Recent Cases
Below are a selection of the cases and settlements that we have handled during our years in practice.
- $1,103,500 settlement for a head-on motor vehicle collision resulting in client requiring a cervical fusion.
- $5.5 million settlement for a driver that was paralyzed from the neck down after being rear-ended.
- $1 million settlement during jury selection for an estate of a pedestrian struck and killed.
- $5.25 million settlement against a hospital for failing to perform an emergency caesarean section during the birth of a child, despite fetal strips indicating increasingly pronounced fetal decelerations. Infant was born with profound cognitive deficits and will require extensive medical and nursing care over the course of his lifetime.
- $275,000 mediated settlement for a driver on I-95 that lost control of his vehicle when the defendant suddenly turned into his lane of travel. No contact between the vehicles occurred.
- $300,000 for a contractor who was spraying formaldehyde foam and fell through a roof, sustaining a compression fracture to his lumbar spine.
- $950,000 against an OB/GYN for causing a brachial plexus nerve injury during birth of child, resulting in 50% disability of an arm. The allegation was that the physician asserted excessive force on the infant’s upper extremity while attempting to free the head from the birth canal, instead of breaking the infant’s clavicle.
- $4.5 million settlement against a neurosurgeon. The claim was that the laminectomy neck surgery was performed by the physician at the wrong cervical level and that the patient was improperly maintained on steroids post-operation. The patient subsequently experienced steroid collapse and quadriplegia.
- $450,000 verdict against physician for performing a medically inappropriate vaginal exam when his 37-year-old patient was complaining of flu-like symptoms.
- $950,000 settlement for failing to diagnose colon cancer in a 37-year-old male patient. The patient presented to physician on two separate office visits informing physician that he was experiencing rectal bleeding. On one occasion, physician performed a cursory rectal exam but did not follow up with either a sigmoidoscope or a colonoscopy. The physician told the patient that the rectal bleeding was simply due to hemorrhoids.
- Structured settlement with present value of $500,000 where client developed severe cardiac endocarditis, requiring implantation of a Bork-Shiley prosthesis to replace one of the damaged heart valves. The patient had his spleen removed 12 years earlier because of a motorcycle accident, placing him at risk for developing endocarditis. Even though the physician’s own medical history indicated this history of his spleen being removed, he failed to offer the patient the option of a vaccine which was found to be effective in preventing such cardiac infections. Physician admitted in deposition that other patients in his practice had been administered this Merck vaccine.
- $1.4 million settlement against a hospital for the wrongful death of a 14-year-old child, alleging that nurses failed to administer prescribed medications in a timely manner. The patient subsequently died of septicemia.
- $1.5 million settlement against neurosurgeon who failed to appreciate an abnormal PTT (bleeding time) test before embarking on an interventional neuro-radiological surgery at the back of the patient’s brain. This surgery by physician involved inserting platinum coils to stabilize an embolism at the back of the brain. During surgery, the coils became stuck in the embolism, complicating their removal. The patient, who had minor stroke symptoms prior to this surgery, subsequently developed a partial paralysis of the left side.
- $3,660,000 settlement of a class action lawsuit brought against Nationwide and Progressive insurance companies for engaging in an illegal settlement practice. Specifically, individuals injured by people insured by these two insurance companies had their claim representatives negotiate a final settlement of their personal injury claim within 15 days of the accident date. Connecticut law Sec, 52-572a expressly voids any release for personal injury if signed within 15 days of the tortuous act for the public policy reason that sometimes personal injuries do not fully appear within 15 days of the trauma. Approximately 1,140 people were affected by this suit. Both companies were permanently enjoined from engaging in this settlement practice in Connecticut in the future. (Attorney Bartlett was co-class counsel for the 1,140 members.)
- $500,000 mediated settlement for a 19-year-old female college student that, while traveling in a college shuttle van, was struck by a driver that crossed the double yellow line, resulting in a commuted fracture requiring surgery.
- $325,000 mediated settlement for a 49-year-old woman that was struck while walking in a crosswalk on her way to work. Client sustained a fracture to her coccyx and a fracture to her elbow.
- $425,000 mediated settlement to an individual that sustained serious back injuries requiring surgery when a utility installed a wire below the height required by PUC state code. The wire became stuck on the roof of the client’s box truck. The client was seriously injured when the wire suddenly released, knocking the client off the roof of his truck.
- $1.2 million mediated settlement to the estate of a minor who drowned. Claim was made against the owner of the facility that there was inadequate supervision and training of lifeguards.
- $215,500 mediated settlement for an individual who at the time of the injury was an employee of a utility company. The client was struck by a vehicle when he was directing traffic as a wire was being installed, sustaining back and shoulder injuries.
- $1.25 million settlement in cross-over collision in Danbury, CT.