Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate how a brain injury lawsuit could develop and resolve. Reviewing this summary 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 brain injury lawsuit and its proceedings.)
Plaintiff One was wearing a non-DOT-approved helmet, characterized by the defense as a “novelty helmet,” when his accident occurred. Defense expert Ramieen Kalzi testified that the “novelty helmet” afforded One no protection from head injury. Kalzi based his opinion solely on standardized testing he did on exemplar helmets and made no effort to either replicate the accident or determine what forces would render a DOT-approved helmet ineffective. Plaintiffs’ neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Iman testified that One could have sustained permanent brain injury from several causes, including inadequate brain oxygenation over a period of time, and that it was impossible to isolate the actual cause. Defense neurologist Dr. Jeff Samson testified that One’s brain injury was caused solely by forces which had been transmitted through the helmet. All experts agreed that One’s extensive orthopedic injuries were unaffected by the type of helmet he wore.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Approximately one week after these accidents, plaintiff Two stopped at the accident scene while returning to Sacramento after having accident-related shoulder surgery. Two and a friend, Casey Kelly, then discovered the offending tire and wheel assembly in a ditch by the side of the road. Kelly determined that the tire was of a type sold exclusively by ABC Tire stores and contacted ABC stores located in Sacramento County. XYZ Tire Center is an independent ABC dealer located in Folsom, Sacramento County. An XYZ employee informed Kelly that a 14,000 lb (gross) tandem-axled livestock trailer was sitting in its yard missing just such a tire and wheel. The livestock trailer belonged to Danbee Livestock and was determined to have lost the tire and wheel in the Sacramento Canyon shortly before these accidents. Subsequent expert investigation, performed by experts separately retained by each party, established that the trailer lost its wheel when its outer wheel bearing failed.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.