Notable Verdicts & Settlements

Here is a sample of the personal injury and wrongful death cases that were successfully handled by the lawyers of Marsh, Rickard & Bryan in the past years:

Broken Pledge – Confidential Settlement in Lee County, Alabama

Jeff Rickard represented two college students who were seriously injured as a result of fraternity hazing. The lawsuits against a national fraternity organization came about after the students went through an initiation ritual known as “Hell Night”. During the event, the young men, who were blind-folded, were struck by various objects about their bodies. Both required lengthy hospitalization for their internal injuries. The lawsuits settled short of trial for a confidential sum.

Child Brain Injury

In May 2018, a Jefferson County jury awarded more than $30 million to a young boy who was badly hurt while he rested at a Birmingham daycare, Ressurection of Life. Attorneys David Marsh and Dylan Marsh tried the case for the little boy, Christian Dailey, and his parents, Mark and Valerie Dailey. The case grows out of a tragic event on September 25, 2015. Christian, who was 23 months old then, was sleeping in a room with other children. He was lying on the floor directly in front of a television set up on a dresser. There was no daycare worker in the room when something caused the television to fall nearly four feet and land on Christian’s head. Christian was taken to Children’s Hospital of Alabama where he was treated for a skull fracture, a brain bleed and respiratory failure with hypoxia. Christian has not, and will not, ever fully recover from the trauma to his brain. His injuries are permanent and catastrophic. Resurrection of Life Inc. fell into an exception in Alabama law that allows religious-affiliated daycares to operate without typical licensing and safeguards. It is David’s hope that this verdict can be used to change the law so that all daycares in Alabama are held to the same safe standards. David says “all child care facilities should be required to have an appropriate child-to-staff ratio, undergo safety inspections, and have insurance”.

Workplace Injury

Mike Beard and David Marsh settled a case for the widow and children of a sanitation worker who died while on the job in Cullman County. The 35-year-old was working as a “thrower” on the rear of a huge white garbage truck operating along Highway 231 just south of Arab, Alabama, when the garbage truck was struck from behind. The driver of a contractor’s truck barreled into the rear of the garbage truck at 55 mph in the middle of broad daylight. The collision was so violent it knocked the huge garbage truck 33 feet forward and threw our client to the pavement where he suffered fatal blows to the chest and head. The wreck was captured on video surveillance tape at a nearby gas station located by one of our investigators.

Medical Malpractice

Derrick Mills and Ty Brown resolved a case after a young woman died only twelve hours after giving birth by Caesarean section. An autopsy showed the young mother died from internal bleeding and blood loss. The case centered on the quality of medical care the young woman received from her nurses and obstetricians. There were questions about whether the nurses followed the doctor’s orders to get lab work done, and also to give blood products to the patient. There were also questions about whether the doctors were aggressive enough when the young woman’s condition worsened. Derrick was prepared to prove at trial that the young woman’s death preventable. The woman’s child, a baby boy, was healthy and survived.

Workplace Injury

Jeff Rickard settled a case on behalf of a hard-working young man who was seriously injured on-the-job. At 23 years old, our client has already had two serious back surgeries as a result of the fall and suffers from persistent back pain. He will not be able to return to heavy manual labor. Our client was dismantling scaffolds for use at an electric generating plant when he fell approximately 20 feet through an unguarded and unmarked opening in the floor. The floor opening was created by a sub-contractor on the project in violation of numerous industry safety standards including OSHA.

Vehicle Accident

Rip Andrews and Ben Ford resolved a lawsuit filed on behalf of two Good Samaritans who stopped at the scene of a wreck in Georgia to render aid. The couple was on the shoulder of Interstate 85 when a tractor-trailer rig crashed into a disabled van in the right hand lane. The force of the impact caused the van to strike our clients. Both suffered serious orthopedic injuries.

Personal Injury

J.D. Marsh, David and Ty Brown settled a case for an elderly woman who was injured at a rehabilitation facility in southeast Alabama. Following a total knee replacement, our client entered the rehabilitation center and was assessed as being a high risk for falls. The physician’s order admitting her required that fall precautions be placed to prevent our client from falling. While our client was feeling weak, disoriented and confused, she climbed out of her hospital bed and fell. No fall precautions or safety measures were in place at the time of our client’s fall. To make matters worse, her broken ankle and broken arm were only discovered twelve hours later.

Personal Injury

Mike and David settled a case for the family of a man who was killed when he was participating in a fishing tournament on the Tennessee River. While traveling to a fishing hole on a sunny July afternoon, the boat our client was riding in ran into a downed cable line located just above the water. Our client was partially decapitated and died immediately. We maintained that neither our client nor his fishing buddy was ever warned of the downed line. The downed line fell into the water after a pulling cable failed and was under repair at the time our client was killed.

Defective Products

J.D. settled a case for a cattle farmer in south Alabama who lost part of his herd due to toxic feed. Both the cattle and the feed were subject to testing by the Alabama Department of Agriculture. The testing confirmed the feed contained toxic levels of non-protein nitrogen and that the cattle had died from non-protein nitrogen poisoning. The case was against the manufacturer that mixed the tubs of feed. The cattle farmer’s damages were significant.

Wrongful Death

Rip resolved a lawsuit against a tire dealer and at-fault driver for the family of a woman who died tragically through no fault of her own. Our client was killed while driving in a rainstorm on her way to work in north Alabama. Her car was struck head-on by another driver whose car fish-tailed out of control and came across the center line. The driver who lost control of her car did so because her two rear tires were completely bald. Just two weeks prior to this, the other driver had tried to buy four new tires, but the tire dealer did other work on her car, pricing her out of the four new tires and then violated the critical “best to rear” rule for new tires leaving the bald two tires on the rear axle.

Trucking Case

David and Derrick Mills resolved a case of a young man who was seriously injured when the dump truck he was riding in was struck from the rear by an 18-wheeler., causing the dump truck to leave the roadway and overturn. The wreck happened on U.S. Highway 80 in Dallas County in September 2015. The young man suffered a devastating traumatic brain injury. His ability to walk was affected. He spent more than a year in rehabilitation and continues his therapy to this day. Unfortunately, he will never work again and requires full-time care.

Workplace Injury

Mike Beard reached a settlement on behalf of a man who was working on a roofing crew when part of the old roof that he was standing on gave way. His fall protection equipment failed to arrest his free fall and the man fell 30-40 feet to the floor of a warehouse. The lawsuit was against the general contractor for the construction project which is ultimately responsible for the safety of everyone working on the project site. Three levels of our client’s spine burst from the force of the fall. While he underwent surgeries for his back, he will never be pain-free or work again.

Medical Malpractice

David and Dylan Marsh reached a settlement on behalf of the parents of a 15 year old girl who died after receiving the wrong medication. Two years prior, the young girl had successfully undergone a heart and double lung transplant. She was doing well but it was essential that she take her anti-rejection medication. Unbeknownst to the family, their local pharmacy mis-filled the prescription for anti-rejection medication; instead, the young girl was given and took a medication used to treat an enlarged prostrate. She took the wrong medication for a month, which caused organ rejection, and many complications and eventually led to her death.

Workplace Injury

Ben Ford settled a case on behalf of a man who lost his right hand in an accident at a manufacturing plant in Decatur. The injury occurred when the power unexpectedly came on while our client was cleaning out a vessel. The case focused on the modifications made to the machine over the years. Our client experiences significant phantom pain since the loss of his dominant hand. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the amputation injury and is still undergoing psychiatric care.

Trucking Death

Jeff Rickard and David resolved a case for the wife of a man who died as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic wreck. The couple had been married 53 years when he died. The wreck occurred on Highway 280 near Sylacauga when the pickup truck he was driving was struck by a commercial cargo/box van truck. The driver of the commercial truck was on methadone at the time of the wreck. The use of methadone while driving a commercial vehicle is against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Rules and Regulations.

Dram Shop

David and J.D. Marsh settled a case for the family of a woman who died driving drunk. The driver’s blood alcohol level at the time of her death was .324. The case was against the bar that continued to serve the woman alcohol despite her obvious intoxication. The driver was served between 6 and 10 shots of Fireball as well as at least two 20 ounce beers during a period of time slightly more than an hour. This was a violation of company policies and state law. Surveillance video showed two bar employees assisted the driver out the door and helped put her in her car to drive.

Medical Malpractice

David and Dylan reached a settlement in a case involving a young man who died following a routine tonsillectomy, The patient was given a toxic and lethal dose of the opioid Dilaudid, in combination with the anti-nausea drug Phenergan. The medical record showed a steady decline in the patient’s condition, consistent with respiratory depression caused by opiate overdose. This was confirmed upon autopsy. The case focused on the lack of training by post-op nurses and lack of policies and procedures at the hospital where this happened.