Category Archives:Case Success Stories

We fight until the injury victim gets the settlement or verdict that he/she deserves. Read more about these cases which Morrison & Wagner successfully resolved.
April 25, 2015 Case Success Stories
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$ 1,300,000 Settlement - Motor Vehicle - Driver Didn't Yield Right of Way, Hits Two Pedestrians

A 38 year-old a seamstress, and her 9 year-old daughter, were struck by a van while crossing an intersection in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York. The child was killed. Her mother claimed that she sustained jaw and knee injuries. The victim’s family sued the van’s driver, the van’s owner, Professional Charter Service Inc.; the company that operated the van, Consolidated Bus Transit Co.; the city of New York, the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, the New York City Board of Education and the New York City Transit Authority. Justice prevailed.

 

Photo by David Shankbone [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

January 17, 2018 Case Success Stories
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$ 1,270,000 Jury Verdict For Nurse Whose Vehicle Was Broadsided

New York – Ms. E. H., a nurse, suffered injuries to her left shoulder and knee as well as her neck and back in a motor vehicle crash. The car accident occurred when another car broadsided the victim’s car on Strickland Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Ms. H. consulted with expert car accident attorney Stuart Wagner and filed a personal injury lawsuit against the driver of the other vehicle. After going to trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff a verdict of $1,270,000 to compensate her for pain and suffering as well as loss of earnings.

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo Credit: History in Photos [License]

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JURY RETURNS verdict $1,270,000 for Plaintiff (as reported in the New York Jury Verdict Reporter)

Jury Verdict: $1,270,000

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Court: Kings Civil, Kings County, New York

Injury Type(s): rotator cuff, injury (tear); shoulder; epidural injections; physical therapy; medial meniscus, tear; lateral meniscus, tear; herniated disc, cervical; herniated disc, lumbar; lower back; back and neck; neck; back; numbness; percutaneous discectomy; radicular pain / radiculitis; decreased range of motion

Case Type: Left Turn — Motor Vehicle Accident — Broadside — Motor Vehicle Crash — Verbal Threshold

Date: 10/20/2017

Plaintiff Attorney(s):
Stuart Wagner; Morrison & Wagner, LLP; New York, NY

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Facts & Allegations:
Around 7:15 a.m. on Aug 15, 2013, plaintiff E. H., 40, a licensed practical nurse, was operating her vehicle on Strickland Avenue in Brooklyn, when her vehicle was broadsided by a vehicle that was operated by J. L., the defendant, who made a left turn from East 59th Place. As a result of the impact, The plaintiff’s vehicle continued on and struck two parked vehicles on the side of the road.

The plaintiff claimed injuries to her left non-dominant shoulder, left knee, neck and back. The plaintiff sued the defendant. The plaintiff contended that the defendant was negligent in the operation of her vehicle. This was a summary jury trial.

Just prior to jury selection, defense conceded liability. The parameters of the case were $25,000 to the $300,000 insurance policy limits.

Injuries/Damages
The plaintiff drove herself from the scene of the accident to Kings County Hospital. She complained of pain to her chest, neck and back. X-rays were taken of her chest, neck and back, which were negative. She was given painkillers and ibuprofen and was told to follow up with her primary care physician before she was discharged home. The plaintiff claimed she sustained a rotator cuff tear to her left shoulder, a partial thickness surface tear of the infraspinatus muscle, tears of the medial and lateral menisci of her left knee and several herniations at the cervical and lumbar levels.

For treatment, the plaintiff began physical therapy on Aug. 19, 2013 through January 15, 2014, with 46 visits over five months. She later consulted with an orthopedic surgeon. She then went to a pain management physician and had painkillers prescribed, as well as injections to her knee on Sept. 6, 2016. She again had epidural injections to her left knee on Nov. 5, 2016. On Dec. 14, 2016, the plaintiff had bilateral L4-5 epidural injections to her lower back. She still complained of lower back pain and numbness and tingling radiating into both her legs. She then had a percutaneous discectomy at L4-5 with steroid injections, as well as nerve blocks at C5-6 and C6-7. She did not have any shoulder surgery. The plaintiff claims she still has weakness in her shoulder and her knees, a limited range of motion for her shoulder and knees, and that she has difficulty bending, lifting, climbing stairs and tending to her patients. The plaintiff had two part-time jobs. She was an LPN at a private group, a senior living center, where she would supervise other nurses who made house calls. Her other job was at a home health care service. She was not able to work at the senior center from the date of the accident until Dec. 1, 2013. For her other job, she was out on disability from the date of the accident until Nov. 8, 2013. The plaintiff claimed she was unable to do the physical labor involved as a home health nurse, and that accordingly, her position was replaced by someone else. The plaintiff sought recovery for her past and future loss of earnings and her past and future pain and suffering.

Defense contended that the plaintiff alleged injuries were not related to the subject accident. Defense contended that just prior to the subject accident, on July 31, 2016, she presented to Kingsbrook General Hospital when she missed a step and fell, injuring her left knee. Defense contended that her complaints were attributable to that previous fall and not the subject accident. Defense contended that the plaintiff’s injuries were pre-existing, and age and job related, due to the physical nature of working with patients as a home health nurse. Defense contended that if she sustained any injury from the subject accident, that they had resolved and the plaintiff could go back to her regular activities, including working. Defense’s orthopedic surgeon’s records indicated that there was no evidence of orthopedic disability after he examined her shoulder and both her knees.

Result
The jury found that the plaintiff sustained a significant limitation of use of a body function or system, that she sustained a permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system and that she sustained a permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member for 90 out of 180 days. The jury awarded the plaintiff $1.27 million. In accordance with the parties’ parameters on the policy limits, the plaintiff will receive the $300,000 from the insurance company.

$270,000 past lost earnings
$100,000 past pain and suffering
$100,000 future pain & suffering (over 10 years)
$800,000 future lost earnings (over 20 years)
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$1,270,000 plaintiff’s total award

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Judge: Judge Michael Gerstein

March 07, 2016 Case Success Stories
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Award: $1.05 Million -- Pedestrians in Crosswalk Struck by Car in Brooklyn, New York

New York — A man and his daughter were crossing a Brooklyn street when they were struck by a car. The accident victims suffered multiple injuries and underwent extensive treatment. They sought the assistance of the experienced injury attorneys at Morrison & Wagner, who helped them win a total of $1,050,000 in compensation for their injuries, pain and suffering.

Illustrative Photo Credit: Benjamin Bousquet [License]

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Father, daughter claimed motorist struck them in crosswalk (VerdictSearch)

Actual Award: $1,050,000

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Court: Kings Supreme, Kings County, New York

Injury Type(s): hip-fracture; leg-scar and/or disfigurement; head; head-headaches; head-concussion; knee-fracture; tibial plateau-fracture; brain-subdural hematoma; chest-fracture; rib; other-sutures; other-laceration; other-physical therapy; pelvis-fracture (fracture, pubic ramus); shoulder-fracture (fracture, clavicle); foot/heel-fracture; toe; mental/psychological-cognition (memory, impairment)

Case Type: Motor Vehicle – Pedestrian

Date: May 14, 2015

Plaintiff Attorney(s):
Stuart Wagner; Morrison & Wagner, LLP; New York, NY
Ira Cooper; trial counsel, Morrison & Wagner, LLP; New York, NY

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Facts:

On Jan. 10, 2010, the plaintiff, 62, an attorney, and his daughter, a minor, were struck by, or collided with, a motor vehicle. The incident occurred on Elm Avenue, alongside its intersection at East 14th Street, in the Manhattan Terrace section of Brooklyn. The plaintiff sustained injuries of his head, his knees, a rib, a shoulder and a toe. His daughter sustained injuries of her hips and a thigh.

The injured man, acting individually and as his daughter’s parent and natural guardian, sued the vehicle’s driver and co-owner and the vehicle’s other co-owner. The plaintiffs alleged that the driver was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. The plaintiffs further alleged that co-owner was vicariously liable for the driver’s actions.

Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that the impact occurred in a crosswalk of Elm Avenue. They further claimed that the daughter and her father were struck by the front end of the vehicle. The driver acknowledged that he later noticed a dent of his vehicle’s front end and that the dent did not predate the accident.

The daughter claimed that the vehicle struck her right hip. Her father claimed that he sustained an injury that prevents his recollection of the impact or any other part of the accident, but Justice Richard Velasquez invoked the Noseworthy doctrine, which specifies that certain impairments permit a reduction of a plaintiff’s burden of proof.

The driver claimed that the daughter and her father entered the roadway and initiated contact with one side of his vehicle. Defense counsel noted that the father sustained a fracture of a toe. He suggested that the injury was a result of the toe having been crushed by one of the vehicle’s tires, and he argued that such a scenario could only have occurred if the plaintiff had approached from one side of the vehicle and stepped in front of one of its tires.

The driver claimed that he had scanned a distance of about 10 car lengths and did not notice pedestrians or oncoming traffic. He acknowledged having told a responding police officer that the sun’s glare hindered his view of the roadway, but he claimed that the statement was a result of nervousness during the moments that followed the accident.

Injury:

The injured father sustained a concussion, a laceration of his head, a fracture of his right leg’s tibial plateau, which is a component of the knee, a fracture of his left knee, a fracture of his left shoulder’s clavicle, a fracture of his right foot’s first toe and a fracture of a rib. His head’s injury also produced a subdural hematoma.

The accident victim was placed in an ambulance, and he was transported to Lutheran Medical Center, in Brooklyn. His hospitalization lasted four days.

The plaintiff’s treatment comprised a few weeks of physical therapy. He claimed that his concussion has produced lasting effects that include headaches, impairment of his ability to concentrate and impairment of his short-term memory. He further claimed that his residual effects prevented proper performance of his job’s duties and necessitated an early retirement.

The plaintiff sought recovery of damages for past and future pain and suffering.

The daughter sustained a fracture of her pelvis’s left superior public ramus, which is a component of the left hip, a fracture of her pelvis’s right superior pubic ramus, which is a component of the right hip, and a laceration of her right thigh.

She was placed in an ambulance, and she was transported to Lutheran Medical Center. Her right thigh’s laceration was closed via application of sutures. A doctor determined that she was too young to undergo surgical repair of her fractures, so the fractures were allowed to heal naturally.

The daughter retains a scar of her right thigh, but she does not suffer residual pain or limitations. Her father sought recovery of damages for his daughter’s past and future pain and suffering.

Defense counsel contended that the daughter’s injuries healed within a few weeks.

Defense counsel also contended that the injury victim did not sustain a lasting injury of the brain. The defense’s expert neuropsychiatrist opined that a post-accident psychiatric test produced normal results. Defense counsel contended that the plaintiff can resume his job.

Result:

During the trial, the parties negotiated a settlement of the daughter’s claim. The defendants’ insurer agreed to pay $150,000.

The jury found that the defendants were liable for the accident. It determined that the injured man’s damages totaled $900,000. That amount, plus the amount recovered via the settlement, totaled $1.05 million.

Father: $400,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering; $500,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

Actual Award: $1,050,000

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Judge: Richard Velasquez

Editor’s Comment: This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ and defense counsel.

November 01, 2015 Case Success Stories
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$990,000 Worker’s Compensation Settlement – Electrician injured hip and pelvis on the job

Mr. Sabet, an electrician in New York City, worked for a contractor when he suffered an injury to his hip and pelvis. His on- the job injury required two orthopedic surgeries and extensive physical therapy. Despite his medical care, Mr. Sabet contended that he was left with physical disabilities that would prevent him from returning to work as an electrician.

He consulted with the well-known worker’s comp lawyers at Morrison & Wagner LLP, an injury law firm in New York City, with a successful history of recovering money for work accident victims. With their help, Sabet filed an injury lawsuit against his employer, demanding compensation for damages, pain and suffering.

Details of the worker’s injuries, his pain and suffering as well as past and projected future expenses — due to the injury — were submitted by experts, as part of a life care plan. Morrison & Wagner contended that due to the injuries, the disabled worker would be restricted in his available lines of work, required re-training to adapt to new lines of work, and would not be able to return to his professional career.

Morrison & Wagner LLP succesfully resolved the work injury claim. The employer settled the case and agreed to pay $990,000 to the NY work injury victim.

Have you been injured at work? Tell us about it – it’s a free consultation!

Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Pacific Region’s [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

April 24, 2015 Case Success Stories
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$ 850,000 Settlement - Premises Liability - Woman Trips on Sidewalk's Protruding Oil-Line

A 60 year-old department stores counter person, tripped on an oil-supply-line cap that was protruding from the surface of a sidewalk that was located in the Astoria section of Queens, New York. The woman fell and sustained an elbow injury. She sued the adjacent property’s owners, the property’s former oil vendors, Gotham Petroleum Transport Inc. and Petro Inc.; and the property’s current oil supplier, Castle Oil Corp. The woman alleged that the defendants created a dangerous condition.

 

Photo by Rakesh.5suthar (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

April 23, 2015 Case Success Stories
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$800,000 Result - Motor Vehicle - Bus Made Turn and Caused Car to Hit Pedestrian

A 35 year-old 35 customs agent was driving on 150th Avenue, near 148th Street in the cargo area of John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y. He approached the intersection with a green traffic signal. A New York City Transit Authority bus traveling in the opposite direction made a left turn in front of him, causing the two vehicles to collide. The victim sued the New York City Transit Authority and the bus driver. He claimed that the driver should have seen his car and yielded.

March 07, 2016 Case Success Stories
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$600,000 Settlement -- Home Health Aid Injured in Nassau Car Crash

New York — A 52-year-old woman who was working as a home health aid suffered severe accident injuries in a car accident. The car was owned by her employer and being driven by a friend of the employer, who both died during the car crash. The injured woman consulted with the expert lawyers of Morrison & Wagner and filed a personal injury lawsuit against the estates of the employer and driver. The estates agreed to pay the injury victim $600,000 in damages.

Illustrative Photo (Altered to obscure license plate and address): Todd Dwyer [License]

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Heart failure, age blamed for fatal car crash (VerdictSearch)

Amount Recovered: $600,000

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Court: Bronx Supreme, Bronx County, New York

Injury Type(s):
ankle; other-laceration; other-tendon; severed/torn foot/heel-foot; neurological-nerve damage/neuropathy (nerve damage, peroneal nerve)

Case Type: Motor Vehicle – Speeding, Passenger, Single Vehicle

Date: June 15, 2007

Plaintiff Attorney(s):
Stuart Wagner; Morrison & Wagner, L.L.P.; New York, NY

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Facts:

On March 26, 2003, the plaintiff, 52, was working as a home health attendant for defendant A, at defendant A’s home in Westbury. On this day, defendant B invited defendant A out to dinner and offered to drive. The three of them go into the garage, and the defendant B sat down in the driver seat of defendant A’s vehicle, while the plaintiff and defendant A got into the back seat. The vehicle then sped out of the garage, down the driveway, turned right and crashed into a house across the street. Defendant B, who was driving, was found unconscious at the accident scene and having sustained multiple injuries. He later died without having regained consciousness. Defendant A was also killed in the accident. The injured plaintiff claimed that as a result of the collision her feet became trapped under the front passenger seat and that she sustained severe lacerations of her right ankle and toes.

The woman accident victim sued defendant A’s estate and defendant B’s estate. She alleged that defendant B, as the driver, was negligent in the operation of the vehicle and that defendant A, as the vehicle owner, was vicariously liable for defendant B’s actions.

Defendant A’s estate commenced a separate action against defendant B’s estate, alleging that defendant B was negligent in the operation of the vehicle. The matters were joined for trial. However, the action by defendant A’s estate settled on Sept. 25, 2006, and the plaintiff’s matter continued against both defendants.

The woman claimed that defendant B was negligent for pulling out of the garage and driveway at an excessive rate of speed and for failing to keep proper control of the vehicle. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that defendant B should not have been driving at his advanced age of 86.

Defense counsel alleged that defendant B suffered a stroke or heart attack once he was behind the wheel and that this caused defendant B’s erratic driving. The defense contended that since this was an unforeseen event, there was no liability. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that there was no medical evidence to prove that defendant B had suffered either a heart attack or stroke.

Injury:

The plaintiff was placed in an ambulance and transported to Winthrop-University Hospital, in Mineola. She remained in the hospital for eight days and was diagnosed with compound lacerations of the dorsal aspect of the right foot, including lacerations of the extensor digitorum communis tendons and extensor digitorum brevis tendons of toes 2 through 5, and a laceration of the peroneal nerve in the right ankle. The car crash victim underwent operative repair of the peroneal nerve injury the day after the accident, followed by approximately 26 weeks of physical therapy, but she complained that it was not successful.

The plaintiff claimed that the lacerations of her right ankle and toes caused a loss of function to the long extensors of the lateral toes. She alleged that she was left with a club foot and had trouble walking. She sought recovery of damages for her past and future pain and suffering.

Defense counsel contended that the plaintiff made a good recovery from her injuries following the surgery. The defendant’s orthopedic expert determined that the surgery was successful and that the woman’s toes were OK. However, he found that she did experience a loss of sensation to the lateral two-thirds of her right foot due to the peroneal nerve laceration. He determined that the plaintiff could not actively extend her lateral toes, but that they were in a neutral position and did not curl downward or upward. Thus, the expert concluded that the woman did not suffer a disability.

Result:

The parties agreed to settle prior to trial for $600,000. Of the total settlement, defendant B’s estate paid $500,000, and defendant A’s estate paid $100,000.

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Judge: Howard R. Silver

Editor’s Comment: This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s and defense counsel.

March 07, 2016 Case Success Stories
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$550,000 Payment in Trip and Fall Injury Lawsuit

New York — This 62-year-old man reported that he tripped and fell while walking down a step on private property. He fractured his leg and ankle and required surgery to try to repair the injuries. Unfortunately, he noted, he wasn’t able to return to work due to the injuries and pain. After speaking to a top injury lawyer at Morrison & Wagner, the victim decided to file a personal injury lawsuit against the owner and property manager of the home. They negotiated a $550,000 payment to compensate the man for his injuries.

Illustrative Photo Credit: diskychick [License]

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Landlord ignored broken walkway, visitor claimed (VerdictSearch)

Settlement Amount: $550,000

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Court: Kings Supreme, Kings County, New York

Injury Type(s):
leg-fracture (fracture, tibia); ankle-fracture (pilon fracture); ankle-fracture distal fibula; other-plate; other-closed reduction; other-pins/rods/screws; other-comminuted fracture; other-decreased range of motion; surgeries/treatment-open reduction; surgeries/treatment-external fixation; surgeries/treatment-internal fixation

Case Type: Slips, Trips & Falls – Slips, Trips & Falls, Trip and Fall
Premises Liability – Dangerous Condition, Negligent Repair and/or Maintenance

Date: July 8, 2014

Plaintiff Attorney(s):
Stuart Wagner; Morrison & Wagner, LLP; New York, NY

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Facts:

During the evening of Oct. 27, 2011, the plaintiff, 62, a factory worker, fell on a walkway of a residence that was located in the Weeksville section of Brooklyn. He sustained injuries of an ankle.

The injured man sued the premises’ owner and the premises’ manager. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were negligent in their construction and maintenance of the premises’ entryway path. He further alleged that the defendants’ negligence created a dangerous condition that caused his accident.

The injured plaintiff claimed that he tripped while descending a step that led from an entryway path to a sidewalk. The plaintiff’s expert engineer submitted a report in which he contended that a gap had been created by settling, shifting and/or tilting of segmented stones that formed the step’s upper riser. The expert also contended that the step’s flags were misaligned, creating a height differential of about 0.75 inches.

Defense counsel contended that any defects were oriented side by side — not to front to back — and therefore would not have caused a tripping incident. He also contended that the walkway’s damage created merely minimal defects. He further contended that, during a deposition, the plaintiff placed his fall several inches away from the defects identified by the injury victim’s expert.

Injury:

The plaintiff sustained a pilon fracture: a comminuted fracture of the lowest portion of a leg’s tibia, which forms an upper component of the associated ankle. The injury involved his right ankle. He also sustained a fracture of his right fibula’s distal region, which is another component of the right ankle.

The trip and fall victim was placed in an ambulance, and he was transported to Kings County Hospital Center, in Brooklyn. After four days had passed, his fractures were addressed via closed reduction and the application of an external fixation device. Soon thereafter, he underwent open reduction and the internal fixation of hardware that included three screws and six plates. His hospitalization lasted about two weeks.

The plaintiff claimed that he suffers permanent residual pain and a residual diminution of his right ankle’s range of motion. He claimed that he requires use of a cane and that he cannot tolerate prolonged periods in which he is standing or walking. He further claimed that his injuries prevent his resumption of his job.

The man sought recovery of past lost earnings, future lost earnings, and damages for past and future pain and suffering.

The defense’s expert orthopedist submitted a report in which he opined that the plaintiff achieved a good recovery and that he can be gainfully employed.

Result:

Defense counsel moved for summary judgment of liability. During pendency of the motion, the parties negotiated a settlement. The defendants’ insurer agreed to pay $550,000.

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Judge: David I. Schmidt

Editor’s Comment: This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiff’s counsel. Defense counsel did not respond to the reporter’s phone calls.