlement

Motor vehicle accident case. The victim, a skilled laborer for thirty years, ended up having to endure 3 neck surgeries as a result of the other driver's careless driving and had a physician assigned 45% impairment rating.

$112,000.00 settlement

Products liability case involving loss of fingertips. The 19 year old worker loss 2 finger tips that were sucked in to an unguarded box cutting machine at a central Alabama industrial facility. This settlement was in addition to the workers compensation settlement.

$106,000.00 settlement

Gunshot injury settlement against apartment complex that employed an off duty police officer as a security guard. In this unbelievable case the Montgomery Police Department attempted to assist in the cover up of a negligent shooting. The victim was simply walking down the street when the off duty police officer got into a confrontation with a third person. The guard panicked and fired his service weapon wildly in multiple directions. The guard and the police falsely charged the young man with attempted robbery in an effort to cover up what really happened and to protect one of their own. After a several day trial I won an acquittal for the victim and subsequently a settlement was reached with the apartment complex that employed the security guard. A separate confidential settlement was reached with the city.

$101,250.00 settlement

Slip and fall accident at a local hospital. The elderly victim broke a hip when she slipped on a floor that had just been waxed by a private floor maintenance firm that was under contract to maintain hospital floors. Litigation and discovery revealed that the company used an excessive amount of wax to the point that numerous individuals had been slipping and sliding on the floor. Worse, there were no warning signs or cones in place at the time of the lady's injury.

$87,500.00 settlement

Product's liability settlement for an industrial worker against manufacturer of a three wheeled fork lift. The long time employee of a local well known family owned food and beverage producer sustained a broken ankle when a three wheeled fork lift overturned onto his leg. Investigation revealed that the fork lift did not meet required industry and federal safety standards for rollover resistance. This settlement was in addition to his workers compensation settlement.

$90,000.00 settlement

Automobile accident settlement involving neck and back injuries

$90,000.00 settlement

Automobile accident settlement involving severe injuries to the victim of a drunk driver. Unfortunately the driver was only insured for $50,000.00 and the victim only had $40,000.00 in underinsured motorist coverage. I advise everyone to obtain the maximum amount of uninsured motorist coverage they can obtain on their automobile policy as there are millions of uninsured and underinsured motorists on the highways.

$440,000.00 settlement

Automobile-truck accident that caused severe neck and back injuries to a middle aged social worker. The truck driver responsible side swiped the plaintiff's vehicle causing her to crash into a ditch and roll over several times. The truck driver had to be chased down and stopped by eye witnesses to the accident. The fascinating item in this case was the victim's testimony that during the roll over event she had an out of body experience where she physically saw herself inside of a coffin at her own funeral.

$200,000.00 settlement

Insurance bad faith settlement against health insurance company that refused to pay for the removal of silicone breast implants. A middle aged Mobile nurse had breast implants inserted subsequent to double mastectomies for breast cancer. Years later one of the implants began to leak silicone and her surgeon made clear that the implants needed to be removed. The health insurance company refused to pay for the removal maintaining that the surgery would be "cosmetic" and not medically necessary. After removal I had the lady send a personal letter to the health insurer enclosing a copy of the surgeons medical records reflecting that the implants were leaking inside her body along with a statement from the surgeon that leaking silicone was a health hazard and that the surgical removal was medically necessary. The health insurance company once again spit out its standard form denial of coverage letter. Suit was filed. Obviously, the health insurer had no defense for refusing to pay for the surgery. It ended up having to pay a lot more for its bad faith refusal to pay this legitimate insurance claim.

$400,000 settlement

Federal Tort Claim Act case against the Federal Government involving a motor vehicle accident. A Federal employee driving a government vehicle ran a stop sign causing this collision. As a result the housewife and mother of 2 had to endure multiple back surgeries.

$112,500 judgment

Insurance fraud and bad faith claim against the infamous Champion Insurance Company. In a well known and national publicized case of financial fraud this automobile insurance company based out of Louisiana and owned and run by a father and son team (the Eichers) was siphoning premiums from tens of thousands of its insureds and not paying claims. My clients were from several of it's Alabama insureds that had experienced motor vehicle accidents but could not get their cars fixed. Champions admitted it owed coverage but simply refused to pay the claims.

$100,000 settlement

Workers compensation settlement involving severe back injury to industrial plant worker.

$250,000 judgment

Insurance fraud judgment against health insurance "Trust" based out of Birmingham. In this interesting insurance scam, a small group of investors invented a so called "Health Insurance Trust." They misrepresented to customers the "Trust" provided superior coverage than regular health insurance. An elderly couple from Prattville fell victim to the scam. When the wife needed major eye surgery the "Trust" refused to pay for it. As a result of litigation I forced the insurance company to pay for more than just the eye surgery.

$200,000 settlement

Workers compensation settlement involving 35 year old employee of a paper mill in South Alabama. In this sad case the worker sustained a below the knee amputation as a result of stepping on a nail in the plant yard. Diabetic neuropathy in his foot caused the puncture to become infected and gangrenous.

$120,000 settlement

Breach of contract and fraud case against Central Alabama Chevrolet dealership. A young newlywed golf equipment salesman experienced a break down of his minivan. The dealership advised the man that the motor was locked up and needed to be replaced. After the young couple paid nearly $3,000.00 to have a new motor installed it turned out that the vehicle only needed a new starter. Litigation and discovery revealed that the dealer had been performing fraudulent and unnecessary repairs on customer's vehicles for several years. An employee mechanic spilled the beans when the dealership began ripping off cash paying customers whose vehicles were out of warranty. An independent expert confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the motor.

$320,000 settlement

Motor vehicle accident in Central Alabama. A commercial vehicle on Highway 231 north of Montgomery crossed the center line striking the victims vehicle head on resulting in several broken bones and 6 months out of work for the young victim.

$45,000 settlement

Products liability settlement against the manufacturer of leave in hair conditioner. Unfortunately the conditioner caused the lady's hair to fall out. Luckily it grew back for the most part.

$50,000 settlement

Defective product claim against the manufacturer of hair removal product for women. In this strange case, the product burned the woman's armpits causing depigmentation. The product failed to warn of that possibility.

$105,000 settlement

Workers compensation settlement involving severe back injury necessitating spinal fusion.

$150,000 settlement

Automobile accident in Montgomery resulting in multiple neck and back injuries to an elderly woman.

$275,000 judgment

Workers compensation settlement involving catastrophic back injuries to a young truck driver for a grocery chain. The young driver had multiple failed surgeries that resulted in total disability. He had a wife and three children. After trial the court found him to be permanently disabled.

$220,000 settlement

Workers compensation settlement involving total disability to a timber worker who suffered a broken back. During tree falling operations a mature oak fell the wrong way and ended up falling on top of the man as he tried to get out of the way.

$90,000 settlement

Automobile accident case. An elderly lady operated a well known boiled peanut kiosk in south Montgomery with her husband in order to supplement their Social Security income. She suffered a broken leg when a careless driver ran a red light.

$215,000 settlement

Product liability settlement against manufacturer of motor grader. The 25 year old highway construction worker was run over and killed when the motor grader backed over him while he was "stake jumping." The equipment operator was unable to see the victim behind him because the manufacturer failed to design and equip the grader with side view mirrors which would have enabled the operator to see and not run over the victim.

$45,000 verdict

Fraud verdict against local bonding company. A low income wife paid a local jail bond company several thousand dollars for a bond so that her husband could be bonded out of jail. The husband, an illegal immigrant, had been arrested on a petty theft charge. The bond company knew that it would be unable and in fact impossible to obtain the husband's release because of an immigration hold on the husband, but took the lady's money anyways. When the detention facility informed the wife that it could not release her husband due to the immigration hold the bonding company refused to refund her money.

$75,000 settlement

Insurance fraud claim against car finance company. The company sold "Credit Life Insurance" to an elderly couple as a part of an automobile purchase that they financed through a car dealership in east Alabama. When the husband died, the credit life insurance company refused to pay off the automobile note. There was no basis for the refusal.

$62,500 settlement

Motor vehicle accident settlement against a local lumber company whose truck driver's careless driving caused the victim to sustain neck injuries in a collision.

$45,000 settlement

In this automobile accident case an armored vehicle ran a stop sign after leaving a local bank and collided with a vehicle driven by a physician's assistant. She sustained serious whiplash injuries as a result.

$100,000 settlement

Motor vehicle accident case which also involved an on the job injury. Ironically it was the truck driver who was the victim in this case when another driver, an elderly disabled gentleman ran a stop sign in an east Alabama county. The responsible driver was uninsured so the settlement was paid by the truck driver's employer's uninsured motorist carrier and this was in addition to a $110,000 settlement from the employer's workers compensation carrier. Injuries required a lower back surgery for a ruptured disc sustained in the accident.