Lowe Scott Fisher Attorney Wins $800,000 Settlement in Construction Injury Case

Trial attorney Greg Scott of Lowe Scott Fisher Co., LPA obtained an $800,000 construction injury case settlement for client Billy Hill, who suffered serious injuries when he was crushed by a large stack of drywall as a result of a construction accident.

In July 2009, Hill, was hanging drywall on a Cleveland job site. He was seriously injured when a 3,200-pound stack of drywall that was leaning against a stud wall fell over and crushed his right leg and foot. The foreman was working on the other side of the stud wall when the incident occurred. The construction company denied any wrongdoing on the part of the foreman and insisted that the drywall must have fallen over as a result of vibration or not being stacked properly by another company.

Lowe Scott Fisher, a recognized leader in the areas of product liability, personal injury and medical malpractice, was called to fight the contract construction company and its insurance company.

“Even though each construction injury case can be quite complex, involving insurance companies and sometimes multiple defendants, it’s important for the injured victim to move quickly to provide a settlement as fast as possible,” explained Scott, a partner in the firm who served as lead counsel in the case. “In many cases, a favorable settlement depends on taking just the right approach in presenting the claim. That’s where our firm’s deep construction expertise and access to key resources make a difference for our clients.”

To help build the construction injury case, Scott hired an engineering expert to conduct multiple force tests under conditions identical to those surrounding the accident. The results proved that no matter how the stack of drywall had been placed at the location, the only way it could have fallen was if a direct force was applied to it. Since Porter was the only person working near the stack of drywall, he is the only one who could have pushed it. Scott also hired an expert in construction industry practices who testified that the drywall had been delivered and stacked properly. Finally, Scott located a key witness who later testified that he had seen the foreman struggling near the stack of drywall and push on it.

In addition to proving that the foreman caused the accident, Scott hired several other expert witnesses to establish that Hill would likely never be able to return to work as a construction worker because of his injuries, and that he would likely lose several hundreds of thousands of dollars in future income. Scott was prepared to call a total of eight expert witnesses at trial to testify on both liability and damages for Hill.

Because the mounting evidence and expert testimony offered by the plaintiff was too much to overcome, the contracting construction company’s insurance company ultimately paid $800,000 to settle the case about one month before going to trial with the construction injury case.