Personal Injury Results

THE VIRGINIA STATE BAR RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT REQUIRE ALL ATTORNEYS TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT AND DISCLAIMER TO THEIR CASE RESULTS.

SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS IN ALL CASES DEPEND ON VARIOUS FACTORS AND CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH ARE UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. THEREFORE, PAST RESULTS IN CASES ARE NOT A GUARANTEE OR PREDICTION OF SIMILAR RESULTS IN FUTURE CASES WHICH THE ALLEN LAW FIRM AND ITS LAWYERS MAY UNDERTAKE.

Significant Verdicts & Settlements

Case: Personal Injury - Auto Accident

Meikiu Lo v. Greater Richmond Transit Co.
Circuit Court for the City of Richmond

Outcome: $8,000,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

On September 21, 2007, Meikiu Lo, a 34 year old native of Hong Kong, rode the bus to downtown Richmond where she worked as a Research Librarian for the Library of Virginia. Ms. Lo got off of the bus and walked to the corner of 8th Street and Marshall Street where she stopped. Once the "walk" sign illuminated, Ms. Lo proceeded to walk across 8th street in the marked crosswalk. As she was about two-thirds across the street, a Greater Richmond Transit Co. ("GRTC") bus made a right hand turn from Marshall Street onto 8th Street, struck Ms. Lo from behind, and ran over her 95 pound body. She sustained numerous traumatic injuries were diagnosed including: C7 Cervical Spine Fracture, Right Scapular Body Fracture, Left L3 & L4 Transverse Process Fractures, Right Denis Type II Lateral Compression Grade I Sacral Ala Fracture Extending into the Right S1 Neural Foramen, Right Superior and Inferior Pubic Rami Fractures, Left Transverse Medial Wall Acetabular Fracture with Comminution and Bony Fragments within Hip Joint Space, Right Pelvic Sidewall Hematoma, Right SI Dissociation, Pneuomediastinum, Concussion, Open Wound with Tendon Involvement of the Elbow, Avulsion/Open Wound Finger, Abrasion of Right Forehead and Left Cheek, Abrasions of Left Mid Back, Abrasion (Deep) of Right Lower Back/Sacral Area, Tire Mark Across Back, Multiple Abrasions and Lacerations of Lower Extremities with Soot and Tire Marks, and Contusions of Head, Face, Right Shoulder, Right Hip and Left Flank.

GRTC admitted liability and the case was tried before a jury on the issue of damages only.

The case was mediated on September 28, 2009. GRTC's highest offer was $1.8 million at the end of mediation. Plaintiff's last demand was $5.1 million. GRTC showed no interest in further settlement discussions at any time prior to trial. During the morning of the second day of trial, GRTC increased its offer to $2.5 million. The offer was rejected and plaintiff made a new demand of $3.5 million. However, plaintiff withdrew her demand after closing arguments were made and elected to let the jury decide her case. The jury deliberated for less than one hour and returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $8 million, the exact amount sought during closing argument.

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Case: Personal Injury - Auto Accident

Pumphrey v. Empire Lath & Plaster, Inc.
13th Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, Montana

Outcome: $3,900,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

Plaintiff, a young woman 28 years old, was rear ended by a Ford F-150 pickup and pushed into the vehicle ahead of her. She sustained a meniscus tear of the left shoulder, herniated discs at C5-6, and scalenus muscle tearing in two upper ribs. Nerve involvement resulted in numbness of her left arm and hand as well as chronic pain with normal activities. The defendant's last offer during trial was $230,000.

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Case: Premises Liability: Knee Injuries, Saphenous Neuritis, Chronic Pain

Confidential A

Outcome: $1,950,000 - Mediation

Case Details:

This premises liability case arose out of a slip and fall accident that occurred at the defendant's apartment complex. The plaintiff slipped and fell to the ground twisting and striking her left knee while leaving her cousin's apartment after a visit.

After the fall, Ms. Doe discovered that algae was growing in the standing water on the sidewalk. The combination of algae and water created a hidden, dangerous condition that caused her to fall. She later learned that the problem had existed for some time. In fact, Ms. Doe's cousin wrote to apartment management seven months before the fall asking that they investigate and fix the problem. Ms. Doe's cousin again reported the problem two months prior to the fall.

As a result of the fall, Ms. Doe sustained various orthopedic injuries and had to endure four surgeries. Ms. Doe developed saphenous neuritis (irritation of the saphenous nerve) as a result of inflammation and scar tissue that developed post surgery. To compound matters, Ms. Doe's saphenous neuritis progressed into Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy ("RSD") and resulting chronic pain. The case settled during mediation despite claims of contributory negligence from the defense.

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Case: Premises Liability - Traumatic Brain Injury, Back Injury

Confidential B

Outcome: $1,100,000 - Settlement

Case Details:

This premises liability case arose out of a slip and fall accident that occurred at a large corporate office building. The plaintiff was injured while walking in the atrium on her way to her office located inside the building. Unbeknownst to her, water was on the floor where she fell.

As a result of the fall, our client sustained multiple injuries. She had pre-existing degenerative disc disease in her neck and back which was aggravated by the accident, requiring surgical treatment to both areas. She also sustained a concussion/traumatic brain injury, contusion of the right hip and contusion of the posterior head, and developed traumatic headaches, occipital neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, chronic pain, and depression.

The plaintiff's damages were hotly contested by the defense. The defendant identified two damages experts - a neurosurgeon and a neuropsychologist to contest our client's injuries as they related to the accident. The case was resolved for $1,100,000.00 roughly one week prior to trial.

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Case: Wrongful Death - Pedestrian Accident

Lomax Adm'r. v. Greyhound Bus Lines
Circuit Court for the City of Buena Vista

Outcome: $3,718,358.86 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

Mrs. Lomax, a pedestrian, was struck by a Greyhound bus that was making a left turn. She suffered three separate brain injuries, right wrist trauma, a LeFort III fracture of the right eye orbit, and two scalp lacerations over the temporal lobe. Mrs. Lomax died as a result of these injuries 3½ months after the accident. Mrs. Lomax left behind an ailing husband and two adult children. This verdict was the largest ever in Buena Vista Circuit Court.

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Case: Wrongful Death - Car Accident

Shelton, Adm'r. v. Slurry Pavers, Inc.
Circuit Court for the City of Richmond

Outcome: $3,190,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

This was a wrongful death case arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The deceased was traveling to her job with a co-worker on Interstate 64. A vehicle in front of her vehicle hit a bag of cement that had fallen in the roadway from a utility trailer owned by the defendant, Slurry Pavers, Inc. A cloud of dust shot approximately 40 feet high and across all three lanes of Interstate 64 such that the deceased's driver entered the cloud of dust, could not see, and hit her brakes. The vehicle was then rear ended by a tractor trailer. Plaintiff claimed Slurry Pavers was negligent in failing to secure the load of cement bags which were improperly loaded and stacked on a utility trailer pulled behind the Slurry vehicle. The decedent left a husband and four adult children, two of whom still lived in her household.

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Case: Personal Injury - Tractor Trailer Accident

Hinton v. Craig Brown, B.T.T. Transportation, Inc., and Berthina Vaughan
Prince George County Circuit Court

Outcome: $2,000,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

Mr. Hinton was a passenger in an automobile which struck the rear of a tractor trailer on a dark stretch of Route 460 at midnight in Prince George County. The defendant truck driver had stopped his vehicle in the left through lane of Route 460 when his passenger side window suddenly broke. Within a minute or two of stopping, the truck driver realized he was not injured himself and his truck was operable. However, he remained stopped in the road for about ten minutes while he called 911. The co-defendant, who had been traveling directly behind the truck driver but some miles behind him, failed to realize the truck was at a complete stop in the middle of the road and she slammed into the back of the truck. The jury held Brown and his employer, BTT Transportation, Inc., liable for Mr. Hinton's injuries, but found Mr. Hinton's driver to be free of negligence. Mr. Hinton sustained a serious vascular injury which is often fatal, and he suffered severe orthopedic injuries to his ankle. This case resulted in the largest personal injury verdict in Prince George County.

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Case: Wrongful Death - Tractor Trailer Accident

Veach, Adm'r. v. David Pelton and Werner Enterprises, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Outcome: $1,250,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

Our client, a 78 year old woman, was killed when a tractor trailer ran a red light at Hopkins and Warwick Roads in Richmond and struck an automobile in which the deceased was a passenger. She was survived by only one adult daughter who lived in Alabama. Several witnesses testified to the very close relationship between mother and daughter and the significance of the daughter's loss.

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Case: Wrongful Death - Truck Accident

Taylor, Adm'r. v. Hayden Construction, Inc.
Lancaster County Circuit Court

Outcome: $1,008,977.99 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

This case involved the wrongful death of a 66 year old wife and mother of two independent adult children arising out of a truck collision. This was a record jury verdict in Lancaster County.

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Case: Personal Injury - Tractor Trailer Accident

Lynch v. Minor & Cox Transportation Services
Circuit Court of the City of Richmond

Outcome: $1,000,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

Mr. Lynch sustained severe injuries to his knee when a vehicle which had been rear ended by a tractor trailer crossed the median on U.S. 1 south of Ashland and then crashed almost head-on into Mr. Lynch's automobile. Even after knee reconstruction surgery, the plaintiff's knee inury seriously affected his ability to work as a painter.

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Case: Product Liability

Moyer v. General Motors Corporation
Circuit Court for the City of Richmond

Outcome: $950,000 - Jury Verdict

Case Details:

After a four day trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Trooper Moyer in the amount of $950,000. During the course of a vehicular pursuit, one of the hubcaps to his police cruiser was lost. In the process of installing a replacement hubcap, Trooper Moyer's finger came into contact with the razor sharp inner edge of the hubcap's vent opening resulting in severe laceration to the bone and severance of his flexor tendon. Following surgery for the severed tendon, Trooper Moyer developed a serious complication known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy that resulted in a claw-like contracture of his right hand.

Because a Virginia State Trooper is required to be weapons trained in both hands and capable of effectuating resisted arrest, Trooper Moyer was forced to retire from police work. Plaintiff alleged General Motors Corporation's product design was faulty, that the product was unreasonably dangerous, and that General Motors had failed to warn of the hidden and dangerous characteristics of the product. After a four day trial, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Trooper Moyer in the amount of $950,000. According to General Motors, this was the first verdict ever obtained against it, or any automotive manufacturer, based upon the design or manufacture of a hubcap/wheel cover.

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