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.
Personal Injury
- Pumphrey v. Empire Lath & Plaster, Inc
- Lomax Adm'r. v. Greyhound Bus Lines
- Shelton, Adm'r. v. Slurry Pavers, Inc.
- Hinton v. Craig Brown, B.T.T. Transportation, Inc., and Berthina Vaughan
- Veach, Adm'r. v. David Pelton and Werner Enterprises, Inc.
- Taylor, Adm'r. v. Hayden Construction, Inc.
- Lynch v. Minor & Cox Transportation Services
- Moyer v. General Motors Corporation
Significant Verdicts & Settlements
Case:
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.
Case:
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.
Case:
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.
Case:
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.
Case:
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.
Case:
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.
Case:
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 injury seriously affected his ability to work as a painter.
Case:
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.