Car-Seat Heaters: Burn Injuries. We have successfully litigated and currently represent several individuals who are paralyzed and have suffered severe injuries from electronically heated automobile seats, primarily in DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. The seat heaters in these cars generated extreme temperatures which our clients could not feel because of sensory deprivation. The burn injuries often require many months of care, including hospitalization, skin grafts, and rehabilitation. The vehicles involved so far include Jeep Grand Cherokees, Chrysler Town & Country vans, PT Cruisers, and Cadillac El Dorados. We are investigating many other models and makes.
Side Saddle Gas Tanks: Burn Injuries. GM & Chevy pick-up trucks manufactured between 1973 - 1987 were designed with gas tanks located outside of the trucks' frame rails just under the thin sheet of body metal. Minor collisions lead to catastrophic fires because the GM & Chevy gas tanks rupture upon impact allowing fuel to escape and ignite into flames causing devastating injuries to innocent victims. We have successfully resolved a number of cases for severely burned clients; their settlements are confidential. For more details, please go to our firm's newsletter of Spring 2006.
Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company $1.78 Million Wrongful Death Verdict. A federal jury in Portland returned a unanimous verdict in favor of an Oregon family against the manufacturer of a tire that exploded and caused a fatal collision. The $1,787,708 damages were reduced to $1,387,708 because of Oregon's cap on non-economic damages in wrongful death cases. On appeal Plaintiff challenged the application and constitutionality of this damage cap. The case settled on appeal.
Cosco Child Car Seat: Quadriplegia. A family was driving over a Cascade mountain pass, with their three-year-old restrained in a "booster" seat type of child restraint. An oncoming car lost control in the volcanic grit left by the highway crews, crossed the center line, and struck the family car nearly head-on. The child suffered an injury of the spinal cord near the top of her neck, which caused her to be permanently paralyzed below the head. The adverse driver settled for her $2 million liability insurance policy limits. Working with another law firm, we then brought a claim against the child car seat manufacturer and retailer, which settled for a confidential amount.
Fatal Prescription Drug. A 45-year old woman with no history of heart disease died unexpectedly of cardiac arrhythmia. Her physician had prescribed a combination of medications for her. The Medical Examiner determined that the cause of her death was a toxic buildup of one of those medications. We won a jury verdict in the wrongful death case tried in Lane County Circuit Court.
Chinese-Made Handgun. A Norinco pistol imported into the United States from China was accidentally dropped and misfired, killing a father who was survived by his young children. The issues in the case involved whether the firing pin of this pistol was too long and whether the pistol lacked critical safety features available for decades. After taking depositions with the aid of a Chinese language interpreter, we settled the case.
Tire Blow-Out: Wrongful Death. Product liability claim relating to a wrongful death and serious injuries from a Bridgestone/Firestone tire blow out.
Ford Escort Rear Seat Lap Belts. Product liability actions for the wrongful deaths of a husband and wife. The issue was whether the rear seat lap belts in a Ford Escort were defective. Case involved complex technical issues of biomechanics, occupant kinematics, and automobile restraint system design and engineering. After extensive discovery battles, the case resolved prior to trial.
Toyota Occupant Restraint System. We prosecuted a product liability case against this Japanese automobile manufacturer and its United States sales subsidiary based on a defective restraint system. Case involved both complex engineering issues and medical issues relating to severe traumatic brain injuries suffered by the driver of the pickup truck.
Aerial Lift: Burn Injuries. This product liability claim involved severe electrical burn injuries to a worker cutting tree limbs. Plaintiff claimed that the lift was defective and did not protect the worker from the risk of foreseeable injury if contact with electrical wires occurred. Defendant alleged the lift had not been adequately maintained by the employer, and that the worker was negligent in his operation of the lift.
Explosion in Wood Mill: Industrial Accident. A worker suffered severe burns and died as a result of an explosion in a particle-board green dryer. Plaintiff claimed that the dryer system failed to have appropriate safety features in its computer logic controls and lacked adequate explosion vents. The case involved engineering design issues, computer software, and multiple technical specialties.
Fleetwood RV Fuel System: Fatal Fire. We brought a wrongful death/product liability action against recreational vehicle manufacturer and fuel system component part supplier. We claimed that our client's fatal burn injuries were caused by the defective design of the fuel system in a Fleetwood motor home. Principal issues involved fuel system design and performance. The case prompted a product recall and reconfiguration of the design of the component parts of the fuel system.
Aerial Lift: Industrial Accident. Our client's husband was crushed to death when the aerial lift in which he was working malfunctioned. It uncontrollably lifted and pinned him into the rafters of the lumber mill in which he was working. Case involved complex medical, technical, and scientific issues.
Swimming Pool: Quadriplegia. We successfully brought this product liability action against the swimming pool manufacturer and the distributor on behalf of a teenage boy rendered quadriplegic in a diving incident in an above-ground swimming pool. The case involved issues of design, safety engineering, warnings, life care planning, and rehabilitation medicine.
Family Restaurant: Appliance Accident. A young girl, the daughter of a Middle Eastern family who owned and ran a local restaurant, was seriously injured when her hand caught in a defectively designed meat-grinder, used in preparing meals for restaurant customers. The young girl who lost her hand, also faced additional trauma in that her own culture shuns those who have a severed hand as someone marked as a thief. The firm successfully showed the need for changes in the meat-grinder design and use, and won an award that took into account our client's unique emotional trauma.
Shattered Graphite Arrow. While target shooting with his compound bow, an experienced bow hunter suffered permanent injury when an arrow exploded upon release. Hundreds of sharp graphite shards pierced his hand, cutting muscle tissue and severing nerves. The hunter had purchased the arrow because of national advertisements claiming the arrow's internal construction eliminated splintering. We consulted with both archery and graphite materials experts, including a professional at U.C. Berkeley. During mediation we showed the federal judge that the defendant continued to advertise "anti-splintering" on the internet. The case settled at that mediation.
Werner Fiberglass Ladder. A man severely dislocated and fractured his left elbow when a Werner ladder he was climbing fell from underneath him. Plaintiff's products liability case claimed the fiberglass ladder was defectively manufactured. In working with experts from California, Washington, and Michigan, we concluded that there was insufficient binding between the resin and fibers in the manufacturing process. We resolved the case in a settlement conference at
Lane County Circuit Court.
Flammable Pajama Fabric. This product liability claim was against the manufacturers and distributors of flammable children's-pajama fabric. We brought a claim for burn injuries sustained when our six-year-old client's cotton flannel nightgown, made by her grandmother with material manufactured by one defendant and marketed by others, caught fire. We defeated the defendant's contention that there was no negligence due to their meeting minimal federal standards, standards essentially written by the clothing industry. With dramatic video presentations we proved how weak these standards were. That led to settlement of the case.
Exercise Machine: Crushed Hand. A mother and housewife suffered crush injuries to her hand, including three broken fingers, when a lever row machine bar crashed down during the process of moving it to a safer location. Plaintiff claimed that the manufacturer had not included safety features that are standard in the industry, and that the exercise machine was left at the fitness club in an unsafe location, next to a large free weight squat rack.
Stihl Chain Saw. Our client, a timber worker, was severely burned when the chain saw he was using spilled gas and ignited on his pants. The issue was whether the injuries were caused by a defective ignition wire and gas cap. We prosecuted the product liability action against the foreign manufacturer and required extensive product research.
Pesticide Damage. We represented two apiarists (bee-keepers) who traveled the West Coast contracting with farmers to pollinate their crops. They treated their bees with a chemical miticide that was supposed to kill the mites which infect honeybees. Instead, the miticide was defective and killed over half their colonies, thereby destroying their business.
Childhood DPT Vaccine: Massive Brain Injury. This personal injury/product liability claim was against Connaught Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical manufacturer. We associated with a firm in the Midwest in prosecuting this complex claim involving brain injury to a young child.
Silicone Breast Implant Litigation against Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter International and Baxter Healthcare, 3M, Dow Corning, and Others. We represented over 250 women in Multi-District Litigation in U.S. District Court against the manufacturers of silicone gel breast implants. The majority of these actions were resolved through a negotiated national settlement. We also represented women who opted out of the national settlement.
Dalkon Shield Intrauterine Devices. We successfully represented women in Multi-District personal injury/product liability actions against A.H. Robins arising out of the use of Dalkon Shield intrauterine devices. These cases included many medical and scientific issues and required experts in such areas as epidemiology, biology, chemistry, gynecology, and infectious diseases. We successfully prevented these and other women in the Ninth Circuit from being forced to include their claims in a class action. These cases were eventually resolved pursuant to a negotiated settlement through the bankruptcy of the manufacturer, A.H. Robins, Inc.
L-Tryptophan Litigation Against Showa Denko, KK, and Others. We represented claimants in Multi-District Litigation in U.S. District Court against a Japanese manufacturer of L-tryptophan, and against numerous wholesalers, formulators, encapsulators, and retailers. Our firm did the lead discovery against Defendant IDE Interstate, Inc., a retailer.
Tambrands Tampons: Toxic Shock Syndrome. We handled product liability and medical negligence cases involving claims that toxic shock syndrome was caused by defective tampons. Our firm associated with Arizona counsel and had the primary responsibility on toxic shock syndrome issues. These toxic shock syndrome cases involved many scientific and medical issues and required original research by our experts on the cause of illness to show that the products were dangerous. Our firm also associated in the prosecution of an Alaska case involving wrongful death from toxic shock syndrome.
Playtex Tampon: Toxic Shock Syndrome. Product liability action against major manufacturer arising from injury from toxic shock syndrome. The specific issue was whether defendant's tampon product was defective in causing the injuries.
