A FRAUD VERDICT

Dear NONE,

A Jefferson County jury on Friday returned a verdict in the amount of $200,000 against State Farm and its agent for innocent and reckless fraud.  According to Nat Bryan, who tried the case, the fraud claim grew out of an ordinary car wreck case that became less ordinary after State Farm represented, both verbally and in writing, that it did not insure the tortfeasor.  The attorney handling the car wreck case did not learn the truth until after the statute of limitations had run and the uninsured motorist carrier refused to pay.

This spring, David Marsh reached a pro tanto settlement agreement with an electric cooperative in an electrocution case.  Last year, a Marshall County man died when the blade of his lawnmower got caught in metal lashing used to secure cable lines to power poles.  After learning that this lashing, which is supposed to secure cable to other lines, was dangerously close to the ground in many places in Marshall County, David took the unusual step of getting an injunction to protect the public.  The wrongful death case against the cable company continues.

David also recently settled a wrongful death case on behalf of a widow of a UAB professor who was killed when struck by a Greyhound bus while attending a conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jeff Rickard and David recently reached a pro tanto settlement in a case involving an on-the-job injury that rendered a worker quadriplegic and brain-injured and eventually caused his death.  The case has settled against several parties involved with a valve wheel but continues against the previous owner and operator of the industrial plant.

Nat and David settled a personal injury case on behalf of a Madison County man who was shocked by an improperly installed air conditioning unit in his mobile home.  The plaintiff suffered brain damage, memory loss, and personality changes.

In another personal injury case, Nat and David represented a former Tuscaloosa firefighter who was injured when a valve on a hose failed.  The products case recently settled for a confidential amount.