Verdicts & Settlements

The following accounts have either been published previously by various entities unrelated to The Personal Injury Group of Michie, Hamlett, Lowry, Rasmussen and Tweel, PLLC or have been prepared by us for dissemination to visitors to our website. The results obtained in specific cases depend on a variety of factors. It is generally impossible to know all factors that have influenced a specific result or an accumulation of specific results. Each legal matter consists of circumstances that are peculiar or unique to the specific case. The result obtained under one set of circumstances cannot be a predictor of the result likely to be obtained in a case that necessarily involves different circumstances. You should draw no conclusions about your particular legal matter from reading these accounts.

Defective Products

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• Parker v. Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor USA - settlement (terms of settlement are confidential) against the manufacturer and U.S. distributor of a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe for catastrophic injuries received in a rollover and roof collapse case. Injuries included C5 Incomplete Quadriplegia and mild traumatic brain injury. Case was filed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Co-counsel on the case was Tab Turner of Little Rock, Arkansas. (2007)

• $850,000 - $850,000 verdict in Roanoke against manufacturer of welding torch. A worker on a ladder was using a torch to cut duct work when he was struck by equipment and fell. His torch fell beside him and set his clothing on fire, causing severe burns. (2000)

• $650,000 - $650,000 settlement against manufacturer of circuit breaker used in mines. Case was filed in Wise County, Virginia. (1999)

• $575,000 - $575,000 confidential settlement for loss of vision in one eye due to defective design and manufacture of a compound bow. Case was filed in southwest Virginia. (2000)

• $5 million - $5 million verdict against the seller of an industrial circuit breaker which short-circuited and exploded. A circuit breaker in a pier at Norfolk Navy Base exploded during re-installation of the breaker after removal for pier renovations and circuit breaker modification. Our client suffered burns on his upper body. The $5 million verdict in Norfolk Circuit Court was upheld on appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.

• $4 million - $4 million verdict against manufacturer of extremely flammable contact adhesive being applied to the inside of a metal tank. Vapors from the adhesive ignited when they were drawn through an exhaust fan in the back of the room. The fire flashed back to the tank and burned our client who was inside the tank applying the contact adhesive. (1993)

• $1.1 million - $1.1 million settlement against manufacturer of tools for use on power lines. A lineman was installing lighting arresters on power lines outside Roanoke, Virginia, when he hung a hand tool on one of the lines while he repositioned himself on the pole. The hand tool had insulated handles. A defect in the insulation allowed electrical current to pass through the insulated handle and into the lineman's body, causing severe wounds to his right arm and left thigh. Case was filed in federal court in Roanoke, Virginia, claiming negligent manufacturing and failure to warn. (1995)

• $1 million - $1 million settlement against manufacturer of extruder head for manufacturing defect. An extruder was used to apply a waterproof coating to paper in a factory. Due to a manufacturing defect, when pressure built up inside the extruder the pressure relief system failed to operate, causing the extruder head to explode. Part of the extruder head struck our client in the head, resulting in brain injury. (1994)

• Confidential settlement against manufacturer and retailer of flammable adhesive, tire patch kit and seller of cigarette lighter to 11 year old child. Our client was attempting to heat the tire patch before putting it on his bicycle tire. Vapor from glue on the boy's hands and shirt caught fire, setting his shirt on fire. Case was filed in Roanoke, Virginia. (2000)

Truck accidents

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• $20 Million - $20 million verdict in Portsmouth, Virginia, against concrete shipper and tractor trailer company hauling a 16-ton pre-fab concrete wall that fell off the flatbed truck and hit Mr. Mraz's car head-on. ($17,500,000 paid pursuant to high-low agreement reached before closing argument and jury deliberations, which resulted in $17.5 million being paid within two weeks of the verdict.) (1997)

• $2.638 million - $2.638 million verdict in Richmond, Virginia, against a tractor trailer company for injuries caused when a garbage truck with bad brakes hit a car. The bad brakes were due to lack of maintenance by the garbage company. (2002)

• $1 million settlement - $1 million settlement against tractor trailer company that side-swiped our client's car in a hit-and-run incident in which the defendant truck driver was followed and eventually stopped by an eyewitness. (1986)

• $750,000 settlement - $750,000 settlement against trucking company whose driver crossed into our client's side of a two-lane road and hit his Camaro. Filed in Wyoming County, West Virginia (2000)

• - settlement against tractor trailer company and New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Collision occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike at Trenton when a southbound tractor-trailer vaulted the median guardrail and crossed the northbound lanes. The Turnpike Authority had maintained the median in such a manner that dirt and debris had built up beside the median guardrail, creating a ramp-like condition that enabled the tractor-trailer to vault the guardrail. Although the insurance policy issued in Virginia on the Jetta in which Ms. Robinson was riding had only $500 in medical payments coverage, Plaintiff was able to obtain lost earnings benefits and lifetime medical benefits under New Jersey's No-Fault Personal Injury Protection Statute then in effect. Plaintiff suffered numerous internal injuries and brain injury that will required attendant care for life. (1995) This action was filed in State Court - Newark, New Jersey (To ensure client privacy, the amount of this settlement is not disclosed)

Traumatic Brain Injury

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• $6.17 million - $6.17 million verdict in Albemarle County, Virginia, against ski slope operator for failure to warn of ski slope hazard. Ski resort had created a steep drop-off beside the slope and provided no warning or fencing of the hazard. A skier fell over the edge and suffered severe brain injury.

• $3.5 million - $3.5 million settlement against concrete company. Client was driving her daughter to school when a concrete truck steered into her lane to avoid rear-ending a line of pickup trucks waiting to turn left. The resulting head-on collision tore the mother's liver and abdominal arteries, causing massive blood loss that resulted in brain injury and partial blindness due to lack of oxygen to the brain, similar to brain injury that occurs to a stroke victim. (2002)

• $1.737 million - $1.737 million verdict for an automobile accident with serious injuries, including traumatic brain injury to a child. The child was a passenger in an SUV making a left turn at an intersection. The SUV had a green light but not a left turn arrow. The SUV was hit by a car coming through the intersection on a green light, coming from the opposite direction. Tried to a jury in Chesterfield County, Virginia. (2002)

• $1.7 million - $1.7 million verdict for an automobile accident with serious injuries. Our client was a pedestrian walking on the side of the road when he was hit by a high school driver-education instructor who fell asleep at the wheel. Plaintiff suffered traumatic brain injury. This case was tried to a jury near Buffalo, New York. (2002)

• $1.5 million - $1.5 million verdict against manufacturer of welder which short circuited. A worker received an electrical shock from an ungrounded piece of welding equipment, causing him to fall 12 feet onto a concrete floor where he hit his head, causing brain injury. (1991)

• $1.25 million - $1.25 million settlement for a head-on auto accident in Albemarle County, Virginia, resulting in catastrophic injuries. (2000)

• $1 million - $1 million settlement for an auto accident with catastrophic injuries (2000)

• $850,000 - $850,000 verdict in Alexandria, Virginia, for a motor vehicle accident. A car stopped suddenly on interstate in front of tractor trailer, causing tractor trailer driver to suffer mild brain injury. (2000)

Motor Vehicle Accidents

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• $1.2 million - $1.2 million confidential settlement to Plaintiff as the Executrix of her 48 year old sister's estate. Decedent was a married, 48 year old mother of two girls, ages 9 and 12. The Decedent and her two daughters died in a motor vehicle crash in Nelson County, Virginia in 2007. The deceased mother was not working at the time of the crash, but was going to begin a part-time job in the fall when her children went back to school. There were no appreciable special damages in this case. The surviving statutory beneficiaries of the deceased mother were a 80 year old father and a husband.
• $3.5 million - $3.5 million wrongful death settlement against concrete company and mobile home business. A mother was driving home in Orange County, Virginia, after birthday shopping for one of her two daughters when she was killed by a concrete truck that drove off the road to avoid hitting a wide load, a mobile home being hauled to a homesite for installation. At the time of this accident, the permit for hauling the mobile home had expired and the mobile home should not have been on the road. When the concrete truck drove back onto the road it hit the Johnson car head-on. (1999)

• $3.4 million settlement - $3.4 million settlement against the defendant and his employer, an auto dealership. Our client was passing the defendant near Farmville, Virginia, when he forced her off the road, causing severe injuries including paraplegia. (2003)

• $2 million - $2 million settlement against manufacturer of Jeep vehicles used by the United States Post Office for mail delivery. A design defect caused instability resulting in a rollover. (1996)

• $2 million settlement - $2 million settlement against manufacturer of boat trailer for failure to warn. The boat trailer was being hauled on the interstate when the trailer began to sway, causing the driver's vehicle to leave the highway and rollover. The driver suffered a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis. (1994)

• $1.95 million - $1.95 million confidential settlement for injuries suffered when two wheels came off a tractor-trailer, crossed the median strip and hit our client's pick-up truck in southwest Virginia. (1999)

• $1.2 million - $1.2 million wrongful death settlement against a cell phone tower company and its employee who was driving while intoxicated, crossed a double-yellow line and struck a Ford Taurus in which Ms. Cash was riding as a passenger. The employee driver had a history of D.U.I. and drunk in public arrests and convictions. Claims were filed asserting negligence by the driver and the company's negligence in hiring and retaining this individual as a driver of company trucks. Case was filed in Fairfax County, Virginia. (2003)

• $1,045,000 - $1,045,000 confidential settlement for loss of leg and other injuries suffered in head on collision. (1999)

• $925,000 - $925,000 verdict in Albemarle County for injuries resulting from negligent laparoscopic surgery where physician inexperienced in the use of the laparscopic instrument punctured client's ureter during surgery, causing her to develop peritonitis. (1997)

• $600,000 - $600,000 confidential settlement in a case where the prescription of narcotic medication, phenergan and valium resulted in a fatal accidental overdose. (2003)

Medical Malpractice

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• $1.7 million - $1.7 million verdict in Roanoke, Virginia, for failure to diagnose perforated bowel and peritonitis following laproscopic surgery. Doctor had perforated our client's bowel during surgery, client was expected to go home the day after surgery but her condition grew worse and she remained in the hospital. After three days in the hospital she required intubation in order to breathe, she grew worse, and eight days after her laproscopic surgery she was seen by thoracic surgeons who operated immediately and found diffuse peritonitis from the nicked bowel. Client remained in the hospital for an additional eight weeks due to her treating physician's failure to diagnose her peritonitis. (2003)

• $800,000 - $800,000 confidential settlement for the death of a young child due to lung damage caused by potassium overdose from formula given to child as a premature infant. (2002)

• $750,000 - $750,000 confidential settlement for negligent delay in the delivery of an infant resulting in cerebral palsy. (2000)

Workplace Injuries - Product Liability

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• $4.5 million - $4.5 million settlement against manufacturer of long wall miner for design defect. (1994)

• $1.44 million - $1.44 million settlement against manufacturer of mine car couplers. Client was a miner, riding to the surface in a mine car when couplers on a supply car failed, causing the supply car to roll back down into the mine where it hit the mine car carrying our client to the surface. Dye was seated in the right front of the mine car. His injuries included broken collar bone, broken ribs, ruptured spleen that had to be removed, back injury, head injury, anxiety, insomnia and depression. (2002)

• $1.44 million - $1.44 million wrongful death settlement against manufacturer of mine car couplers. Presley was a mine worker riding to the surface in a mine car when couplers on a supply car failed, causing the supply car to roll back down into the mine. Presley was seated in the left front of the mine car when it was struck by the runaway supply car. (2002)

• $1 million - $1 million settlement against construction contractor. Our client was at a work site talking with a co-worker when a backhoe grading the road backed into our client, crushing him against the back of a dump truck. The back-up alarm on the backhoe was not working. Filed in Mercer County, West Virginia (2000)

• $700,000 - $700,000 verdict against manufacturer of bungee cords for design defect and failure to warn. Truck driver had attached one end of bungee cord to secure tarp over his load. When he was hooking other end of cord to opposite side of truck, the metal hook on the attached end of the bungee cord bent and came free, whipped toward the driver and hit him in the eye, causing eye injury that blinded the driver in that eye.