All Lowe Scott Fisher Co., LPA Cases

A Cuyahoga County jury awarded a $584,000 verdict to a construction worker who had been injured when he was struck by a construction vehicle. The verdict will be adjusted to reflect a finding of 30% fault on behalf of the worker. The case was tried by partners Ryan Fisher and Greg Scott.

Partner James Lowe won a $10.4 million verdict in Palm Beach County, Florida, against Ford Motor Company, for their client who was paralyzed by a defective seat in a Ford Explorer.

On October 30, 2001, the client, age 60, was properly seat belted and operating her 2000 Ford Explorer. While stopped and waiting to turn left into her tennis club, her vehicle was struck from behind by a Toyota Solara, traveling at approximately 60 miles per hour. The teeth on the recliner mechanism gears stripped and sheared off, and the client’s seat collapsed onto the rear seat, allowing her to be thrown out of her seatbelt into the rear seatback where she suffered a severely fractured cervical spine, leaving her a quadriplegic.

The jury found that Ford Motor Company had placed the Explorer on the market with a defect in the seat design which was a legal cause of the Plaintiff’s severe injuries. The unanimous verdict awarded $1 million to her husband for his losses, and $9.4 million to the client.

The jury of five men and one woman deliberated for a total of approximately 11 hours over three days before returning their verdict for the Plaintiffs.

Hospital overdose of morphine. Excessive amount of Morphine administered to patient following surgery causing respiratory depression when transferred to regular nursing floor. Nurses failed to monitor patient resulting in brain injury.

An emergency room physician failed to recognize signs of impending heart attack, prematurely discharging the patient, who died at home.

A 27 year old graduate student sustained a permanent, catastrophic brain injury when the Ontel Products Corporation’s Iron Gym exercise bar he was using to do pull-ups during breaks from studying fell from its mounting, sending him crashing to the floor and striking his head. Prior to trial, the parties settled for a confidential amount.

Lowe Scott Fisher Co., LPA won a $2.3 million dollar settlement for husband and wife who were riding a three-wheeled motorcycle when a motorist in a SUV failed to stop at a stop sign causing the motorcycle driver to T-bone the SUV. The motorcycle driver sustained extensive orthopedic injuries and the passenger sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. Lowe Scott Fisher was able to secure a security video to help establish that the SUV driver failed to stop at the stop sign.

$4 million settlement for a driver who was struck from behind by a semi-tractor operator who had crashed into the rear of his vehicle on the highway and sustained a traumatic brain injury.

While driving her vehicle on the highway, with her two-month old daughter in a car seat behind her, plantiff was struck from behind by a pickup truck hauling a trailer loaded with thousands of pounds of steel. Her vehicle erupted in flames. Bystanders and the truck driver pulled the woman to safety, but were unable to rescue the infant who was consumed in the fire. Prior to trial, the parties settled with various parties and insurers for confidential amounts.

$550,000 was awarded to a cyclist who suffered orthopedic injuries and who the police cited for being at fault for causing an accident with a passing motorist.

While setting traffic barrels at a night time construction site, a laborer was struck by a car being driven by an intoxicated driver. The insurance companies of the driver, the construction company and the laborer’s employer were ultimately persuaded to resolve the laborer’s claims of brain injury and orthopaedic damages for approximately $3,000,000.

Shortly before trial obtained a seven-figure settlement in a personal injury and wrongful death claim for three mentally challenged group home residents and a police officer who rescued them when an arsonist set fire to their group home. Lowe Scott Fisher was able to prove that the caretaker charged with supervising the three residents had negligently fallen asleep and was therefore unable to alert the residents of the home. The survivors were all badly burned.

While sorting metal at a scrapyard, a laborer lost both his legs above the ankles when he was struck by the bucket of an excavator. The excavator was defective due to an absence of motion alarms, and the operator was negligent for operating the equipment in a very small yard with the sun in his eyes.

Two year old plaintiff and his mom recovered a six-figure settlement from a landlord and an appliance retailer who failed to attach the anti-tip device to the stove. The two year old boy opened up the oven door and climbed on top of it in an attempt to reach the food cooking on the stove. Because the anti-tip device was not installed the stove tipped forward spilling hot oil on the child’s back causing third degree burns, hospitalization and skin grafts.

Truck driver suffered severe permanent injuries, including blindness, when a defectively designed hatch lid on a tanker trailer failed to hold when under pressure, causing him to be drenched in hydrochloric acid.

Lowe Scott Fisher recovered over $1,000,000 for a factory worker who suffered a traumatic brain injury because of the dangerous condition of the safety equipment in his plant.

A significant seven-figure settlement was obtained for the family of a man who was fatally electrocuted while working with equipment that was supposed to be de-energized.

After being severely injured in an accident caused by an intoxicated driver, a young woman made a claim against her insurance agent for failing to obtain complete automobile insurance coverage. After receiving the limits of the driver’s coverage, the passenger received an additional $500,000 from the agent due to the agent’s failure to obtain uninsured motorist coverage.

The client suffered major injuries when, as she was entering her office parking garage, her vehicle suddenly accelerated and struck a concrete wall. Her airbag failed to deploy and her seatbelt failed to lock, allowing her to be thrown violently into the steering wheel and instrument panel. Her injuries restricted her from being able to return to work. The parties reached a confidential settlement.

Wrongful death of an adult driver when his airbag deployed suddenly and without an impact, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle which left the roadway and struck a grove of trees.

Young woman rendered quadriplegic when her passenger automobile rolled over and she was ejected because her seatbelt was attached to her door, which came open during the course of the rollover, taking the seatbelt with it and leaving her unrestrained.

A design defect in the door handles on a commercial truck resulted in the death of a passenger. The manufacturer of refuse trucks designed the passenger door with an unprotected, latch-type handle, allowing for inadvertent opening while the truck is being driven. A passenger was killed when he inadvertently opened the door and was pulled under the tires of the moving vehicle when he reached to close the door.

A teenage girl suffered paralyzing injuries as the result of a defective seatbelt design, which permitted her to be ejected when the vehicle in which she was riding rolled over.

Wrongful death of husband and wife who were killed in a rollover accident when the seatbelt stitching tore loose, resulting in an additional 15 to 20 inches of seatbelt webbing, allowing husband to be ejected from the vehicle while still wearing his seatbelt.

During a routine childbirth procedure, the physician failed to recognize and respond to indications of fetal distress as shown by the fetal monitor strips. This resulted in brain injury to newborn infant. The case was settled for $2.0 million.

A family physician misinterpreted an x-ray, resulting in a diagnosis as Tuberculosis, which resulted in a two-year delay in the determining the correct diagnosis of lung cancer. The case resulted in a $2.0 million trial verdict — reduced by loss of chance percentage.

In possibly the largest malpractice verdict ever in Butler County, Ohio, the firm won a trial against a local surgeon who pierced both the atrium and the pericardial sac (the tough sac that surrounds the heart) during a procedure, causing the patient to bleed to death on the operating table. The doctor pierced the heart with either the dilator or the guide wire; there was considerable disagreement during the trial which instrument caused the damage. It was the firm’s position that piercing the atrium and the pericardial sac was impossible if the doctor had been paying attention, and thus, was malpractice. The defense countered that the puncturing of the heart was a known complication, but the evidence developed during the case demonstrated that there had never been a reported incident like the complication created by the defendant doctor. The firm used a sophisticated animation to demonstrate to the jury how the doctor went off course during the procedure and inflicted the fatal wounds. The patient, a retired psychology professor was unmarried, but was survived by his three adult children. After a six day trial, the Butler County jury found the doctor liable for malpractice and awarded the family $2.5 million.

Cuyahoga County Jury returned a $635,000 verdict (reduced by 35% comparative negligence) after a five day trial against a material hauling trucking company whose driver clipped the plaintiff’s shoulder while attempting to enter the construction zone.  The trucking company claimed plaintiff who was flagging traffic when he was hit should have moved out of the way.  Plaintiff suffered reflex sympathetic dystrophy (CRPS) and lost most of the use of his injured arm.

A client was awarded $209,700 from the Industrial Commission of Ohio because he suffered from a “functional” loss of use of the left upper extremity. The Commission found that the client’s testimony about the level of pain and inability to effectively use his arm and fingers in activities of daily living was highly persuasive.