Traumatic Brain Injury Winning Results

$10,100,000

Hilson v. Tran, Santa Clara County Superior Court
This judgment for 12 year-old Rasheed Hilson was entered in July, 2009 after 15 days of trial before Hon. Leslie Nichols, Santa Clara County Superior Court after the defendant's insurance company, Amica Mutual Insurance, refused to pay its $50,000 policy to put to rest this youngster's severe injury claims, including brain damage, hemiplegia, and multiple fractures. On November 14, 2007, Rasheed left the Morrill Middle School on Cropley Avenue, San Jose, and raced down the driveway, intent on catching a bus. A typical 12 year-old, he thoughtlessly ran into the street and into the path of a car traveling at 35 mph. The San Jose Police Department concluded the speed limit was 35 mph because the crash occurred at 4:30 pm and the school had closed at 2:30 pm. The police department failed to inquire why six witnesses to the event were 11 and 12 year-olds. Had they asked the police would have learned that an interschool basketball game was underway in the school's gym and according to the testimony of the school principal, the Morrill Middle School was in operation at 4:30 pm. Rasheed suffered profoundly severe injuries, which are permanent and which will require lifelong care. Tried by Richard Alexander and Jeff Rickard. As a result of this case both were named Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers of the Year 2008. $8,132,000 jury verdict for a 15 year-old boy.

$5,200,000

Insurance bad faith and injury recovery collected for a wonderful San Jose couple who suffered a severe head injury and facial and orthopedic fractures, including the loss of an eye, in a head-on collision at the Cats intersection on Route 17, Los Gatos, California. When a southbound and under-insured Jeep [$100,000/$300,000 GEICO policy], slowed to make an illegal u-turn, which the investigating Highway Patrol officer described as "suicidal," a Housing Authority police officer driving 15 mph hour over the speed limit punched the Jeep forward and across three lanes of northbound traffic into the plaintiffs car. Focus groups concluded that 90% of the cause of the crash was the Jeep. When we described the Jeep as being "cocked" and the police car "pulling the trigger," the Housing Authority was found 90% at fault.$4,250,000 recovery for a five year-old child who suffered severe brain injury from exposure to methanol fumes and gallium arsenide dust during pregnancy.

$4,250,000

John Doe, a minor v. Manufacturing Company, Alameda County Superior Court
On the eve of trial for a five-year old child who suffered severe brain injury as a result of being exposed to methanol fumes and gallium arsenide dust during pregnancy. Extremely difficult case to prove exposure and dose sufficient to cause birth defects. Plaintiff's mother worked for a company that received numerous citations from OSHA in the year 2000 and discovery established that company health officials did all that they could to conduct workplace testing to minimize reported exposures. Company officials operated such a dirty facility that it was necessary to dismantle the facility and ship it to China because of the inability to operate in Alameda County. Surprisingly in 2003 during the dismantling, the company was cited again for not protecting workers from exposure to arsenide dust found in the dismantling of the cafeteria ventilation system. A condition of settlement was that the company would not be revealed with regard to this settlement. American International Group paid the recovery, except as the Court will approve.

$2,750,000

Singh v. National Real Estate, Santa Clara County Superior Court No. 693716
In Singh v. National Real Estate, two year old Ciera Singh suffered a brain injury when she and her father crossed a dark street and were struck by an oncoming vehicle operated by a real estate salesman working for a franchisee of a national real estate firm. The franchisor routinely avoided liability in similar cases throughout the United States, claiming that it was not responsible for its franchisee's torts, that it had no control over day-to-day operations and merely provided a trademark, logo, and national advertising program. Fourteen expert witnesses and completed discovery of an additional 29 parties, witnesses and defense experts, for a total of 43 pre-trial depositions paved the way for this recovery against the franchisor.

$2,250,000

Cunningham v. Shortstop, Marin County Superior Court
As co-counsel for plaintiff in Cunningham v. Shortstop, quadrupled offer to plaintiff's attorney resulting in recovery of $1.5 million in cash, plus an annuity of $40,000 for a brain-damaged teenager injured by a teenage driver who was intoxicated on illegally sold beer. First contacted six days before trial. At the initial pre-trial conference, the defendant insurance company lawyers disclosed a pathologist would be testifying who had died nine months earlier, along with two other experts. Obviously the defendant insurance company's lawyers were lying. Those experts were retained that evening and that action forced a settlement on the third day of jury selection.

$1,953,731

Barger v. Morrison Homes
In Barger v. Morrison Homes, plaintiff, an employee of a framing contractor suffered a brain injury when he fell from a second story of a single family home after the frame structure was struck by his employer's fork lift. In another Restatement 416 peculiar risk of harm case, the general contractor was sued for failing to take special precautions to prevent such an injury from occurring and settled prior to trial with a waiver of the worker's comp lien of $158,877.

$1,800,000

A mother was exposed to toxic solvents at work while she was pregnant, which resulted in brain damage to her child. The defendant was a subsidiary of a nationally recognized chemical manufacturer.

$1,750,000

Whitely and Cox v. The State of California
Whitely and Cox v. The State of California, a personal injury action against the California Highway Patrol arising from a late night pursuit of an escapee from the California Youth Authority who was driving a stolen vehicle. Depositions of 21 experts were taken in this case. The central liability issue, which was strongly disputed, was whether the CHP had activated its siren to warn the general public that it was an emergency vehicle. The fleeing escapee violated a red light and collided with plaintiffs causing multiple fractures and brain injuries. At the time of the settlement, two years post-injury, both plaintiffs were preparing to return to work.

$1,200,000

Mullan v. Lloyd, Santa Clara County Superior Court Action Number CV-759615
Wrongful death of a 35 year old construction foreman employed by the City of San Jose who was installing curbing in a residential neighborhood when he was struck by the defendant's car, causing amputation of both legs and terminal injuries to his brain and spinal cord.

$1,000,000

San Francisco Superior Court number 301570
51 year old computer executive suffered a skull fracture and brain injury when he fainted and fell to the deck of a WWII military cargo ship while it was in port preparing for a Saturday cruise.

$1,000,000

Freeburn v. Wehman, Santa Clara County Superior Court action number 742048; consolidated with 746364
$1,000,000 recovery for Nicole Freeburn represents only partial compensation for a brain injury to a 16 year old who was thrown from a utility vehicle in a rollover. The SUV carried five teenagers, but had seatbelts for only four passengers. The owner and driver carried primary policy limits of $100,000/$300,000 and a $1,000,000 excess policy was shared with another injured passenger. This case illustrates the need for everyone, especially parents of teenagers, to purchase and keep in force excess Uninsured/Underinsured coverage on their own vehicles. A family excess liability and underinsured insurance rider providing coverage in excess of $1,000,000 would have been extremely valuable in this case.

$1,000,000

San Francisco Superior Court, No. 301570, May, 2001
Kurt Clifford v. S. S. Jeremiah O'Brien settled at the beginning of trial for a 51 year old computer technology executive who fainted due to orthostatic hypotension while climbing onto a hatch cover on a WWII Liberty Ship. He had been invited onboard with his family, and approximately 600 other guests for a day-long fundraising cruise. The ship provided only 100 chairs and guests were expected to climb onto hatch covers for "seats" during the cruise. Mr. Clifford climbed upon the forward hatch cover shown in this helicopter photo taken of a similar cruise, fainted and fell backwards onto a steel deck, struck his head, and suffered severe brain injuries. The ship called as an expert the captain of an identical Liberty Ship moored on the East Coast. Aerial photos were ordered of the East Coast vessel while underway with 700 passengers. None were allowed to climb onto the hatch covers. The defense expert was forced to admit that it was unsafe for visitors to climb onto hatch covers and that all visitors were required to keep their feet on the deck.

$750,000

Lemley v. C&C Warehouse Trucking, San Joaquin County Superior Court Action No. 186124
A woman suffered a brain injury as a result of plaintiff rear-ending a tractor and trailer which had turned into her lane of travel.

$500,000

Domenichini v. City and County of San Francisco et al, San Francisco Superior Court
Cement truck rollover. Robert Domenichini was ordered to deliver cement to a roadway construction site in San Francisco. Steel plates had been installed in the roadway that morning to provide a transition from the concrete surface of an intersecting street to the excavated dirt road being poured by Esquivel Grading and Paving, a subcontractor of Trinet Construction. As Mr. Domenichini backed up the steel plates gave way and shifted under his cement truck causing it to roll. The negligent contractors claimed the rollover was the driver¹s entire fault and that the failure to wear a seatbelt, which is not required under California¹s vehicle code on a construction site. Final settlement after jury selection in San Francisco Superior Court in November 2008. The recovery in this challenging liability case was not comparable to the brain injury suffered by this husband and father of two.

$500,000

John Doe v. Very Famous Casino, Clark County District Court, Nevada
A Californian visiting a Las Vegas casino left his table at a casino restaurant and was making his way to the men's room. He next woke up and found himself on the way to the hospital with a brain injury caused by a casino employee slamming into a defectively designed swinging kitchen door that extended into the walkway allowing it to strike casino guests. The casino settled on the condition its name not be mentioned.

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