Notable Personal Injury Cases

Successfully settled a tragic automobile accident case involving the wrongful deaths of a husband, wife, and son in which liability was seriously contested. The firm retained highly qualified experts to reconstruct the accident-one of whom had been involved in the reconstruction of Princess Diana’s accident.

Settled personal injury cases for two high school students against the State of Nebraska who were injured in a bus in which they were riding went over a bridge in a construction zone. The firm’s attorneys participated with attorneys for other victims to establish that the construction zone was defectively designed

…Before going to trial in federal court, settled a complex case involving the wrongful deaths of two over-the-road truckers who were killed on Interstate 80 near North Platte. The men were team drivers returning to California to spend the Christmas season with their families when another truck lost control and crossed the median striking their vehicle nearly head-on. After the defense lawyers vigorously disputed liability, the case settled when the president of the trucking company admitted in his deposition that “of course” the accident was their fault.

…Obtained a favorable jury verdict for the tragic death of a young man who was killed on Highway 34 when a construction vehicle made a left turn in front of his motorcycle. During the case it was discovered that the driver of the construction truck only had vision in one eye and misjudged the distance between his vehicle and the oncoming motorcycle.

…Obtained a substantial jury verdict for a farmer who sustained a soft tissue injury to his neck when another farmer negligently pulled his tractor from a field driveway onto the county road causing a collision. In instructions to the jury, the court had limited the evidence the jury could consider on lost future earnings. Despite the limiting instruction, the jury generously compensated the plaintiff for his injuries.

Settled a medical malpractice action against a doctor and hospital as a result of the death of a man who suffered cardiac arrest because he received too much morphine while awaiting surgery. The defendant’s lawyers contended that the man’s death was unrelated to the morphine and this defense was supported by the pathologist who conducted the autopsy. The firm’s attorneys personally met with two local doctors who had assisted in the care of the client and persuaded them to testify in favor of the victim’s family.

Settled a malpractice action against a dentist for a young woman who was a victim of a misdiagnosis which resulted in the extraction of 13 teeth. The attorneys for the defendant dentist retained two dentists as expert witnesses to testify that the defendant dentist was not negligent in his diagnosis and treatment of the plaintiff. The case was settled shortly after a vigorous cross-examination of one of the defendant’s expert witnesses who eventually conceded, after being given more facts about the client’s case, that the defendant dentist’s diagnosis and treatment did not meet the standard of care.

…Settled a complex medical malpractice case involving a trucker who had survived a one-vehicle accident. While on their way home from another call, a rural ambulance service happened upon the scene of the accident and found the trucker laying in a ditch near his overturned rig. The emergency workers stabilized the injured man and transported him to the hospital only to learn that he later died due to a botched intubation when he had to undergo exploratory surgery.

Settled the tragic wrongful death claims of a farmer and his son who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning after a contractor negligently repaired a furnace in their home. The firm engaged top agricultural economists who were able to properly value the damages in the case.

…Successfully represented the widow of a man who died after undergoing a routine bone marrow biopsy. The gentleman had shown signs of anemia and his doctors decided that a biopsy was in order. The decision was made to take tissue from the patient’s sternum. When the patient asked if there was any chance that the needle might poke his heart, the physician assured him he had never heard of such a thing. Tragically, the surgeon punctured the sac around the patient’s heart causing the patient’s death a short time later.

…After significant litigation, successfully settled a tragic case involving the death of a three-year old boy who died after his breathing tube was negligently removed. The child was admitted to the hospital with a croupy type condition but had to be sedated and intubated to treat an infection. When the breathing tube became plugged with secretions, hospital staff made the fateful decision to pull the tube and then failed to contact a doctor for more than ten minutes causing irreversible brain damage.

Settled two cases arising out of an industrial accident at a soybean processing plant. One man was killed and another man had his leg traumatically amputated above the knee when a processing machine on which they were working unexpectedly moved. The firm’s attorneys sued the manufacturer of the machine for defective design and the owner of the plant for unsafe work practices. The firm retained a design engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to testify that the machine was defectively designed and also retained a nationally known safety expert to testify that the plant was not following safe operating practices at the time of the accident. The litigation lasted for more than one year and the cases were settled after a twelve-hour mediation.

…a settlement for a truck driver whose foot was crushed by a forklift while he made a warehouse delivery. The injury caused the loss of two toes and the ability to drive eighteen wheelers. The firm’s lawyers inspected the warehouse, found a forklift expert who believed negligence caused the accident, got the necessary medical reports about the injuries and disability, and successfully settled the claim through mediation.

…Successfully settled a products liability case in which our client was injured through the negligent design of a tow-behind water toy. The toy was designed in such a way that the driver of the boat and the person riding in the water toy were unable to see one another and communicate if the rider was in danger.

…an award of permanent and total workers’ compensation benefits for a construction worker who hurt his lower back on the job. The case has been fought through two trials and one trip to the Nebraska Supreme Court at last count, with the client keeping his benefits despite the efforts of his former employer and its insurance company to end them.

…a settlement for a woman who was attacked by a mentally ill man. The lawyers tracked down and sued the organization who was supposed to supervise the man. The case was ultimately settled after the firm’s lawyers developed evidence from experts that the defendant organization failed to properly supervise the man, and that the afttack had caused physical and mental injuries to the client.