Automobile Accident. We represented a woman involved in an intersection accident with a commercial vehicle. A defense of contributory negligence was asserted by the commercial defendant, who alleged that our client did not make reasonable and necessary observations before entering the intersection. The contributory negligence issue was prosecuted vigorously in this case by the defendant. Our client sustained herniated discs in her cervical spine, resulting in cervical spinal fusion surgery. This case settled before trial for $200,000.

Workers' Compensation. We represented an office work who was injured at work when her desk chair collapsed, causing her to fall to the ground and also strike an open drawer of her desk. Initially, our client sustained herniated discs in her lumbar spine, resulting in lumbar spinal fusion surgery. Following surgery, our client was sent for rehabilitative therapy. Up to this point in time, our client's medical treatment was approved and paid for by her employer's workers' compensation insurance coverage. However, following the rehabilitative therapy, our client gradually began to lose the use of her legs, and ultimately became paralyzed from the waist down. While she was losing the use of her legs, the workers' compensation company refused to pay for any further medical treatment, upon the basis that there was no relationship between the paralysis and the worker's compensation injury and subsequent treatment. A hearing was held before a Deputy Commissioner of the N.C. Industrial Commission, and thereafter extensive discovery was taken of our client's treating physicians as well as expert medical witnesses. Our client applied for and received Social Security Disability, and thereafter, this claim settled at mediation for $600,000.

Workers' Compensation. We represented a warehouse worker who sustained a back injury at work while attempting to lift a heavy object. He sustained herniated discs in his lumbar spine. The back injury was so extensive that, despite prompt medical intervention, our client also sustained a condition known as cauda equina, which resulted in permanent incontinence, leg weakness and other symptoms. Our client was unable to return to his former employment, and experienced a reduction in his earnings capacity, as a result of the combination of these injuries. Following unsuccessful attempts to settle this claim with the employer, we filed a Request for Hearing, and this case ultimately settled at mediation for $250,000.

Workers' Compensation. We represented a truck driver who sustained a lower back injury while assisting in the unloading of his vehicle. Our client initially underwent a lumbar discectomy, and thereafter due to ongoing symptoms a lumbar spinal fusion. He was left with a significant disability, and was unable to return to his employment as a truck driver. He was unable to be trained for any comparable-paying career, due to his limited work experience and education, and his age. A Request for Hearing was filed with the N.C. Industrial Commission, and this case eventually settled at Mediation for $185,000.

Truck Accident / Workers' Compensation. We represented a construction worker injured on the job while driving his company's vehicle. He sustained a lower back injury, for which he underwent a lumbar laminectomy. He was left with permanent disability, and was unable to return to his former employment in the construction field. A workers' compensation claim was filed against his employer, who paid all of our client's related medical expenses and also paid him total temporary disability while he was unable to work. The workers' compensation claim was settled for $75,000. In addition, a third-party negligence action was filed in the Superior Court against the commercial defendant who caused the multi-vehicle automobile wreck. Following extensive discovery procedures in the case, it was settled before trial for $300,000.

Products Liability. We represented a man who had previously had a below the knee leg amputation due to uncontrolled diabetes. Following the amputation, our client was fitted with a prosthesis, which he then utilized for several years until the shaft of the artificial leg (the "pylon") suddenly snapped while he was walking in a retail store, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain a serious shoulder injury. Our client underwent shoulder replacement surgery, as well as subsequent surgeries to control infection in his shoulder, and eventually, a final surgery to remove the artificial joint from his shoulder. As a result, our client was left with a significant disability of his shoulder and arm. A lawsuit was filed against the company that designed and serviced the prosthesis, as well as against the company that manufactured the pylon. Following extensive discovery and claims by and between the co-defendants, this case settled at Mediation for $520,000.

Tractor-Trailer Accident. We represented a woman who was an unauthorized passenger in a tractor-trailer operated by her boyfriend. Our client was asleep in the sleeper of the truck when the driver apparently also fell asleep, causing the tractor-trailer to leave the roadway and overturn. As a result, or client sustained a serious aggravation of a pre-existing back injury for which our client had previously had back surgery. As a result of these new injuries, our client was caused to undergo another operation in which herniated discs were removed and her lumbar spine was fused. A lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court. A defense was raised by the Defendant that our client should not have been in the truck. This case was settled prior to trial for $150,000.

Automobile Accident. We represented a man injured in an automobile accident, who sustained a serious shoulder injury. He ultimately underwent surgery to repair damage to his shoulder joint and related tendons. Following a period of extensive rehabilitation, he was left with a significant permanent disability. Our client was retired, and therefore the injury did not adversely impact his income. This case was settled for $125,000.

Automobile Accident. We represented a man who was driving his vehicle when it was struck head-on by a larger vehicle that had jumped a roadway median. As a result, our client sustained serious multiple fractures of his leg. These injuries required several surgeries, and caused our client to experience an extended period of work disability from his construction job. Our client had no health insurance or disability insurance, and we worked closely with the medical providers so that our client could receive the medical treatment he required. Our client had no Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage, and the defendant was determined to have no assets other than his auto insurance policy coverage. This case settled for the defendants individual policy limits of $50,000.

Automobile Accident. We represented a man who was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a collision. As a result, he sustained a serious knee injury requiring surgery. Following extensive rehabilitation, he was nevertheless left with a permanent disability in his knee that required him to utilize a walker at all times. A lawsuit was filed in Superior Court, and after extensive investigation into the defendant's assets (there were no substantial assets) and into our client's own Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage (there was no exposure because our client's policy was less than the defendant's policy), this case settled for the defendant's automobile insurance policy limit of $100,000.

Workers' Compensation. We represented a factory electrician who received an electrical shock from a piece of equipment he was working on. His initial injuries included burns to his hands and face. Thereafter, he began to develop several neurologic conditions. He also developed Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Ultimately, our client became unable to work. His employer, after initially providing medical treatment, denied his claim as to both medical and disability benefits, claiming that these conditions were not related to the initial injury, and were in fact pre-existing. A Request for Hearing was filed with the N.C. Industrial Commission, and a hearing was held before a Deputy Commissioner. Thereafter, extensive discovery was taken of treating medical doctors as well as of hired medical experts. This case settled before issuance of a decision by the Industrial Commission for the amount of $125,000.

Automobile Accident / Underinsured Motorist Claim. We represented a man who was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver lost control in a turn, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and strike a tree. As a result, or client sustained a serious knee injury. He underwent reconstructive knee surgery, and was unable to work as an auto mechanic for over a year, although he ultimately was able to return to his career. A lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court, and following extensive discovery, the case was settled against the defendant for payment of the defendant's policy limits of $50,000. Thereafter, the case was continued against our client's own insurance carrier for payment of Underinsured Motorist benefits. This UIM claim was settled before trial for $150,000, for a total recovery for our client of $200,000.

Pedestrian - Truck Accident / Workers' Compensation. We represented a man who was walking across an intersection when he was struck by a dump truck. As a result, he sustained serious leg fractures eventually resulting in the amputation of his leg below the knee. A negligence claim was brought against the dump truck, and in addition a workers' compensation claim was brought against our client's employer. Our client was a contract worker sent from New Jersey to North Carolina to work for a period of six months. At the time he was injured, he was walking from his place of employment to his motel, where he was living temporarily for the six month period of contract employment. Our client's employer denied that he was in the course of his employment when injured, and also maintained that they had not been promptly advised of the injury and that much of the medical treatment had not been authorized by them. Co-counsel settled the automobile liability claim for the commercial truck's policy limit of $750,000. The workers' compensation claim was settled subsequently for $100,000.

Workers' Compensation. We represented a roofer who was injured when he fell off a ladder to the ground, sustained fractured vertebrae. He required back surgery, and was unable to work for an extended period of time, for which he was paid Temporary Total Disability by his employer. He ultimately made a good recovery and returned to work in his field, although he was left with a small amount of permanent disability. His case was settled for $70,000.

Truck Accident. We represented a woman injured who was rear-ended by a truck. As a result, she sustained a serious neck injury requiring cervical fusion surgery. She had previously undergone similar surgery at an adjacent level in her spine. A lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court, and the defendant asserted that most of our client's injuries were pre-existing. This case settled before trial for $250,000.

Premises Liability / Workers' Compensation. We represented a man who was injured while in the course of his employment as a truck driver. He was attempting to secure the load on his truck at a customer's premises when he slipped and fell on ice present on the driveway, in the area of the loading dock. Our client sustained serious knee and leg fractures, and was unable to return to his employment as a truck driver. Co-counsel resolved his workers' compensation claim. A lawsuit was filed in Superior Court against the property owner and others responsible for the condition of the premises. A defense of contributory negligence as asserted and prosecuted by the defendants. This case settled before trial for $263,500.

Truck Accident. We represented a woman involved in a serious automobile wreck caused by a commercial vehicle. She sustained a serious neck injury, for which she promptly obtained medical treatment. Treatment was not successful, and she stopped treatment for an extended period of time. She then returned to seek additional medical treatment after a gap of over a year, and she ultimately underwent a cervical fusion operation. A lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court against the Defendant, who asserted that the neck surgery was unrelated to the initial injuries sustained in the wreck. This case settled before trial for $250,000.

Products Liability / Premises Liability. We represented a young girl who was seriously burned when she bumped into the gas stove while running in her family's apartment, causing the stove to shift and a burner on the stove to become dislodged. As a result, a large pot of water that had been heating on the stove spilled over and ran onto her, causing serious burns of the face and body. A claim was brought against the landlord, as well as against the manufacturer and distributor of the range in question. This case eventually settled for a total payment by all parties of $500,000.

Premises Liability / Workers' Compensation. We represented a truck driver from another state who was injured on the job in North Carolina, while making a delivery. An elevator upon which he had loaded some cargo collapsed and fell a distance of about six feet to the ground, as a result of which our client sustained multiple fractures of his feet. Co-counsel handled his workers' compensation claim in his home state. We filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the property owner as well as the parties responsible for the elevator. A defense of contributory negligence was asserted by the defendants who claimed that our client had overloaded the elevator. The defendants also made claims against each other. Following extensive pre-trial procedures, this case settled for $125,000.

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