Baker & Abraham, P.C. Case Results
$9 Million Recovery (June, 2003)
Andrew Abraham was co-counsel on a case that settled during jury selection. The client was a 45-year-old woman who was seriously brain damaged due to a misdiagnosed mid-cerebral artery aneurysm. The case involved over 60 depositions taken on four continents. We were prepared to call seven experts to testify as to liability and the extent of her damages, including the chief of the Brain Aneurysm Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. Before the settlement, our client was living in a nursing home and her sole desire was to live with her family. After the settlement, our client was able to move back home on her 46th birthday.
According Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the settlement was the largest brain injury settlement in the state and the second-largest injury settlement overall in 2003.
$5.42 Million Recovery (December, 2009)
Our client suffered a severe brain injury as a result of a car crash. Through the latest techniques in neuro-imaging and work with an expert neuroradiologist and a neuro-imaging lab in Utah, we were able to demonstrate atrophy in important parts of our client’s brain. Further, we converted our client’s MRI scans into a 3D model of her brain, graphically illustrating the damage done to her brain. In addition, we put together a multidisciplinary team to advocate for the victim’s future medical care needs. As a result of the settlement, the victim’s medical needs will be taken care of for the rest of her life, and she is now able to live independently, with assistance.
According Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the settlement was the second-largest brain injury settlement in the state and the fifth-largest injury settlement overall in 2009.
$5 Million Verdict (March, 2008)
A 22-year-old trade school graduate was working as a roofer at a residential construction site in Kingston, Massachusetts when he fell from ladder staging erected by his employer. While the roofer was working atop the staging, one of the ladders supporting it sank into the soil in which it was positioned. This caused the staging to shift, and the plaintiff to be thrown 20 feet to the ground below. As a result, the plaintiff sustained fractures to his right dominant wrist, pelvis, and sacrum. Plaintiff also suffered a herniated lumbar disc and sustained mild injury to his right shoulder. Plaintiff was air-lifted to Massachusetts General, and then treated at Mt. Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital in Stoughton. We were able to prove that the general contractor failed to provide proper supervision at the construction site, and allowed a running garden hose to saturate the ground on which this staging was positioned.
It is believed that the $5M verdict was one of the largest in the history of Plymouth County as well as one of the largest “non-economic” verdicts in state history. It was also the fourth-largest injury verdict in the state in 2008.
$3.25 Million Recovery (January, 2008)
A 29-year-old married father of two had his legs crushed when a tractor-trailer weighing 135,000 pounds rolled down the hill from a dead stop and struck him. The defendant trucking company tried to blame the truck’s driver, who was immune from suit. However, we were able to prove that the truck rolled because the parking and service brakes failed. Through our investigation, we proved that the parking brakes violated federal safety regulations and that the maintenance on both the tractor and the trailer violated federal safety requirements. Working with Thomas Gill, M.D., the team physician for the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, we were able to prove the extent of the plaintiff’s injuries, as well as the cost of his future care.
According Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the settlement was the 13th-largest injury settlement in the state in 2009.
$2.9 Million Recovery (March, 2006)
Our client was an electrician working in a downtown Boston office building. He sustained a brain injury when 225 volts of electrical current traveled through his brain. The incident resulted from miswiring that occurred during the renovation of office space several years before the accident. At the time of this renovation, a wire that typically carries no electricity was negligently converted into a “live” wire by the defendant, an electrical contracting company. The defendant maintained that the renovation work it had completed nearly two years before the accident had nothing to do with the condition that caused our client's injury, since the work pertained to other areas of the building. Working with a top neuroradiologist, we were able to prove that significant portions of our client’s brain had shrunk, and these findings defused the insurance company’s attempt to label our client a “malingerer.” The case settled after two full days of mediation, on the day that trial was scheduled to begin.
$2 Million Recovery (January, 1995)
Our firm assisted lead counsel in prosecuting a claim involving a young girl who fell over a defective railing and suffered brain damage. The court entered a liability judgment, leaving the extent of damages as the only issue for trial. Serious questions arose as to the relationship between the accident and the injuries, as the child demonstrated learning disabilities before the accident. The case was depicted on the television show The Practice.
$1.5 Million Recovery (February, 2002)
Our firm was lead counsel on a case involving a construction site accident that resulted in permanent brain damage as well as a herniated disc in the lower back. The defendant claimed that our client was working on a prohibited area without his knowledge. By investigating co-workers, we were able to show that the defendant instructed our client to work in the area. The case was settled for the insurance policy limits after mediation, but shortly before trial.
$1.15 Million Recovery (March, 2009)
Our client lost his arm below the elbow when he was dragged into an industrial machine. Through research and work with lawyers throughout the country, were found that our client was one of 45 people who had either been killed or maimed on this type of machine, and that the defendant manufacturer had been told of multiple ways to prevent injuries but had ignored them. We were able to overcome numerous attempts to conceal this information and then defeated the manufacturer’s attempts to hide the information from the jury. According to the manufacturer, this was the first time they had ever settled a case during trial. The defendant had won similar cases in California and in Indiana, partly due to its ability to keep the number of people seriously hurt or killed from both counsel and the jury. As a result of the work during the trial, Attorney Abraham has been retained to assist other lawyers in a similar case in California, and consults with lawyers throughout the country on litigation strategy.
$1.15 Million Recovery (July, 2007)
The plaintiff was a 23-year-old pedestrian who was struck by a car while crossing a busy street at a crosswalk. The plaintiff had no memory of the minutes before the impact and therefore could not testify as to what occurred. The defendant driver testified that the plaintiff must have walked into the side of her car and was definitely not in the crosswalk. Through our investigation, we were able to track down surveillance video of the scene. The video, however, was taken at night from approximately ¼ mile away, and therefore was not immediately useful. However, we were able to obtain a leading surveillance video expert to enhance the video, measure the scene, and prove that the plaintiff was standing in the middle of the crosswalk for five seconds before the impact. Further, this expert was able to determine that the defendant driver was traveling 18 miles above the speed limit, and 50 percent faster than the average speed of the previous 12 cars. We worked with the Chief of Orthopedics at Beth Israel/Deaconness Hospital to prove the plaintiff’s future damages.
$1.1 Million Recovery (June, 2006)
An elevator in a downtown office building allegedly “free-fell” five stories, resulting in brain injury to one of its occupants. We were able to uncover evidence showing a history of complaints about the elevator, and substandard repairs and maintenance. Despite the fact that our client did not seek medical attention for nearly two weeks after the accident, we were able to prove the debilitating effects of the incident through analyzing our client’s brain waves and comparing them to known traumatic brain injury survivors and “healthy” individuals, resulting in a substantial settlement for the client.
$900,000 Recovery (December, 2007)
The plaintiff was a truck driver who had pulled into the breakdown lane and exited his tractor-trailer on Interstate 84 in Connecticut. Another tractor-trailer driver then crossed two lanes of travel, drifted into the breakdown lane, and struck and killed this 39-year-old father of four. The defendant driver originally claimed that he choked on water and lost control of the tractor-trailer. However, by working with the criminal defense attorney and the District Attorney’s Office, we were able to get the defendant driver to admit that he had fallen asleep and had worked more hours than allowed under federal regulations. Although the decedent was estranged from his four children prior to his death, we were able to obtain a substantial recovery for the surviving children.
$850,000 Recovery (March, 2005)
Our client was a construction worker who fell into an unprotected hole on a construction site. The employee suffered impingement syndrome and instability in his non-dominant shoulder requiring three surgeries. The employee moved to Florida a year after the accident and went back to work as a truck driver. Through our experts, we were able to present evidence of significant lost earnings. However, the defendants argued that our client suffered no lost wages, because his Florida earnings were comparable to Massachusetts wages. The case settled during jury selection. At the time, our research concluded that the settlement was the largest reported settlement for a shoulder injury in Massachusetts.
$800,000 Recovery (January, 2002)
Our firm was lead counsel on a products liability case involving the death of a 15-month-old in a defective day bed. The main defendant was uninsured but our client managed a $400,000 recovery against them while recovering the other $400,000 from a secondary insured defendant.
$750,000 Recovery (June, 1999)
We were co-counsel on a construction site accident case involving a carpenter who fell into an open elevator shaft while participating in the construction of a high-rise building on the campus of a local university. Our client sustained numerous, devastating injuries, including traumatic brain injury. Plaintiff was able to overcome the assertion that he caused the accident by using unsafe worksite practices.
$680,000 Recovery (September, 1996)
Our firm was co-counsel on a lead paint case where the main property owner was uninsured. We performed an asset check discovering assets that lead directly to the uninsured defendant paying $340,000 and the insured secondary defendant paying $340,000. At the time, this was believed to be the second-largest settlement of a lead paint claim in Massachusetts history.
$675,000 Recovery (October, 2003)
We were lead counsel for a construction site accident case involving defective scaffolding that lead to an employee suffering brain damage and herniated discs. The case settled after the third day of trial. The last offer before trial was $200,000. Counsel produced testimony from the defendant's safety manager that the scaffold violated OSHA regulations and that the violations led to the fall. The defendant produced testimony from the employee's boss that he should have been tied off while working on the scaffold, and that he would have fired him had he known that he was not tied off.
$580,000 Recovery (March, 2007)
Our client was a 41-year-old laborer working in the construction of the new Logan Airport MBTA station, which was part of the Central Artery/Tunnel project, in May 2002. Our client was employed by the general contractor at the site. Our client slipped and fell in a pile of concrete slurry that had been left on or near a walkway at the site. The defendant contractors argued that our client's comparative negligence was the cause of the accident, as our client testified at deposition that he saw the concrete slurry before stepping into it and, further, that he realized that it was slippery and dangerous. Plaintiff contended that, despite this knowledge, the only manner in which he could access the area in which he was required to work was to walk through the slurry. Through our investigation, we determined that the defendant contractors were routinely failing to use “designated wash-out” areas to discard residual concrete, and were therefore placing site workers in danger.
$550,000 Recovery (November, 2001)
This case involved the death of a 4-year-old due to the lack of smoke detectors. Through discovery, our client learned that the defendant property manager had ignored court orders to install proper smoke detectors for seven years prior to the fire. Also, through discovery, we caught the insurance company lying about its policy limits.
$550,000 Recovery (June, 2000)
We were lead counsel on a construction accident case where our client suffered permanent nerve damage to his left wrist because his boss removed safety guards from a saw. The defendant contended it did not know the saws did not have guards but counsel was able to obtain statements from the defendant's manager admitting that he knew the saw guards were removed.
$500,000 Recovery (November, 2001)
Our firm was lead counsel in a products liability case involving a worker in a food processing plant. The product in question was a vacuum-sealing food packing machine, which had been dangerously modified at some time prior to the accident. On the date of the accident, the worker was attempting to alter the settings of the machine, when another employee activated the machine, causing one of the worker's hands to be crushed and burned.
We change our clients’ lives
To see the difference two exceptional injury attorneys can make in your case, contact Baker & Abraham in Boston for a free initial consultation. If we take your case, you will pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Serving all of Massachusetts, including—
|
|
