In this section you can find some of the Significant Settlements
that our lawyers had achieved.
PRODUCTS LIABILITY / GYMNASTICS
MAT
AUTO ACCIDENT / BRAIN DAMAGE
Auto Accident / Brain Damage
SUMMARY: Negligent Hiring & Training - Driver locks up truck
brakes, armored car flips on top of another vehicle; Male, 40, severe
brain damage, hemiplegia.
COUNTY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
CASE: Isidro Quinones and Florencia Quinones v. Federal Armored
Express and Silvano Tringali
REPORT TYPE: Settlement
RESULT: $12,000,000
PLTF ATTY: Attorney Search Network: Serious Injury Lawyer
DEFT ATTY: Law Offices of Rivers J. Morrell III, By: Rivers J.
Morrell III, Irvine for Federal Armored/Tringali -- Hawkins, Schnabel,
et al., By: Roger E. Hawkins, Los Angeles for Federal Armored --
Solish, Jordan & Wiener, By: Robert E. Jordan, Los Angeles for
Federal Armored/Tringali
DEMAND: $15 million
OFFER: $3.6 million
FACTS: On January 7, 1993 Pltf, a 40 year-old chemical processor,
was southbound in the #1 lane of a freeway in Los Angeles on his
way to work at 6:00 a.m. Deft's armored vehicle was southbound in
the #4 lane, proceeding with the flow of traffic at approximately
55 mph. It was dark and raining. Deft driver Tringali locked the
brakes on the vehicle when he noticed traffic slowing ahead. This
caused the vehicle to move left, slamming into the cement center
divider. The armored vehicle flipped up into the air and came down
on top of Pltf's vehicle, trapping him in the vehicle.
PLTF: That the Deft driver was driving too fast for the circumstances
and negligently locked up the brakes. Pltf contended that Deft Federal
was negligent in its hiring and screening practices, as well as
its supervision and training of the driver of its vehicle. Evidence
showed that the driver had been fired from a previous job for having
fork lift accidents which Deft failed to investigate; that the driver
had only been working for Deft company for six weeks; that Deft
did not require a commercial truck driving license until after 90
days on the job, despite the fact that their own accident statistics
demonstrated that most of their serious accidents occurred during
the first few months of employment regardless of the driver's past
driving experience. Pltf contended that the Deft driver only received
one day of supervision in driving the armored vehicle; that he received
no practical driving training; that he was merely shown a few videotapes;
that Deft driver's negligence was directly related to the Deft's
inadequate screening, hiring, training and supervision of its drivers,
and that Deft Federal had a heavy history of vehicle accidents.
INJURY: Severe brain damage resulting in hemiplegia. Pltf requires
24-hour-day certified nursing assistant care. Pltf's wife asserted
a loss of consortium claim. Pltf was earning approximately $8.75/hr.
at the time of the incident.
SPECIALS: $7.1 million: $354,000 past medical; $6.2 million present
value of future medical; $26,000 past L.E.; $525,000 future L.E.
capacity.
SETTLEMENT: Structured settlement with a present cash value of
$12 million.
NOTES: Editor's note - This is the second largest pre-trial settlement
of a PI action that we know of in California. The only larger pre-trial
settlement we could find was for an aviation accident resulting
in serious burns suffered by the CEO of a major corporation. That
case involved a claim for tens of millions in lost earnings.
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