Newsletters

Newsletters - Summer 1998

Opening Remarks

Our newsletter is intended to be of interest and assistance to our friends and colleagues. If you want additional information or if you have suggestions, please call us at 1.800.783.2434, 541.484.2434, or fax 541.484.0882.

Defective Handgun Causes Death

In 1994, a man bought a new Norinco pistol. The gun, a 9-millimeter Model 213, was manufacturer by the People's Republic of China and imported into the United States by K-Sports Imports, an American corporation based in Pomona, California. These same entities made and imported SKB and Malakov semi-automatic assault rifles.

The man was 35 years old. He was recently divorced, but had two young children who he was supporting working as a short haul trucker. He was also close to his folks, and when he bought the gun he went to their house in rural Modoc County to show it to them. Although the gun was loaded while he showed it to his father and brother, he thought it was safe. The safety was on and the hammer was uncocked. With those two safety features in place there was no way it could go off. As his father handed the pistol to his brother it slipped out of its holster and fell to the floor. To everyone's horror, as it landed on the carpeted floor it fired, the bullet shot across the room and pierced the gun owner's neck, killing him on the spot.

The gun owner's estate retained us to prosecute a wrongful death action for the benefit of the surviving children. Our first difficult decision was that we could not realistically recover money from the government of the People's Republic of china for making such a defective gun. Instead we focused our efforts on the importer and wholesaler for putting it into the stream of commerce in the United States. The importer, K-Sports Imports, Inc., was owned and operated by William and Paul Lin, brothers who had made a small fortune importing cheap Chinese weapons into this country when the Reagan and Bush administrations lifted an embargo against the trade.

We took possession of the pistol and immediately began contacting experts around the country. We quickly found several national experts who were willing to testify as to the enormous defects in the design and manufacture of the gun in question. Once the action was filed, and we established the source of the gun, its manufacture, and the manner in which it entered the stream of commerce, we convened a meeting of our experts and those hired by the defendants to disassemble and test the gun in a controlled environment.

The meeting was videotaped and recorded with still photographs. The most telling moment was when one of the defense experts performed a "drop test" with the gun. He loaded the gun with a cartridge containing only a live primer, put the safety on and uncocked it. He then held it twelve inches above a rubber pad and dropped it on the hammer. In a series of tests, the primer fired repeatedly, graphically demonstrating the deadly defect of the gun. The firing pin was too long and rested against the live primer. The safety was a trigger block but not a hammer block, so it did nothing to prevent the accidental discharge.

With that information we continued to work the case up for trial. This included further extensive document discovery of the repair and warranty records for K-Sports Imports. We also traveled twice to Pomona for depositions. We deposed the president of the company, William Lin, in Mandarin Chinese with the aid of a translator.

Finally, the defendant agreed to a mediation. After two all day sessions, involving two different California Superior Court judges, we resolved the claim. The Defendant agreed to a structured settlement with a guaranteed payout of $2,458,580.

Child Quadriplegia: $2.2 Million Settlement

Perhaps nothing is more terrifying than having one's child horribly injured in an accident. Possibly no injury is more debilitating than paralysis. And possibly no injury requires a more specialized and detailed legal workup than quadriplegia, fully paralysis of the body.

We represent the family of a young girl who was paralyzed for life at three years of age. The injury was a result of a head-on automobile accident that left the father with no fractures, the mother with survivable orthopedic injuries, but the daughter unable to move from the neck down. The case is till in progress, with a claim against the manufacturer of the child booster seat under investigation, after an initial structured settlement worth $2.2 million.

Electrical Injury: High Voltage Wire Contact

After extensive litigation, in December of 1997 we reached a settlement with Pacific Power and Light and other named Defendants concerning a Klamath Falls construction worker who suffered electrical shock and brain injury when his man lift contacted a power pole positioned too close to the building he was working on. The case required extensive discovery, several batteries of depositions in Klamath Falls and Portland, and consultation with experts. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

California Wrongful Death

Our firm was asked to prosecute a claim in which the editor-in-chief of the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune, his wife, and their daughter were killed when a 30 foot Ultra motor home left its eastbound lane on SR 46, about 51 miles east of San Luis Obispo. The motor home crossed the double yellow dividing lines, two westbound lanes, and collided violently with the family's Volvo sedan heading westbound. After discovery was completed, a policy limit settlement was reached having a total present value of $1.3 million.

Uninsured Motorist Litigation

Tragic Wrongful Death

A $100,000 uninsured motorist policy limits settlement was recovered on behalf of the estate of a 59 year old mother of two adult children. The woman, who had recently retired from teaching, was killed when a 14 year old driving a stolen car swerved into her lane of traffic and was also killed in the tragic collision.

Internal Injuries

We recently obtained a settlement for a client who was injured when a car in which he was a passenger was broadsided by a car driven by an uninsured motorist who ran a stop light. It took rescue workers fifteen minutes to extricate our client from the wreckage. He suffered a severe pelvic fracture and internal injuries, including a ruptured bladder and separation of the urethra, resulting in permanent partial sexual dysfunction. His claim was settled for the policy limit of $285,000.

Product Liability: Exercise Machine Injury

Working out to keep fit is a great idea, but even exercise can be risky if the equipment is defective or improperly placed. We represented a mother and housewife who was referred to us by Cottage Grove attorney Milt Gifford. She 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.

The manufacturer had not included safety features that are pretty much standard in the industry. The exercise machine was left at the fitness club in an unsafe position, right next to a large free weight squat rack. Before trial, the two defendant corporations blamed the incident entirely on the victim, and had offered only $20,000 in settlement. At trial, the jury assessed 90% of the blame to the two defendant corporations and returned a verdict for $101,395.81.

Agency/Negligent Entrustment

Our client was attending a garden show in Grants Pass at the Josephine County Fairgrounds when she was struck and run over by a utility tractor (a John Deere "Gator"). The driver of the vehicle was uninsured. We sued the driver as well as the vendor of the tractor, which had a booth at the garden show. The central issue was whether the vendor was liable for the driver's conduct under agency or negligent entrustment principles. Through an exhaustive investigation of attendees at the garden show, we established facts supporting our agency theory and survived a summary judgment motion on those issues. Our client's claim settled at a mediation conducted by former Lane County Circuit Judge George Woodrich. The total settlement amount was $130,000.

Bicycle/Car Collisions

In March of this year we tried a bicycle/car collision case to a Jackson County jury. Our client had been injured while riding her bicycle in Ashland. Attorney Charles Carreon of Ashland referred the case to us after he had taken a very effective deposition of the defendant. We alleged that the defendant was negligent because he struck her in a crosswalk. At trial he denied that Ms. Shadburne was in a crosswalk, and he argued that she was more at fault than he because she was riding against traffic before entering the intersection and was giving her sister a ride on the bicycle.

Our client suffered a mild head injury in the collision, but incurred only $3,600 in medical bills before trial. We relied on testimony of her neuropsychologist and a vocational consultant and economist to establish substantial impairment of earning potential and future wage loss. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client for $100,000 reduced by her comparative negligence.

Other Bicycle Litigation

Over the last 18 months, we have represented or are currently representing 10 people injured while riding their bicycles. Because there is so little research on the subject, these cases present unique challenges in determining the nature of the collision, including speeds, positions of vehicles, and mechanics of injuries. Our investigator, Gary Vencill, has been attending seminars on collisions between bicycles and pedestrians and cars. The information and contacts he has developed are invaluable to us in getting good results for our clients.

Premises Liability Litigation

Our client was vacationing on the Oregon Coast with her husband and stepson when she stepped onto an uneven sidewalk outside of their hotel room. She fell and injured her ankle and neck. One month later she was diagnosed with a cervical herniation. She underwent two surgeries to repair the herniation but received only partial relief from her pre-surgery symptoms. Our investigation revealed that the walkway had been uneven for some time, that management had been warned about the problem, and that management had scheduled a contractor to repair the walkway. The case settled for $225,000 prior to formal discovery.

Fractured Hip Disables Senior

On October 18, 1984, our 88 year old client was driven to her local U.S. Post Office by a senior services van to pick up her mail. The post office building and surrounding parking lot was privately owned. After picking up her mail, she was walking back to the van when she was tripped by a poorly maintained and unpainted speed bump, causing her to fall and fracture her hip. Medical complications followed, and six months later she suffered a severe stroke after undergoing corrective surgery.

Following the stroke, she was not able to return to independent living and a conservator was appointed. We brought a claim on behalf of her conservatorship estate. We achieved and excellent result for our client to compensate her for her lost independence and greatly increased costs of care. We also helped arrange for her family to fly out from Minnesota to visit her and set up a special needs trust.

Defending Oregon Student PIRG

More than a generation ago, Ralph Nader challenged student to become consumer rights leaders, and Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) were born. Oregon's, OSPIRG, was the first in the nation, and has gone on to lead consumer efforts relating to recycling, toy safety, banking, toxic wastes, and many other issues.

Student funding for OSPIRG was attacked in a lawsuit orchestrated by a Los Angeles-based political organization. Attorneys from our firm have defended OSPIRG in federal court on a pro bono basis. So far, there have been favorable decisions from the United States Magistrate Judge and District Judge. The case is currently on appeal in the Ninth Circuit.

Jones Act -- Fisherman's Arm Crushed

Our client was a jack of all trades -- fishing, logging, millwork, bartending, and construction. He was working as a deckhand on a fishing trawler, assisting the skipper to moor the vessel, when his arm was crushed between the vessel and the dock pilings. We brought a claim against the boat owner under the Jones Act, alleging that the skipper was negligent in the manner he docked the vessel. The case settled favorably before trial.

Litigation Tips

ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY

Don't forget that computers are the filing cabinets of the modern age. Electronically stored data is discoverable and critical information concerning your client's claim may remain in computer memory or on back up tapes even though active files have been deleted. In the appropriate case, one should obtain either an agreement with the other side or order from the Court to preserve electronically stored data. This is particularly useful in complex product liability cases which are document intensive. Discovery requests must also be carefully crafted to obtain access to this information.

OUT-OF-STATE TRIAL WORK

Local Attorneys and clients should know that our firm litigates complex motor vehicle and product liability actions in states other than Oregon. These include cases in California where both Derek Johnson and Dennis Gerl are licensed to practice.

UNIDENTIFIED TIRE FAILURES

When tires blow out, people often are hurt or killed. We recently represented the estate of a driver who was killed and members of her family who were injured in a one car rollover accident caused by a tire failure. The prosecution of such claims is expensive but warranted and feasible if serious bodily injuries are sustained.

In Closing

We work with attorneys throughout the state who associate with us on personal injury, product liability, and negligence cases. Referral arrangements vary from case to case. Most commonly, we take the laboring oar and advance necessary costs to prosecute the claim.