Winning Results

$15,500,000

McNabb v. IBM, Santa Clara County Superior Court
37 year old apprentice technician, employed by Fluor Corporation, contracted by IBM to service its high voltage electrical equipment, suffered severe electrical burn injuries when he was sent to find a replacement part from a power station that was "locked off" and marked "out of service", within the presence of an IBM engineer and his supervisor. When the apprentice applied his wrench, 12,400 volts exploded causing burns to 60% of his body.

$11,000,000

Nevarez v. Foremost Dairies
A father and daughter suffered C-5/C-6 quadriplegic injuries after a multi-vehicle collision when their car was rear-ended by the defendant's tractor and trailer.

$10,100,000

In-depth details. Hilson v. Tran, Santa Clara County Superior Court.
This judgment for 12 year-old Rasheed Hilson was entered in July, 2009 after 15 days of trial before Hon. Leslie Nichols, Santa Clara County Superior Court after the defendant's insurance company, Amica Mutual Insurance, refused to pay its $50,000 policy to put to rest this youngster's severe injury claims, including brain damage, hemiplegia, and multiple fractures. On November 14, 2007, Rasheed left the Morrill Middle School on Cropley Avenue, San Jose, and raced down the driveway, intent on catching a bus. A typical 12 year-old, he thoughtlessly ran into the street and into the path of a car traveling at 35 mph. The San Jose Police Department concluded the speed limit was 35 mph because the crash occurred at 4:30 pm and the school had closed at 2:30 pm. The police department failed to inquire why six witnesses to the event were 11 and 12 year-olds. Had they asked the police would have learned that an interschool basketball game was underway in the school's gym and according to the testimony of the school principal, the Morrill Middle School was in operation at 4:30 pm. Rasheed suffered profoundly severe injuries, which are permanent and which will require lifelong care. Tried by Richard Alexander and Jeff Rickard. As a result of this case both were named Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers of the Year 2008.

$8,500,000

Throop v. Conrail
Teenager suffered triple amputation from electrical burn injuries after trespassing on railroad property. First lawyer in the United States to uncover and prove the railroad's electrical system had caused an average of 24 deaths or major injuries per year, primarily to children and teenagers.

$8,100,000

Byer v. Market Transport
15 year old boy suffered irreversible brain damage when his family's car was sideswiped by a tractor and trailer. Rejected original settlement offer for $4.5 million. Jury deliberated one day before delivering its unanimous verdict.

$7,500,000

Represented five families in wrongful death actions against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) arising from a defectively designed scaffolding system in a 500' vertical shaft which failed at PG&E's Helm's Creek hydroelectric facility in Fresno. The surviving families received over $25 million in settlement and benefits over their lifetimes.

$6,170,000

Class action case involving 1,809 California Allstate Insurance agents who had not been reimbursed for the cost of maintaining Allstate offices under R830, R1500 or R3000 employment contracts. Although these agents legally were employees of Allstate, Allstate required them to personally pay for the costs of operating company offices under its Neighborhood Office Agency program. Under the California Labor Code, employees cannot be forced to pay for an employer's business expenses as a condition of employment.

$5,200,000

Insurance bad faith and injury recovery collected for a wonderful San Jose couple who suffered a severe head injury and facial and orthopedic fractures, including the loss of an eye, in a head-on collision at the Cats intersection on Route 17, Los Gatos, California. When a southbound and under-insured Jeep [$100,000/$300,000 GEICO policy], slowed to make an illegal u-turn, which the investigating Highway Patrol officer described as "suicidal," a Housing Authority police officer driving 15 mph hour over the speed limit punched the Jeep forward and across three lanes of northbound traffic into the plaintiffs car. Focus groups concluded that 90% of the cause of the crash was the Jeep. When we described the Jeep as being "cocked" and the police car "pulling the trigger," the Housing Authority was found 90% at fault.

$5,000,000

Multnomah County Circuit Court No. 0109-09529
19 year old passenger in a 1989 Toyota Camry driven by a college classmate. The Camry was equipped with automatic shoulder and manual lap seatbelts. Driver and passenger wore the automatic shoulder seatbelts, but neither were wearing manual lap seatbelt. Driver fell asleep, the car crashed and rolled over, throwing both students from the car.

$4,500,000

See also George Liu's personal video report. George Liu v. John Doe, Santa Clara County Superior Court.
On April 27th, 2006, George Liu, a 24-year-old San Jose State senior, was operating a Kawasaki ZX6 racing motorcycle in the fast lane on Calvert Drive in San Jose. Downstream a Honda CRX in the slow lane made an illegal u-turn across the fast lane and forced a van ahead of George's motorcycle to make an emergency stop. The van stopped in time and never hit the CRX. When George jammed on his brakes, his motorcycle reared upward onto its front wheel and pitched him over the handlebars into the van as he stopped. As a result George is an L-1 paraplegic. A demand that the insurance company for the Honda pay its policy limits was denied, leading to the collection of $4.5 million. In-depth details can be found on this site, including the courtroom computer reconstruction showing how the crash unfolded from the motorcyclist's view.

$4,250,000

John Doe, a minor v. Manufacturing Company, Alameda County Superior Court
On the eve of trial for a five-year old child who suffered severe brain injury as a result of being exposed to methanol fumes and gallium arsenide dust during pregnancy. Extremely difficult case to prove exposure and dose sufficient to cause birth defects. Plaintiff's mother worked for a company that received numerous citations from OSHA in the year 2000 and discovery established that company health officials did all that they could to conduct workplace testing to minimize reported exposures. Company officials operated such a dirty facility that it was necessary to dismantle the facility and ship it to China because of the inability to operate in Alameda County. Surprisingly in 2003 during the dismantling, the company was cited again for not protecting workers from exposure to arsenide dust found in the dismantling of the cafeteria ventilation system. A condition of settlement was that the company would not be revealed with regard to this settlement. American International Group paid the recovery, except as the Court will approve. For details please see Dangerous Chemicals at Work Caused Birth Defects.

$4,000,000

Coca v. California Highway Patrol and City of San Jose
Donald Coca, a passenger in a car stopped for a vehicle code violation, suffered severe injuries to his face from a shotgun that went off after it had been placed on his shoulder by a San Jose Police Officer who was riding along with the California Highway Patrol.

$3,500,000

Fisher v. Pitts, Sonoma County Superior Court
Case Details: 19 year old passenger suffered a spinal C-7 cord injury in a rollover.

$3,000,000

Clark County District Court, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wrongful death of a college student caused by a delaminating rear tire on her SUV, resulting in multiple rollovers. Before the crash, her father had the car repaired at his regular dealer, who noted that all four tires were "out of round." Those facts were never reported to the family. Witnesses saw the SUV traveling at 70 on an interstate highway and being driven safely immediately before the rollover occurred.

$2,750,000

Singh v. National Real Estate, Santa Clara County Superior Court No. 693716
In Singh v. National Real Estate, two year old Ciera Singh suffered a brain injury when she and her father crossed a dark street and were struck by an oncoming vehicle operated by a real estate salesman working for a franchisee of a national real estate firm. The franchisor routinely avoided liability in similar cases throughout the United States, claiming that it was not responsible for its franchisee's torts, that it had no control over day-to-day operations and merely provided a trademark, logo, and national advertising program. Fourteen expert witnesses and completed discovery of an additional 29 parties, witnesses and defense experts, for a total of 43 pre-trial depositions paved the way for this recovery against the franchisor.

$2,650,000

70 year old elementary school volunteer came to us immediately after she suffered a below-knee amputation after being struck in a crosswalk by a car. We made sure she made none of the common mistakes made by personal injury claimants. The insurance company refused to settle for its policy limits of $100,000 before suit was filed. This bad faith recovery was obtained before trial after the defendant driver complained to his insurance company that it should have paid the policy limits and in not doing so was exposing him to a judgment in excess of his coverage, all of which could have been avoided. The insurance company came to its senses and paid the $100,000 policy, plus $2.55 million above and beyond the policy to settle all claims.

$2,550,000

Metabolife, a "natural" diet supplement to promote weight loss, was produced and sold, without FDA approval, inspection or testing. It was manufactured by a former felon who had been convicted of manufacturing illegal drugs. Under the "natural" food laws of the United States he was free to sell this mixture of ephedra and caffeine, which caused heart attacks and strokes. Following a bankruptcy, Jeff Rickard served on the national committee to evaluate all claims against the company and to determine the allocation of scarce resources to claimants. This total recovery is on behalf of seven of our Metabolife clients.

$2,400,000

Mediated recovery by Hon. Peter Stone. Santa Clara County Superior Court
Wrongful death of a 65 year old engineer against a trucking company for negligent hiring, supervision and operation.

$2,300,000

Sollfrank v. Mid-Cal Farms
Wrongful death of a husband and father caused by a drunk driver.

$2,250,000

Cunningham v. Shortstop, Marin County Superior Court
As co-counsel for plaintiff in Cunningham v. Shortstop, quadrupled offer to plaintiff's attorney resulting in recovery of $1.5 million in cash, plus an annuity of $40,000 for a brain-damaged teenager injured by a teenage driver who was intoxicated on illegally sold beer. First contacted six days before trial. At the initial pre-trial conference, the defendant insurance company lawyers disclosed a pathologist would be testifying who had died nine months earlier, along with two other experts. Obviously the defendant insurance company's lawyers were lying. Those experts were retained that evening and that action forced a settlement on the third day of jury selection.

$2,000,000

This insurance bad faith recovery for serious personal injuries suffered by Zhai and Pengfu Chin arose from a crash on Interstate 80 near the Carquinez Bridge when an aggressive driver of a Jeep lost control coming onto the highway, spun out and caused a head-on collision. The Nissan Altima performed well in this high speed collision that easily could have killed the driver and passenger. The insurance carrier for the Jeep refused to pay its $100,000 policy to settle these claims. This settlement occurred on the eve of trial.

$2,000,000

A retired teacher and his wife suffered severe personal injuries in a head-on crash with an SUV. The insurance company refused to pay its policy limits of $50,000/$100,000 in settlement. One month before trial, State Farm paid $2,000,000 to settle the insurance bad faith claim and end its exposure for punitive damages.

$2,000,000

Loux et al v. AlliedSignal, et al, Amador County Superior Court
Forty two families in Sutter Creek, California learned their homes were built on land contaminated with mine tailings containing arsenic, resulting in stigmatized property values at the EPA Superfund remediated site. After an individual inspection of each property, a market study and appraisal by an MAI certified appraiser showed that homeowners had suffered an estimated diminution in value of approximately 25%. Total diminution in value was approximately $2,000,000.

$1,953,731

Barger v. Morrison Homes
In Barger v. Morrison Homes, plaintiff, an employee of a framing contractor suffered a brain injury when he fell from a second story of a single family home after the frame structure was struck by his employer's fork lift. In another Restatement 416 peculiar risk of harm case, the general contractor was sued for failing to take special precautions to prevent such an injury from occurring and settled prior to trial with a waiver of the worker's comp lien of $158,877.

$1,800,000

A mother was exposed to toxic solvents at work while she was pregnant, which resulted in brain damage to her child. The defendant was a subsidiary of a nationally recognized chemical manufacturer.

$1,750,000

Whitely and Cox v. The State of California
Whitely and Cox v. The State of California, a personal injury action against the California Highway Patrol arising from a late night pursuit of an escapee from the California Youth Authority who was driving a stolen vehicle. Depositions of 21 experts were taken in this case. The central liability issue, which was strongly disputed, was whether the CHP had activated its siren to warn the general public that it was an emergency vehicle. The fleeing escapee violated a red light and collided with plaintiffs causing multiple fractures and brain injuries. At the time of the settlement, two years post-injury, both plaintiffs were preparing to return to work.

$1,700,000

Chin v. BMW
First defective product personal injury recovery against BMW in the United States. An aeronautical engineer was rear-ended in his 1969 BMW 1600 by a drunk driver. traveling at a reported 90 miles per hour. The actual speed at impact, based on the crush suffered by the BMW, was approximately 17 miles per hour. At this low speed the BMW exploded into a fireball and caused severe personal injuries: third degree burns. Following the collision, the wrecked BMW mysteriously disappeared near the time BMW's investigators photographed the scene and the bullet vehicle. An identical vehicle mysteriously disappeared in a nearly identical case arising in New York, which was defended by BMW. In crash testing of two full size BMWs, the gas tank crushed and collapsed at only 17 mph in rear end crash tests conducted by experts hired for Dr. Chin's case. The car also had failed in tests conducted by BMW at the Technical University of Berlin, but these results were not reported to NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as required by Federal Motor Vehicle Standards.

$1,700,000

Los Angeles County Superior Court Action No. C671784
Two wrongful deaths resulting from the crash of PSA Flight 1771 when the flight crew was shot by a deranged suicidal killer.

$1,655,000

Oladunni v. Brand X Tire Company, San Joaquin Superior Court
Used tire purchased from a house front mechanic delaminated as a result of defective manufacture and defective engineering design. Extremely difficult liability claim. The base rubber skim stock did not contain proper anti-oxidants, causing the tread to separate from the liner, resulting in a rollover of a van. The belted mother of three was in a second row passenger seat and had moderate injuries. Her three children were unbelted in the rear and were thrown from the van, killing a six year-old boy and severely injuring two girls, ages 9 and 12. Defendant tire company required as a condition of settlement that its name not be revealed.

$1,500,000

Cardenas v. Ford, et al, San Diego County Superior Court
Defective product recovery for the wrongful death of a spouse. A negligent tire inspection by a tire dealer resulted in a defective tire failing at freeway speed a few hours later. The blowout caused a Ford Explorer to roll on a flat, level road.

$1,450,000

Largest known recovery in the United States in an adoption fraud case on behalf of a 16 year old and his parents. The boy had been the victim of years of abuse as an infant when he was placed for adoption at age four. The adopting parents were told there had been one instance of abuse, but the actual extent of the abuse and the youngster's complete psychiatric history were concealed from both the adopting parents and the child's pediatrician. Years later, a severe personality disorder erupted which required hospitalization from age 13 to 17. Referred by a family attorney who had the case pending for three years with no progress. After securing psychiatric, social work, economic, and life placement expert testimony, completing 20 depositions, and defeating multiple motions to dismiss, this extremely difficult legal liability case settled on the second day of trial. Under California law, the county was immune from liability for negligent misrepresentation and could only be held liable for willful acts for which the insurance carriers would not be responsible. In addition, under Prop 51, the Anti-Deep Pocket Law, the county was not responsible for the harm caused by the minor's family prior to the adoption and a jury could have found his natural parents and relatives substantially at fault for his current psychiatric condition. County had also raised a statute of limitations defense that the adopting parents were on notice of the child's severe problems within one year of the adoption and clearly within three years after he was adopted.

$1,350,000

Armstead v. Academy of Model Aeronautics, Alameda County Superior Court No. H-150430-1
48 year old United Airlines pilot suffered a leg fracture when he was struck by a high speed model airplane being clocked for speed at a sanctioned competition of the Academy of Model Aeronautics at Whittier Narrows. The crash of the model airplane and the injuries to plaintiff were caused by faulty construction, faulty pre-flight inspection, and the failure to conduct such races in protected fenced arenas. In addition, the standard AMA pre-flight pull test is believed to have caused the failure of fuselage bolts which caused the plane to fly out of control at a speed of 184 mph.

$1,300,000

Stewart v. Edgmon, Santa Clara County Superior Court
Wrongful death of a 19 year old man caused by a driver violating a stop sign and crashing into his vehicle. Driver's insurance carrier refused to settle this claim for policy limits before suit was filed and paid. Recovered $1.2 million in addition to the $100,000 insurance policy to put to rest all claims as a result of the insurance company's mismanagement.

$1,200,000

Wrongful death recovery for the loss of an 18 year-old against the manufacturer of an unstable SUV, which rolled when a defective rear tire failed, and the manufacturer of the tire. Both required as a condition of settlement that their names not be mentioned and that the settlements be confidential. The vehicle was being driven on a flat, level interstate highway when tire failure cause the SUV to wobble and roll. Defective product and defective design claims filed in New Mexico federal court.

$1,200,000

Skover, et al., v. Warren Capital Corporation, Santa Clara County Superior Court No. 733405
A San Jose warehouse illegally sold the contents of a circuit board manufacturing shop owned by plaintiffs.

$1,200,000

Wrongful death recovery for the loss of a teenage son against the manufacturer of an unstable SUV, which rolled when a defective rear tire failed, and against the manufacturer of the tire. Both required as a condition of settlement that their names not be mentioned and that the settlements be confidential. The vehicle was being driven on a flat, level interstate highway when tire failure cause the SUV to roll.

$1,200,000

Mullan v. Lloyd, Santa Clara County Superior Court Action Number CV-759615
Wrongful death of a 35 year old construction foreman employed by the City of San Jose who was installing curbing in a residential neighborhood when he was struck by the defendant's car, causing amputation of both legs and terminal injuries to his brain and spinal cord.

$1,200,000

Perkins v. Pacific Oroville Power, et al, Butte County Superior
Record recovery in Butte County, CA for the wrongful death of a 65 year old man who was struck by a delivery truck when after he was stopped in heavy smog caused by fog and vapor from underground fires at Pacific Oroville's wood chip pile.

$1,000,000

Beever v. Ford, et al, Santa Clara County Superior Court
19 year-old driver suffered head injuries after a Ford Explorer went out of control and rolled.

$1,000,000

Herrera v. American Medical Response, Santa Clara County Superior Court
Leader of the Palo Alto Police Department's SWAT Team sustained injuries caused by an ambulance making an illegal u-turn in front of his motorcycle on Embarcadero Road, causing a broadside crash. Despite multiple fractures, a miraculous recovery allowed this veteran police officer to return to his job in one year.

$1,000,000

Johansen v. Marelich Mechanical. Santa Clara County Superior Court
Bill Johansen, a 50 year old carpenter for 30 years, was working as a foreman on a construction project at the City of Santa Clara's Silicon Valley electrical power project when an uncontrolled crane struck 115,000-volt lines. Bill was 20 feet from the tower crane's grounding rod when the blast and a ball of fire exploded that aggravated previous on-the-job back injuries and left him with vertigo that ended his construction career, but still allowed him to drive, shop, perform chores at home and return to other employment. The defendants hired investigators to videotape Bill shopping, but the top Northern California Ear, Nose and Throat doctor specializing in balance from University of California, San Francisco, confirmed Bill's injury.

$1,000,000

San Francisco Superior Court number 301570
51 year old computer executive suffered a skull fracture and brain injury when he fainted and fell to the deck of a WWII military cargo ship while it was in port preparing for a Saturday cruise.

$1,000,000

Freeburn v. Wehman, Santa Clara County Superior Court action number 742048; consolidated with 746364
$1,000,000 recovery for Nicole Freeburn represents only partial compensation for a brain injury to a 16 year old who was thrown from a utility vehicle in a rollover. The SUV carried five teenagers, but had seatbelts for only four passengers. The owner and driver carried primary policy limits of $100,000/$300,000 and a $1,000,000 excess policy was shared with another injured passenger. This case illustrates the need for everyone, especially parents of teenagers, to purchase and keep in force excess Uninsured/Underinsured coverage on their own vehicles. A family excess liability and underinsured insurance rider providing coverage in excess of $1,000,000 would have been extremely valuable in this case.

$1,000,000

San Francisco Superior Court, No. 301570, May, 2001
Kurt Clifford v. S. S. Jeremiah O'Brien settled at the beginning of trial for a 51 year old computer technology executive who fainted due to orthostatic hypotension while climbing onto a hatch cover on a WWII Liberty Ship. He had been invited onboard with his family, and approximately 600 other guests for a day-long fundraising cruise. The ship provided only 100 chairs and guests were expected to climb onto hatch covers for "seats" during the cruise. Mr. Clifford climbed upon the forward hatch cover shown in this helicopter photo taken of a similar cruise, fainted and fell backwards onto a steel deck, struck his head, and suffered severe brain injuries. The ship called as an expert the captain of an identical Liberty Ship moored on the East Coast. Aerial photos were ordered of the East Coast vessel while underway with 700 passengers. None were allowed to climb onto the hatch covers. The defense expert was forced to admit that it was unsafe for visitors to climb onto hatch covers and that all visitors were required to keep their feet on the deck.

950,000

Takeuchi and Kamiya v. Keegan, Monterey County Superior Court Number 92486
28 year old Japanese development engineer with IBM Japan in Tokyo was visiting a family friend in the Bay Area when their car was hit head-on by another vehicle and she suffered extensive injuries.

$925,000

Robert Dorsey v. Oregon Plan, Santa Clara County Action No. 712292
Forty year old Santa Clara Traffic Officer suffered a fractured elbow and wrist, with permanent nerve damages resulting in forced retirement, when his motorcycle was struck by a car making a u-turn.

$750,000

Cortinas v. San Juan Unified School District
Wrongful death of a 40 year old driving his Honda Civic near Sacramento when it was crushed from the rear by a school bus operated by the San Juan Unified School District.

$750,000

Sandoval v. Premier Pools, Inc. Sacramento County Superior Court
47 year old mother and her 10 year old son suffered serious personal injuries when the brakes on a heavy dump truck failed on a steep down grade. The truck, operated by Premier Pools, Inc. of Rancho Cordova, crashed through a red light and knocked unconscious both mother and son.

$750,000

Pickering v. Chevron Chemical Company and Dow Chemical Company, San Francisco Superior Court Action Nos. 938467 and 952025
Wrongful death of a 38 year old high school teacher who was employed by Chevron at its pesticide bottling plant in California during the early 1970s and was exposed to Weed-B-Gon. The main ingredients of this pesticide during the early 1970s were 2,4 D and 2,4,5 TP. A search of local homes produced twenty year old cans of Weed-B-Gon that when tested proved to be contaminated with dioxins and furans. Mr. Pickering died of a soft-tissue sarcoma which has been identified in medical literature as being associated with the contaminants found in this common household pesticide.

$750,000

Smethurst v. G&W Specialty Company
A lineman for Pacific Gas & Electric suffered burn injuries caused by a defectively designed electrical switch Similar switches caused 10 deaths and 21 serious injuries over a 25-year period, but no warnings were ever distributed to users.

$750,000

Lemley v. C&C Warehouse Trucking, San Joaquin County Superior Court Action No. 186124
A woman suffered a brain injury as a result of plaintiff rear-ending a tractor and trailer which had turned into her lane of travel.

$750,000

Furchtenicht v. Peabody Barnes and General Electric
Wrongful death of a father of three when he suffered cardiac arrest and drowned while standing in a swimming pool using the defendant's defectively designed submersible sump pump that was never properly pressure tested.

$725,000

Cortinas v. San Juan Unified School District
Wrongful death action by the parents of a 40 year-old son whose Honda Civic car was crushed by a school bus as he was stopped for traffic with his wife on a freeway in Sacramento County. She also died in the crash.

$675,000

Taber v. Montgomery Services, Santa Clara County Superior Court
Following a collision on his motorcycle, 56 year old had surgery that resulted in a non-union of the tibia that went undiscovered by Kaiser Permanente for nine months following the surgery. Continuing reports of pain were ignored. MRI nine months later clearly showed the unhealed gap.

$670,000

36 year old Greek citizen, visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, suffered injuries while in a rental car when he and his family were rear-ended by a Volvo tractor. Greek travel insurance proved to be classic pure indemnity policies once popular in the ship insurance business and useless in the U.S. The Greek medical insurance policy only reimburses the insured after they have paid their medical bills. This amounts to being uninsured.

$500,000

Domenichini v. City and County of San Francisco et al, San Francisco Superior Court
Cement truck rollover. Robert Domenichini was ordered to deliver cement to a roadway construction site in San Francisco. Steel plates had been installed in the roadway that morning to provide a transition from the concrete surface of an intersecting street to the excavated dirt road being poured by Esquivel Grading and Paving, a subcontractor of Trinet Construction. As Mr. Domenichini backed up the steel plates gave way and shifted under his cement truck causing it to roll. The negligent contractors claimed the rollover was the driver¹s entire fault and that the failure to wear a seatbelt, which is not required under California¹s vehicle code on a construction site. Final settlement after jury selection in San Francisco Superior Court in November 2008. The recovery in this challenging liability case was not comparable to the brain injury suffered by this husband and father of two.

$500,000

John Doe v. Very Famous Casino, Clark County District Court, Nevada
A Californian visiting a Las Vegas casino left his table at a casino restaurant and was making his way to the men’s room. He next woke up and found himself on the way to the hospital with a brain injury caused by a casino employee slamming into a defectively designed swinging kitchen door that extended into the walkway allowing it to strike casino guests. The casino settled on the condition its name not be mentioned.

$450,000

Barker v. County of Santa Clara and Graham Contractors
50 year old operating engineer employed as a tower crane operator, member of the National Ski Patrol and motorcyclist, suffered personal injuries when he encountered unswept gravel left on a freeway entrance by a county contractor and lost control of his motorcycle, a Yamaha FZ1. His loss of consciousness, a sprained thumb and shoulder blow were "shaken off" by the defendants. The loss of consciousness was not reported on his first medical visit later that afternoon and no police report was requested of the officer who came by the scene. Cell phone photographs confirmed the gravel and the officer, who had moved to Hawaii, was flown back for deposition. First lawyer recommended $35,000 settlement.

$350,000

Chow v. Taco Bell, City of Alameda and Sergio Baez, Alameda County Superior Court.
Tao Cheung Wong, grandmother of Michelle Chow, age 3, and Thomas Chow, age 6, was holding each child by the hand as she departed Walgreens in Alameda and was crossing the sidewalk at the Taco Bell on Webster Street. A departing Taco Bell customer struck Michelle, causing a serious head injury. Our lawsuit alleged that the placement of the Taco Bell building and driveway and the city's street trees forced drivers to advance across the sidewalk while looking to the left to gauge traffic and ignoring pedestrians on the right.

$275,000

LaFargue v. Miranda, San Mateo County Superior Court
20 year old suffered serious injuries (including fractures of the collarbone, shoulder, ribs and pelvis, and a collapsed lung) after her vehicle rolled over because a reckless driver violated a stop sign and crashed into her vehicle.

Class Action

$550,000,000

National consumer class action case against General Motors involving 5.5 million owners of 1973-87 C and K model pickups with saddlebag gas tanks located outside the frame rails beneath the side doors.

$200,000,000

Johnson v. Nissan Motor Company In U.S.A., Santa Clara County Superior Court No. 730558.
Class action case involving 33,000 owners of 1987-90 Nissan minivans which had been the subject of three recalls due to engine failures and fires before the suit was filed. One week before the hearing on plaintiff's motion to certify a national class action, Nissan negotiated a settlement of the class action, stipulated to the certification of a national class, and resolved a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration by "voluntarily" agreeing to an unprecedented buy back of 33,000 vans at fair market value [$5,000 to $7,000].

$180,000,000

GCC Richmond Works Case, Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 2906, Contra Costa County Superior Court, Martinez, California
Class action case involving 63,000 Californians who were exposed to 12 tons of oleum in the atmosphere when a tank car of oleum, concentrated sulfuric acid and sulfuric trioxide exploded at a sulfuric acid manufacturing plant operated by General Chemical Company in Richmond, California. General Chemical was the sole provider of sulfuric acid to Chevron's Northern California gasoline refinery.

$120,000,000

Mann v. Chrysler Corporation, Santa Clara County Superior Court Action number CV 746017
Class action case involving 3.3 million owners of Chrysler minivans (1984 through 1995 models), requiring correction of defective rear hatch door lock failures in nominal impacts.

$15,500,000

San Francisco Superior Court, Sacramento River Spill Litigation, Judicial Council Coordination Nos. 2617 and 2620
Class action case for victims of the pollution of the Sacramento River when a 19,000 gallon tank car derailed at the Cantara Loop spilling metam sodium and releasing methyl isothiocyanate, impacting residents of the Dunsmuir and Lake Shasta area.

Confidential Recoveries

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Alexander v. Ashland, et al, Alameda County Superior Court
Wrongful death of a 44 year old man who died of brain cancer after having worked for 20 years as a "deco operator," a printer supervising the presses that printed soft drink and beer cans, at Reynolds Metals Company in Hayward, CA. The printing inks contain formaldehyde and azo pigments, and the catalysts in the inks, when heated or exposed to formaldehyde create nitrosamines, causing brain cancer. Although the ink companies knew the conditions under which their inks were being used, they never tested their coatings, which would have confirmed that nitrosamines are generated in the printing process.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

A young father died of leukemia after long-term exposure to spray glues in the manufacture of doors.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

A child suffered cancer living next door to an electronics manufacturing plant in Silicon Valley.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Five confidential recoveries for one survivor of brain cancer and four families of British Petroleum Amoco laboratory researchers who died from brain cancer. All worked at Amoco's Naperville, Illinois research center's Building 503 on the third floor during the late 1970s and early 1980s. All were white, male, long-term employees of Amoco, averaging 17 years in tenure, compared with the average of nine years among Naperville employees altogether. Researchers from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Johns Hopkins University concluded that six cancer cases were more likely than not workplace related and constituted a valid brain cancer cluster. In this case the six glioma victims were frequent users of a chemical called n-hexane which was used to make plastics and were more frequently involved in a process involving ionizing radiation used to track compounds in chemical reactions.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Mock v. Chrysler Corporation, Fresno County Superior Court Action Number 442560-9
Wrongful death of a 16-year-old in a rollover of a CJ-7 Jeep. Settled on a confidential basis at the demand of Chrysler and agreed to by surviving parents.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Howard and Mary St. John, Fran and Wendy Benjamin, Phill and Gayle Martin and Arthur and Deborah Cepeda v. Chrysler Corporation, Santa Clara County Superior Court No. 722446
Wrongful deaths of four teenaged boys on Christmas Day when a 1978 four wheel drive Dodge Ram Charger overturned at 20 miles per hour and landed on its roof. The case settled after two years of extensive trial preparation which showed that Chrysler anticipated this vehicle would roll in the field, and for that reason installed a roll bar in the passenger compartment, while allowing the rear mounted filler tube, which was bolted to sheet metal at the rear of the vehicle to remain unprotected in a rollover.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Condry v. General Motors Corporation. Missouri Circuit Court Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit, Louis City, Missouri Case Number: 022-00146
Wrongful death of a 19 year old man burned to death in a side impact of a 1987 Chevrolet pick-up truck with gas tanks mounted outside the frame beneath the doors.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Lawrence B. Kohler and Joseph Orlando v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Employers Insurance of Wausau, et al, Civil Action No. C 93-1584 SC
Nationwide breached their contract for failure to pay delayed compensation, improperly made charge backs to extended earnings payments, breached their implied-in-fact contract for good cause termination, breached an implied-in-fact contract for exclusivity and alleging that their two leading commercial lines insurance brokers interfered with contract.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Vagshenian v. Palo Alto Unified School District, Santa Clara County Action No. 687672
The details of the case and settlement terms are held confidential, per the Court's orders. However, the San Jose Mercury News reported that a nine year old boy was burned by a model rocket engine that shot up his sleeve during a demonstration by a Stanford professor while attending a science fair at school. Under the gag order by the Court, the victim and attorneys are only permitted to say: "The matter is concluded."

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Finn v. Idaho Power Company, Idacorp, Inc., Fourth Judicial District, County Of Ada, Boise, Idaho
A visiting Californian suffered an electrical burn that resulted in amputation of the right forearm after coming in contact with 12,000 volt power line at a mountain church camp near Idaho City.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Ingvardsen v. Lucky Stores, Santa Clara County No. 705350
56 year old Los Altos mother of three boys consumed one bottle of the contaminated L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid and food supplement. She began experiencing symptoms and was diagnosed with EMS, a painful and progressive, multi-system disease which causes permanent scarring and fibrosis to nerve and muscle tissues, continuing inflammation, and provokes a permanent change in the body's immune system.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Skaggs v. Champion International, Humboldt County Superior Court No. DR 85488
Wrongful death of a 40 year old man who died of leukemia after having been exposed to Woodlife from 1971-72 while employed by Simpson Lumber Company in Arcata, California. In an investigation of three other leukemia cases at the Simpson mill by the State Department of Health, Simpson concealed from officials that for years it had used wood preservatives with pentachlorophenol.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Gordon v. U. S. Plywood-Champion P v. U. S. Plywood-Champion Papers, Humboldt County Superior Court No. 92 DR 0378 Freeman v. U.S. Plywood-Champion Papers, Humboldt County Superior Court No. 93 DR 0275
Served as lead counsel in three additional pentachlorophenol caused wrongful death recoveries for former Simpson employees.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Blair v. Agency Rent-A-Car, Inc., Santa Clara County Superior Court Consolidated Action Nos. 735492 and 736954
21 year old accepted a ride home from a concert in an Agency Rent-A-Car van that was driven by an unlicensed teenage driver. Agency Rent-A-Car held responsible for negligent entrustment of a vehicle.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Guerrant v. Forbricht, Santa Clara County Superior Court action number 729175
Involved sexual harassment and molestation by a prostheticist, who inappropriately touched his stepdaughters at night while they slept and installed a false heating vent for peeping into the children's bathroom.

Recovery Amount: Confidential

Four nursery school children were molested at a public school. The Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District operated the Los Altos Parent Preschool (LAPP) as part of its adult education program. District employees provided defendant with access to pre-school children and allowed him to serve as a "worker parent," despite complaints to the LAPP school administrator that he had been inappropriately touching children. The LAPP school administrator advised a few parents, but not all parents, and not the parents of the four children.

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