NOTABLE SETTLEMENTS IN 2006
Dear NONE,
Looking back over the past year, these notable personal injury cases handled by the lawyers of Marsh, Rickard & Bryan come to mind:
David Marsh and Jeff Rickard resolved a lawsuit on behalf of the family of a man who was electrocuted while riding a lawn mower in north Alabama. The mower was later found to have metallic wire wrapped around the blade. The lashing wire was shown to have come from telephone cable and communication lines strung between utility poles. The lawsuit was about the failure to maintain the lines in good condition. While liability was disputed, a central issue in the case was whether the death was caused by an electrical shock. In an unusual move, David sought and got injunctive relief to force the clean-up of lashing wire on the lines in north Alabama.
David and Jeff settled a products liability case where an Alabama man was helping a co-worker secure the loading ramps on a low-boy trailer. The support bracket for a ramp broke causing it to fall and crushed him to death. He was just 25 years old. The case centered on modifications made to the trailer that added weight and stress to the support brackets.
David, Mike Beard, and Alan Lasseter settled a lawsuit for a 37 year old Alabama man who was injured while working in Arkansas. The plaintiff was cutting concrete on a large bridge project when a bolt broke and he fell 18 to 20 feet onto the floor of a cofferdam. As a result of the fall, the plaintiff was paralyzed from the chest down. The case involved technical issues of rigging procedures and fall protection and legal issues of contributory negligence and multiple employers. Susan Silvernail told the story of the fall and the plaintiff's injuries through pictures and video interviews.
David and Mike resolved a lawsuit on behalf of an Alabama truck driver who was severely injured at a truck stop in Georgia. While weighing his rig, the driver was attacked by another truck driver in line for the scales. The driver was struck in the head, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked. The vicious attack left the truck driver unable to return to work.
David and Mike also settled a products liability case against the makers of a truck, truck bed and bulkhead. The case grew out of the death of an Alabama man whose vehicle left the roadway, and hit a tree. Upon impact, the load he was hauling shifted, went forward and crushed the cab in which he was driving.
Nat Bryan and Mike settled a lawsuit they filed for an Alabama widow whose husband died after getting the wrong dosage of pain medication from a skin patch. Nat and Mike argued that the drug manufacturer had mis-packaged the patches. The real battle in the case was over whether the pain medicine caused respiratory failure and death.
Nat and David resolved a medical malpractice case on behalf of an Alabama woman rendered quadriplegic in the wake of a cervical epidural procedure. Nat and David argued that the physiatrist used improper technique and injected steroid into the spinal cord. Susan's day-in-the-life video depicted the plaintiff who remains a ventilator-dependent patient at a skilled nursing facility.
Alan and David settled a case involving the death of an 80-year-old woman who fell to her death out of a second story window at a nursing home. The dementia patient had been in the nursing home only two days before her death. Alan argued that the nursing home failed to secure the windows to prevent them from opening more than the prescribed limit of six inches.
Alan and Mike settled a series of cases on behalf of a large group of Alabama homeowners who experienced problems with the construction of their new homes. The lawsuit named the individuals and corporations involved in the planning, design, construction and sale of the homes to the plaintiffs. Some of the defects included poor grading of the lots, lack of drainage systems, poor roof flashing systems, misaligned walls, sagging floors and ceilings.
Henry Cornelius settled a case on behalf of a young Alabama woman after a car wreck put an end to her promising soccer career. During the case, the defendant testified he saw the plaintiff's car but pulled out in front of her, thinking he could "beat it". As a result of the wreck, the 20-year-old soccer star suffered permanent and painful injuries to her back. The settlement video Susan produced included video of the plaintiff on the soccer field and an interview with her Division 1 coach--all of which showed that the wreck derailed a spectacular career.
© 2006 by Marsh, Rickard & Bryan, P.C. All rights reserved.
