Personal Injury

San Diego Boating Accident Causes Two Teens Severe Injuries, Part 2 of 2

August 10, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

According to defendant, Jasmine Birmingham admitted on the record that she and her friends did not pay attention to the instructions given to them by the rental staff on proper operation of the boat and deployment of the inner tube.

ABC claimed that Jasmine turned control of the boat over to Kendra Davin, another member of their group, who had no prior baoting experience, and that Jasmine did this without ascertaining whether Davin knew how to operate the boat.

ABC further argued that Davin negligently failed to pull the boat’s “kill switch,” which would have cut power to the motor, in the 13 seconds between the boat’s malfunction and the impact.

Defendant claimed that Jasmine was on the phone with her mother during the rental process, and that her mother approved the girls’ rental of the boat and the use of her credit card to rent it.

Following the accident, emergency personnel rescued the girls from the water. Jasmine was taken by ambulance to University of California San Diego Medical Center, where she spent six days being treated. The procedures performed were neck exploration and repair, irrigation and closure of shoulder wound, and repair of the lacerations to her head, neck and hand.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Teens Seriously Injured In Boating Accident, Part 1 of 2

August 3, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Jasmine Birmingham suffered lacerations to her scalp, shoulder, hands and neck, a shoulder fracture, mandibular and molar fractures, and C3-4 transverse fractures at the vertebral foramen, the openings through which the spinal nerve root and spinal nerve sheath pass.

Facts:

At approximately 2 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2004 , claimant Jasmine Birmingham, 19, and her cousin, claimant Sandra Birmingham, 18, were riding in an inner tube being towed behind a rented motorboat when the towline became tangled in the boat’s steering mechanism, causing the boat to turn uncontrollably and strike the inner tube. The boat’s hull struck both of them, and Jasmine was struck by the boat’s propeller.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Longshoreman Claims Fracture and Hypothermia Due To Negligence In San Francisco Boating Accident

July 27, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Penn reported that his fellow longshoremen were unable to rescue him from the water because Homeland Security had removed all of the dockside ladders. He was in the water for 40 minutes before crewmembers from a pilot boat and a fire department responded.

Facts:

On Aug. 6, 2008, plaintiff Calvin Penn, 72, a longshoreman, was assigned to mooring lines, a vessel operated by XYZ Marine Transport Corporation. During the course of the docking procedure in Oakland Harbor, Penn placed the eye of the mooring line over the dockside bollard. When the ship’s mate heaved on the mooring line, it parted at the back splice and swept across the dock’s apron, knocking Penn into the water 15 feet below.

Penn sued the transport corporation for negligent maintenance in regard to the defective mooring line. Plaintiff’s counsel claimed that the mooring line parted due to obvious overuse.

The lawyer asserted that the ship’s mate was negligent for heaving the line when the dock apron was not clear, causing the parted line to sweep him off the dock.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Injured Motorcyclist’s Medical Care Results in Comatose Condition in Sacramento Personal Injury Lawsuit, Part 2 of 2

July 27, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a personal injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff was taken to surgery at 4:20 p.m., where a hole was found in the stomach with the g-tube floating free in the abdomen. The surgeon concluded that plaintiff had sepsis as the cause of his arrest. Plaintiff suffered a second cardiac arrest that night after surgery but was successfully resuscitated. However, he remained in a coma. He later developed gangrene in both legs, requiring above-knee amputations, as a consequence of his initial injuries.

Plaintiff alleged that defendant hospital nurses were negligent for causing the perforation/peritonitis by improper handling of the PEG tube and failing to notify physicians about plaintiff’s condition. All physician defendants were negligent for failing to diagnose plaintiff’s condition before he suffered a cardiac arrest from sepsis which caused hypoxic brain injury beyond his initial brain injury from the motorcycle accident.

The defense contended that all care provided was within the standard. Plaintiff presented with a very complicated surgical condition, and he has a very short life expectancy. His initial brain injury would have precluded future employment.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Tour Boat Passengers Said They Thrown to Floor During Quick Turn in San Francisco Boating Accident

July 20, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Jacque Bolie sustained a fractured left hip. He subsequently underwent a hemiarthroplasty on May 8, followed by hospitalization. He also underwent more than a year of physical therapy.

Facts:

On May 7, 2009, plaintiffs Jacque Bolie, 73, retired, and his wife, Ana Bolie, 72, retired, both citizens of France, were on a one-hour tour of San Francisco Bay on the Harbor Princess, operated on the bay by Lew Ramon. During a turn, Jacque Bolie was thrown to the floor and a table in the passenger cabin fell over on top of him. Ana Bolie was also thrown to the floor and saw her husband crushed by the table.

The Bolies sued Ramon for improper operation and failure to warn. They also sued the managing companies for respondeat superior, common carrier liability, inadequate inspection, maintenance and repair.

The plaintiffs claimed the tour boat made a mis-timed and mishandled turn, and as a result, Jacque Bolie, who was sitting on a fixed bench, was thrown to the floor. The plaintiffs alleged that the table that crushed him was unsecured.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Sacramento Personal Injury Case Results When Hospital Fails to Prevent Coma, Part 1 of 2

July 20, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a personal injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

FACTS/CONTENTIONS

According to Plaintiff: Plaintiff, age 23, entered defendant hospital on July 6, 2009 after sustaining a severe head and other injuries in a motorcycle accident. He was intubated in the ER and evaluated by a surgeon, who determined that none of his injuries required surgery. While in the SICU, he had a tracheostomy placed on July 20 and a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) placed on July 21.

Plaintiff remained in the SICU until July 28, when he was transferred to the medical-surgical unit of the hospital. On July 29, at 4:00 p.m., the nurse flushed the PEG line. The family heard a loud pop, but nothing was recorded in the records about this incident. The nurse did call the on-call surgeon about a decreased BP and increased heart rate. The surgeon asked that a cardiologist be called to consult on the patient, but the cardiologist claimed that he never received the page.

That evening, plaintiff began complaining of abdominal pain. On July 30 at 2:00 a.m., the nurse called the on-call surgeon and reported an elevated pulse. He was told that the cardiologist had never come in to see the patient. The cardiologist was called again at 4:15 a.m., and he ordered Cardizem and transfer to the Cardiac Care unit, which occurred at 5:45 a.m. At 7:00 a.m., the cardiologist came to examine plaintiff, and he ordered tests to rule out a pulmonary embolus. Defendant surgeon saw plaintiff at 8:00 a.m. and ordered that plaintiff be moved to the Medical ICU for a stat chest x-ray, which was read by defendant radiologist as normal.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Failure to fly airplane in proper direction caused airplane to stall and plunge in Airplane Crash

July 13, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

Summary of Facts:

Brad Erwin took an inner-island ferry to Decatur Island in October 2001 to perform a job laying carpet. On his return trip, Erwin made arrangements to fly on a XYZ Air Inc.’s inner-island commuter airplane, a Cessna 172, which flew out of the Decatur Island Airport.

After take-off, the plane reportedly stalled and plunged into a steep forested area; Erwin was killed. He was 38 years old. The other two occupants – an unidentified second passenger and the pilot, Mark Lemming – also died in the crash.

Shannon Erwin – individually as the decedent’s wife and as personal representative of his estate and the couple’s two minor children – brought a lawsuit against XYZ Air and Lemming’s estate for negligence. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged the airport had a posted rule that planes should take off to the south of the airport. The pilot disregarded this rule and flew the plane north from the airport, Erwin said, causing her husband’s death.

Furthermore, the plane weighed 60 pounds more than the maximum certified allowable weight of 2300 pounds, the plaintiff said. These negligent acts caused the plane to stall and plunge into the forest, killing all three occupants. The Erwin family alleged they suffered pecuniary loss of support, loss of love and affection of the decedent, loss of his future earnings and other monetary damages. The plaintiffs requested general and special damages, among other relief.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Construction Worker Injured In Fall Into Unguarded Elevator Shaft

July 13, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a personal injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)

FACTS/CONTENTIONS

According to Plaintiff: The ABC Project, which spanned December 2003 to October 2004, was a multi-million dollar, interior remodel and seismic and structural upgrade of an existing retail store and building in San Francisco. Defendant XYZ Contracting Corporation of New York was the general contractor, and it hired several subcontractors, including plaintiff Randy Scar’s employer, C Constructors, and P Elevator, an elevator subcontractor.

At the time of the accident, subcontractors were replacing the existing elevator, and to accommodate other ongoing work, XYZ was required to maintain barricades in front of each opening to the elevator shaft. On August 30, 2004, plaintiff, a 45-year-old construction superintendent, was working when he slipped into the unguarded elevator pit, falling backwards and landing on his back on the concrete floor.

Plaintiff alleged that the contract stipulated that defendant was required to maintain barricades in front of each opening to the elevator shaft during the entirety of the project. Defendant had a non-delegable duty to guard the elevator shaft.

Defendant disputed the allegations, contending that plaintiff was comparatively negligent for not paying attention as he worked. Defendant also pointed out that plaintiff was in a methadone program, claiming that he was not really injured but simply faking injuries in order to obtain painkillers.

CLAIMED INJURIES

According to Plaintiff: Plaintiff sustained permanently disabling back, neck, and knee injuries that prevented him from ever returning to his prior work as a construction supervisor and general contractor or to the physical activities he loved.

CLAIMED DAMAGES

According to Plaintiff: Not reported.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Family Dog Killed by Neighbor’s Pit Bull in Sacramento Dog Attack

June 30, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this dog bite lawsuit and its proceedings.)

FACTS/CONTENTIONS

According to Plaintiff: On the afternoon of March 19, 2003, plaintiff Chelo Remmington was pulling up in front of her house in her van in Sacramento when she noticed two pit bulls being walked by young boys. She was concerned because the dogs were approaching a group of boys playing basketball at the end of the street, one of whom was her son. She could hear the two boys who were walking the dogs taunting the basketball players by threatening to sic the pit bulls on them. As her van rolled to a stop, she saw the family’s 18-pound female American Eskimo, Puffy, bound out of the house to greet her. One of the pit bills caught sight of Puffy from across the street, pulled the 11-year-old boy who was walking him to the ground, and dragged him several feet before the boy released the leash. The pit bull chased Puffy into her yard and attacked and killed her as plaintiff, her children, and the young children attending plaintiff’s licensed daycare program watched helplessly.

Later that day, plaintiff Ted Gaff, Remmington’s fiance and co-owner of Puffy, distraught over the dog’s death, went to the home of defendants Sherry and Ryan Leon, owners of the pit bulls, and threatened to kill their dog. He later became involved in a physical altercation with defendants’ 17-year-old son.

As a result of the March 19, 2003 incident, the pit bill in question was declared a ‘dangerous dog.‘
Plaintiffs alleged that defendants were on notice of their dog’s dangerous propensities, having been previously notified by the Humane Society of an earlier incident in which their two pit bulls got loose and chased a man onto the hood of a car.

Defendants claimed that they took proper precautions to ensure that the dogs would not get loose. They claimed that they had instituted a rule under which the dogs could not be walked by any child without an adult present.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

Man Claims He Fell Down Hill While Fighting Off Four Unleashed Dogs in Sacramento Dog Bite Case

June 23, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of an injury case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this dog bite lawsuit and its proceedings.)

INJURIES: Shelly went to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a nondisplaced fractured wrist, a dislocated biceps tendon and a full thickness tear of his rotator cuff.

Facts:

On Sept. 17, 2007, plaintiff Matthew Shelly, 58, a clothing store proprietor, was confronted by four unleashed dogs while standing near a retired landfill behind his Sacramento home. He allegedly fell down a 40-foot hill during the incident.

Shelly sued the dogs’ owners, Renee Sean and Chelsey Temple, for negligence and strict liability. Plaintiffs’ counsel alleged that Shelly was at the top of a hill when the dogs came rushing toward him from the base of the hill. The lawyer asserted that the dogs attacked Shelly, and that Sean’s dog bit Shelly.

Plaintiff’s counsel noted that, despite the fact that Shelly had tried to ward the dogs off by pushing and kicking at them, he fell three times during the brief melee, ending up at the base of the hill.

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.