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$90,000 Settlement in Sexual Abuse Case The defendants agreed to a Ninety Thousand Dollar ($90,000.00) settlement with a mother and her child, who was molested while in the their care. The mother had sought treatment from one of the defendants, who offered to watch her four year old son during the mother’s therapy sessions. This defendant hired a young man to perform these babysitting services. During one of the mother’s sessions, the young man sexually molested the boy. The evidence was that this young man had a troubled history. The boy and his mother were represented by St. Louis attorneys W. Morris Taylor and Scott A. Bailey, who alleged that the defendant had negligently hired this young man and failed to properly supervise him. The young boy was initially diagnosed with excited mood, with symptoms of post traumatic stress. He was released from treatment after a few sessions. Attorney Taylor argued that even though the boy appears to have recovered well, he may need future treatment because the boy was so young in age and cognitive development he had less ability to reason and would have been unable to make sense of what happened. However, studies show that victims of sexual abuse often manifest symptoms much later in life, therefore justifying the settlement amount in case future treatment is needed. Parties: Confidential $60,000 Settlement with Otis Elevator Injury Beverly Rush, Plaintiff St. Louis County Circuit Court A Clayton employee agreed to a Sixty Thousand Dollar ($60,000.00) settlement with Otis Elevator Company and Bemiston Tower, Inc. of Clayton for a fall while exiting an elevator. Beverly Rush, age sixty-five, who was employed in the Bemiston Tower of Clayton, was injured as she exited an elevator in the lobby area. Ms. Rush alleged that the elevator stopped about two inches lower than the level of the lobby and while exiting she caught her foot and fell forward. Ms. Rush was represented by St. Louis attorney, W. Morris Taylor who alleged that the Otis Elevator Company had failed to properly inspect, maintain and repair the elevator and that Bemiston Tower, Inc., the owners, failed to warn elevator users of the car’s uneven stopping and failed to properly maintain the elevator. Attorney Taylor alleged that even though Ms. Rush did not actually fall to the floor, she had twisted her knee and back requiring surgery for meniscal tear in September of 2005. Ms. Rush incurred medical bills totaling Nineteen Thousand Two Hundred Twenty-six Dollars ($19,226.00) and she also recovered on a workers’ compensation claim. Plaintiff’s experts: Defendant Otis Elevator represented by Thomas J. Plunkert Amount of Settlement: $60,000 $120,000 Settlement with Veal Realty Group, Ltd. Carla Rybeck, Plaintiff St. Louis City Circuit Court A sixty year old woman received One Hundred Twenty Thousand Dollar ($120,000.00) settlement after she fell on black ice at her apartment building in the City of St. Louis. In December of 2007, Carla Rybeck fell as she was walking across the parking lot of her apartment building. The lot was covered with ice and snow and Rybeck alleged she fell on black ice which was not visible in the evening. Ms. Rybeck was represented by St. Louis attorneys, W. Morris Taylor and Patricia L. Brownlee who alleged that attempts had been made to clear the lot but that the owner was negligent in failing to properly remove the ice and snow and failing to account for the thaw and refreeze which caused the black ice condition. Ms. Rybeck suffered an oblique fracture of the lateral malleolus and a fracture of the right tibia which required open reduction and internal fixation surgery. The billed amount of medical bills totaled approximately Twenty-nine Thousand Dollars ($29,000.00) for her treatment. Defendants were represented by Johnny Wang of Hinshaw and Culbertson.
Plaintiff’s Expert: Martin C. Tynan, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon Amount of Settlement: $120,000 Nursing Home Wrongful Death Settlement W. Morris Taylor and Patricia L. Brownlee, (St. Louis County) for Plaintiff, the surviving son of decedent. Decedent, age 81, was admitted to a St. Louis County nursing home because she was falling and injuring herself at home, and she was unable to care for herself due to early dementia. During the admission, the nursing home staff evaluated Decedent and prepared a fall risk assessment which indicated that Decedent was at a high risk for falling. During the course of her nine week stay at the facility, decedent fell from her bed on at least one occasion, and fell from her wheelchair at least six times. The Activities Director noted that Decedent tended to lean forward in her wheelchair, but did not request a restraint for Decedent. Although a lap buddy was requested by the staff and ordered by the attending physician, a lap buddy was never provided to Decedent. Decedent was transported to an area hospital after she fell from her wheelchair and struck her head on the bare floor. Decedent developed a subdural hematoma and died five days after her fall. After depositions of Decedent’s son and members of the nursing staff, the parties engaged in mediation but were unsuccessful in reaching an agreement. One week later, the parties reached an amicable settlement.,/ The attending physician was not a party to the litigation. Parties: Confidential Settlement of Slip and Fall at Steak ‘n Shake W. Morris Taylor and Patricia L. Brownlee, (St. Louis County) for Plaintiff, Constance “Connie” Richards. At the Steak ‘n Shake in O’Fallon, Missouri, Connie Richards asked for a single table in a non-smoking area. The restaurant hostess led Connie through an area in which the floor was wet, but no warning cones had been placed in the area. Connie slipped and fell injuring her left knee. While Connie was still lying on the floor, one of the restaurant’s employees brought paper towels to wipe off Connie’s shoes and clothes, which were very wet. Connie had recovered from surgery to her left meniscus three months before her fall. After her fall at Steak ‘n Shake, Connie consulted Dr. Fallon Maylack, who had performed her first knee surgery. Although Dr. Maylack advised that she had torn her left meniscus again, and although an MRI revealed a trabecular fracture of her tibia, the surgery was delayed. Connie, who takes Coumadin, scraped her knee when she fell. As a result of the enormous edema and bruising of her left leg, and her inactivity, Connie developed cellulitis of her left leg. She was hospitalized for over seven days to receive a course of antibiotic therapy. After Connie’s cellulitis resolved, Dr. Maylack performed surgery to repair the new tear to her left meniscus. In addition, Dr. Maylack smoothed the tibial surface of her left knee. The parties engaged in mediation through cybersettle prior to litigation. In November, 2008, retired Judge Cundiff acted as mediator, but the claim did not resolve. The third mediation, which also did not resolve the case, took place in November, 2009, and the out of state mediator was Judge Beisner. Total amount of medical bills: $30,818.29 Total wage loss: $2,928.00 Total settlement: $157,000.00 Settlement for Personal Injury: $95,000.00 W. Morris Taylor and Scott Bailey for Plaintiff, Paul Harris, 45, who was injured when a train struck his car at an intersection on County Road 391 in Monroe County, Missouri. Mr. Harris was traveling northbound on CRD 391 when he came upon the train tracks. As he proceeded across the tracks, a Norfolk Southern Railroad train collided with the right rear of his car. Mr. Harris sustained broken bones in his neck, but no spinal chord injury. He recovered well from this collision and incurred approximately Nineteen Thousand Dollars ($19,000.00) in medical bills. Mr. Harris alleged that this intersection was dangerous and had poor sightlines. During the investigation, W. Morris Taylor, P.C. discovered there were prior crashes at this intersection, including a death. Norfolk Southern Railroad contended that Mr. Harris was attempting to outrun it’s train and that the train’s engineer had sounded the horn and Mr. Harris failed to stop. Mr. Harris denied hearing any horns prior to the collision. The case was set for trial in April, 2010, before W. Morris Taylor settled the claim for Ninety Five Thousand Dollars ($95,000.00) in January, 2010. Cape jury awards $300,000 after client says settlement wasn't enough by Allison Retka Cletus Winchester never thought he got enough money for the spill he took at a Cape Girardeau Sam’s Club nine years ago. So four years after his attorney, Dan Finch, settled his premises liability case for $75,000, Winchester sued Finch for legal malpractice. A Cape Girardeau jury hit Finch with a $300,000 verdict in late July. Finch, a general practitioner in Cape Girardeau, occasionally accepted injury cases but had limited trial experience. He also did not sue the national manufacturer of the chair and table that flipped over on Winchester when he sat down at one at a Sam’s Club Cafe. On the other hand, Winchester weighed 419 pounds and was permanently disabled before the injury. In a conservative venue like Cape Girardeau, a $75,000 settlement for such a plaintiff could sound like a pretty decent result. “I would guess you’d lose that case more often than you’d win it if you tried it,” said John Simon, a St. Louis plaintiff’s attorney with The Simon Law Firm, when told the facts of the case. “But there comes a certain point in a case where you have to take a shot at trying it just for the benefit of the client, because the settlement doesn’t really give them too much.” Finch didn’t take the case to trial. Instead, after filing a federal suit against Sam’s Club, he mediated the case with the company and settled it for $75,000. The manufacturer of the table, Waymar Industries Inc., participated in the mediation and paid half of the settlement, said W. Morris Taylor, Winchester’s St. Louis attorney in the legal malpractice case. “They each contribute $37,500,” Taylor said. “That’s nuisance value for those two big companies.” Winchester also alleged that Finch conducted little to no discovery prior to the mediation, weakening his bargaining power in settlement talks. In small injury cases, plaintiff attorneys sometimes avoid taking the depositions of defense expert witnesses before going into mediation, said David Ransin, a Springfield solo attorney. Because they haven’t expended money taking the depositions, this gives attorneys greater flexibility in settlement negotiations, he said. “I go in with more flexibility because I have not sunk the cash in … and can make up the difference with wiggle room with my client,” Ransin said. Besides, a plaintiff’s attorney get can a pretty good idea of an expert’s testimony just by getting their names and checking past cases, he said. James Spain, Finch’s Poplar Bluff defense attorney in the malpractice trial, said Finch avoided naming the manufacturer for a strategic reason: He didn’t want to complicate the case. “He did not want people defending the case and cross examining his witness,” Spain said. “Do you want two defendants picking at you or do you want one?” Taylor said Finch could have challenged the bad design of the table, which had four swiveling chairs attached to it. A person weighing 175 pounds could have tipped the table by sitting down, Taylor said. When Winchester took a seat at Sam’s Club on June 21, 2000, the table toppled over on him, and the swivel chair struck his neck. He suffered a torn rotator cuff and a spinal cord injury, and surgeons operated on his neck and shoulder. Along the way, Winchester caught a staph infection and was hospitalized for almost a month. Missouri law puts the statute of limitations for filing legal malpractice claims at five years. Lawyers in the malpractice trial also raised the post-tort reform issue of medical services billed versus paid. Winchester racked up $80,000 in billed medical expenses, Taylor said, but they were satisfied with a $30,000 payment. Over Taylor’s objections, Circuit Judge Stephen Mitchell applied the newer collateral source statute. But one of Taylor’s expert witnesses explained the concept to the jury and testified the jury in the underlying case would have heard evidence on the amount billed, not the amount paid. At the malpractice trial, Finch called John Grimm, a partner at The Limbaugh Firm in Cape Girardeau and a former circuit judge in the 32nd Circuit. Grimm testified about the conservative bent of Cape Girardeau juries and their unlikelihood of handing out any verdicts in excess of $100,000. After the four-day malpractice trial, 10 of the 12 jurors signed off on a $300,000 verdict for Winchester. The other two jurors held out because they wanted to give him more, Taylor said. Winchester settled with a second Cape Girardeau attorney, Allen Moss Jr., on the first day of trial for $20,000, Taylor said. Moss and Finch were law partners when Finch took the case, but the firm disbanded before the original mediation with Sam’s Club. Moss said he didn’t work on the case and never accepted any money for it. A trial trend? Every six years or so, legal malpractice carriers start pushing malpractice cases to trial, Taylor said, perhaps in an effort to test the jury waters. Winchester’s case was one of them, he said. Finch’s malpractice insurer, The Missouri Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Co., offered $25,000 before trial and “couldn’t go anywhere near the $475,000? plaintiff demand, said Spain, Finch’s defense attorney. George Ripplinger, a Belleville, Ill., attorney who brings legal malpractice suits, said over the past year or so, malpractice carriers have been reluctant to settle any of his pending cases against lawyers. “I’ve mediated a couple of them but the mediations have just been a waste of time,” Ripplinger said. “The carriers came in and low-balled them.” The legal malpractice carriers may be following the lead of medical malpractice carriers, he said, which seem more eager to push cases to trial and cinch defense verdicts. But that means dragging a defendant lawyer through the trial process, something he might not be thrilled with, Ripplinger said. “You’d kind of like it to be over,” he said. “I certainly would if I were being sued.” Most malpractice policies, including those offered by The Bar Plan, include consent clauses that empower insured attorneys to sign off on a settlement or refuse it and go to trial, said Steve Couch, an attorney and vice president of The Bar Plan. Couch said he hasn’t seen any trend of malpractice insurance carriers pushing cases to trial. The bulk of cases still are resolved before trial or before a malpractice suit ever is filed, Couch said. Ferguson v. Capps A Jefferson County jury awarded Nancy Ferguson, age 47, the sum of One Hundred Four Thousand One Hundred Sixty-six Dollars ($104,166.00) resulting from an automobile crash that occurred on March 2, 2001. The collision occurred on the west Highway 55 outer road when Ms. Ferguson was struck in the rear by teenage driver, Steven Capps. Ms. Ferguson was represented by Clayton attorneys W. Morris Taylor and Patricia L. Brownlee. Ms. Ferguson suffered a tear in her left rotator cuff and soft tissue back injury. The jury trial lasted fours days with the defense experts testifying that the mechanism of the rotator cuff injury could not have caused a partial rotator cuff tear. Despite the detailed testimony by three defense experts, Attorney Taylor convinced the Jefferson County jury that the tear and the soft tissue back injury were caused by the motor vehicle accident. Attorney Taylor indicated that Defendant had offered Ninety Thousand Dollars ($90,000.00) in settlement prior to trial and then indicated no further offers would be made. The verdict was unanimous and according to Taylor, this verdict was one of very few six figure verdicts in Jefferson County in recent memory. State Farm Insurance Company was the insurer. The Defendants have indicated they will not file post trial motions nor an appeal. Thompson v. Dierberg's A woman who alleged she sustained injuries when she fell in spilled fabric softener at a local grocer was denied recovery against the grocer, Dierberg’s Markets on In its second defense trial for this client within a year, W. Morris Taylor, P.C. again secured a defendant’s verdict, giving the plaintiff no recovery. Plaintiff asserted that she was looking up at display signs while walking through the store and did not see the fabric softener spilled on the floor. She alleged that Dierberg’s had notice that the substance was on the floor and should have cleaned or blocked off the area. As a result of her fall, plaintiff alleged that she suffered a torn rotator cuff, which required surgery, as well as trauma to her neck, which also required surgery. Her last settlement demand was for One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) and in closing, her attorney requested one million dollars in compensation. Lead by W. Morris Taylor, and second chair Scott Bailey, Dierberg’s convinced the jury that its employees acted responsibly and had not committed negligence. In addition to offering evidence that Dierberg’s had responded within minutes of discovering fabric softener on the floor, Mr. Taylor spent several hours cross-examining the plaintiff, highlighting enormous inconsistencies between plaintiff’s prior statements and her description of the mechanism of her fall. Additionally, expert testimony established that plaintiff’s ailments were predominantly degenerative in nature and not related to any trauma. The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a verdict in favor of Dierberg’s Markets. St. Louis County jury finds teen driver negligent in fatal car crash The jury found Clayton Thomas, now 21 and a resident of Phoenix, Ariz., 75 percent at fault for the accident, which occurred at the corner of Treetop Village Drive and Big Bend Road in Ballwin. The woman, Betty Harmon, 73, was turning left in front of Thomas when his vehicle collided with hers. "This young man issued a death certificate for Betty Harmon," said plaintiff's attorney W. Morris Taylor in his closing remarks. Taylor claimed Thomas was speeding as he approached Treetop Drive and that he changed lanes abruptly right before the accident. Thomas "committed negligent, immature acts to go nowhere in a hurry," he said. Defense attorney Scott C. Harper asserted Thomas made a safe, normal lane change well before he approached Harmon's car, and that if he did speed, it was only briefly to pass two other cars on Big Bend. Harper said he was surprised by the verdict. "I think the jury was overwhelmed with the fact of Clayton being 17 and the sympathy factor in the death of a wonderful woman," he said. Throughout the trial, Taylor presented the jury with an arsenal of large photographs and diagrams, including enlarged images of Betty Harmon, her gravestone, Thomas' senior picture and two poster-board drawings of Big Bend leading up to the crash site. "I want to keep visual aids in front of the jury," he said. "I'm a big, big believer in demonstrative evidence. People retain it, and they digest the information better than when the witness is speaking." As character witnesses for Betty Harmon, Taylor called all of her children and one grandchild to the stand. He also showed a video deposition of Judge Joan Burger, a St. Louis City Circuit Court judge who was Betty Harmon's friend and divorce attorney in the early 1990s. Harmon assisted Burger with her charity work in East St. Louis, and Burger described the woman as "full of life." Taylor said because the jury is instructed to not consider grief and suffering when making their award of damages, he had to show the loss of Betty Harmon in a different way. "You have to be able to show a family unit," Taylor said. "I was using the family members to show this is a perfect example of what a family ought to be about and how someone else destroyed it." For the defense, Harper put a college professor on the stand who reconstructed the accident and disputed the witness testimony of the plaintiff. He testified that Thomas could not have changed lanes as late as witnesses claimed he did. He also testified that it would have been impossible for Thomas to stop his vehicle in time to avoid striking Harmon. Thomas also testified and said when he saw Harmon turning in front of him, he applied his brakes and honked his horn but could not avoid the collision. In Taylor's cross-examination of Thomas, he grilled the defendant about his speed approaching the hill, when exactly he saw Harmon as he approached Treetop and why he failed to swerve to avoid her vehicle just before the collision. "I think he came across a very bright young man," he said of Thomas. "But I think ... his appearance was nonremorseful. He was so bright that he put himself in a position to modify his answers every time I would show he was inconsistent." At one point during the cross- examination, Taylor abruptly asked Thomas if he had received any speeding convictions since moving to Arizona. Thomas appeared caught off-guard and responded, "No." Taylor then asked him if he had been convicted of a misdemeanor in Arizona for driving 94 mph in a 65 mile-per-hour zone. Harper objected to the question, asserting Thomas' driving record in Arizona was not relevant. Judge Maura McShane eventually allowed the question, and Thomas admitted he was charged with speeding in Arizona two years after being involved in the fatal car accident in Missouri and that he had not informed his attorney of the conviction. Taylor said he uncovered Thomas' speeding conviction about a week before the trial. "I was sitting at my desk, asking myself if I was ready for trial," he said. "And I thought, this case is four years old - I better not have any surprises." He then ran a background check on all the witnesses in the case, including Thomas, and discovered the Arizona conviction. Harper, the defense attorney, said all the witnesses in the case touted different accounts of the crash. He showed a video deposition of a man who said he was driving directly behind Thomas at the time of the accident and that Harmon "zipped out in front" of Thomas. But four defense witnesses said Harmon made a normal left-hand turn. When specific distances and times are debated by witnesses, their recollection of the actual events can change, he said. "It's hard to estimate to begin with," Harper said. "Forgetfulness I think happens sometimes when people see an event and reconstruct it in their head rather than remembering what exactly happened. "It was an extremely unfortunate event and the loss of a wonderful woman, but we did not feel that Clayton was responsible for her death." Taylor said the Harmon family was "ecstatic" about the verdict, which found Betty Harmon 25 percent at fault for the accident. "Everybody says St. Louis County juries are hard and harsh," he said. "But I think if you put your trial on with honesty and with directness, and you give them the tools they need, they're just like all other juries. They want to be fair, and they demonstrated that in this [case]."
Case summaries which recently appeared in Settlement/Verdict Reports - A publication of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys. Verdict for Personal Injury - Robinson v. St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, et al. St. Louis City Circuit Court W. Morris Taylor (St. Louis) for Plaintiff. Plaintiff, Loma Robinson, 38, was injured on February 11, 2003 while a passenger in an automobile which collided with a St. Louis City police car. The police car was chasing a carjacker and ran a stop sign at the intersection of Parnell and North Market Street in the City of St. Louis. Two officers in the police car, and other officers at the scene, testified that the lights were on and the siren working. Neither Plaintiff nor the driver of the car in which she was a passenger saw any flashing lights or hear any siren. Plaintiff alleged that the police were negligent by violating their own department policies in chasing a stolen vehicle after they had lost sight of it. It was also alleged that the police, even if operating with emergency lights and siren, were careless in the means and manner in which they entered the intersection, knowing that cross traffic was not subject to traffic signals and that it was a significant thoroughfare. Plaintiff suffered injury to the muscles of her right shoulder and a fractured ankle. In addition to medical expense, she lost wages for her inability to teach summer school. After a five day jury trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Plaintiff after deliberating for only twenty minutes. Medical: $8,000.00. Verdict: $500,000.00. August 26, 2005. Insurance carrier none. Settlement for Nursing Home Negligence - Wrongful Death - Giovando v. Manor Grove Nursing Home. St. Louis County Circuit Court. W. Morris Taylor (St. Louis) for Plaintiff. Joseph Giovando, age 92, was admitted to the Manor Grove Nursing Home in Kirkwood, Missouri, for rehabilitation following a fractured hip. The staff at Manor Grove used a seat restraint strap to keep Joe seated in his wheelchair, which was not fitted with footrests. On more than one occasion, Joe was seen slipping down in his chair with the restraint around his shoulders. The restraint was not fitted with a slippage prevention device, nor a pelvic piece. The belt was simply fitted around his waist and not properly tightened. After lunch, the staff noticed Joe was not in the hallway and realized the door to his room which was usually opened, was closed. When a nurse investigated she found Joe had slipped down in his wheelchair and strangled on his seat restraint. Plaintiff's alleged failure to supervise the resident, failure to provide the proper restraint device and punitive damages for reckless disregard. The case was settled just prior to trial. Settlement: $565,000.00. October 6, 2005. Insurance Carrier: Cincinnati Insurance Company. Settlement for Legal Negligence, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Intentional Misrepresentation and Failure to Supervise. -- Game Face Sports International, Inc. v. Stinson, Morrison, Hecker, et al. St. Louis City Circuit Court. W. Morris Taylor (St. Louis) and Geoffrey Gitner (Washington, D.C.) for Plaintiff. Sports apparel maker Game Face Sports International, Inc., a defunct company, sued Stinson, Morrison, Hecker, LLP, formerly known as Stinson, Mag and Fizzell, along with Charles Polk for legal negligence. Game Face Sports was started in 1996 by then Cardinal baseball play Trinity Hubbard, who was later joined by Cardinal greats Brian Jordan and Danny Cox as investors. Game Face claimed that Stinson and Polk had billed inappropriately and had committed legal malpractice by failing to protect the company in seeking venture capital financing. Game Face sought financing from Civic Venture Investment Fund, now defunct, and Game Face alleged that Civic Ventures directed the company to Charles Polk and Stinson to act as its lawyers in the financing transaction. Game Face alleged that when Civic Ventures was ready to make a financing commitment to Game Face, Polk demanded $25,000.00 and threatened to "kill the deal" if Game Face didn't' pay up. Game Face paid the $25,000.00 to Polk. Plaintiff alleged that Polk's demand was inappropriate because of the threat attached to "kill the deal" and because the records clearly showed Polk had been charging on an hourly basis. Plaintiff further alleged that Polk caused delays in obtaining the financing by his failure to act and further caused the company to flounder because of missing significant time lines in the apparel industry. Ultimately, Game Face received less money than Polk has assured them of and the company was not able to meet its operational expenses. Game Face also alleged that Polk had made misrepresentations to his client in order to induce it to enter into a transaction with Civic Ventures. The Plaintiff further contended that neither Polk nor another Stinson employee were experienced in venture capital transactions and that Polk either intentionally or negligently advised Game Face regarding its financial options and the structuring of the term sheet of the loan. After four days of trial, the case was settled on behalf of Stinson and Attorney Polk in an amount that is confidential. Special Damages: Over $15 Million. Settlement: Confidential. March, 2005. Insurance Carrier: ALAS (Attorney Liability Assurance Society) PREMISES LIABILITY - Wolff v. Dierbergs Markets, Inc. A 55 year old woman who alleged that she was a patron of defendant's store located in the West Oak shopping center in Creve Coeur, claimed that she slipped on a slippery substance, causing both of her feet to slip out from under her. Plaintiff claimed that she fell onto the floor landing on her back and she contended that after her fall, defendant's employee stated that the floor was wet due to recent mopping in the area. Plaintiff alleged that defendant failed to properly warn of the wet floor by placing cones or other warning signs in the area. Defendant denied negligence and contended that at least three bright yellow warning cones were in the immediate area of plaintiff's fall. In fact, each of the witnesses described one cone within several feet of her head after her fall. Defendant also contended that floor mats were present in the area and that after her fall, plaintiff was laying partially on a floor mat. Defendant disputed the cause and severity of plaintiff's alleged injuries, claiming that she had a pre-existing diabetic condition and a subsequent pedestrian accident that contributed to her on-going complaints. Plaintiff claimed medical specials of approximately $43,000.00, as well as wage loss, and an inability to return to work. Her last demand was for $250,000.00 prior to trial and $125,000.00 during trial. On April 20th, 2006, After a nearly week long jury trial, W. Morris Taylor, P.C. secured a defendant's verdict on behalf of client Dierbergs Markets, successfully denying Plaintiff any recovery. The defense was lead by W. Morris Taylor who was assisted by Patricia Brownlee. Verdict for Personal Injury - Kinder v. Safeco Insurance St. Louis City Circuit Court. Plaintiff Sandra Kinder, 43, was injured on September 11th, 2002, while on vacation in Mississippi. Ms. Kinder was traveling north on highway 49 when another motorist, Mary Leideigh, turned left in front of her causing the two cars to collide. Ms. Kinder refused medical treatment at the scene, but shortly thereafter developed pain in her lower back. Two days later, Ms. Kinder sought treatment at the emergency room in Garden Park, Mississippi before returning home and seeing her treating doctor in St. Louis. Ms. Kinder’s physician diagnosed her as suffering from bulging discs. Ms. Kinder first sought recovery against Ms. Leideigh and received a settlement in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars, the amount of Ms. Leideigh’s insurance coverage, pursuant to Mississippi law. Ms. Kinder then made an Underinsured Motorist Claim against her own insurance company, Safeco Insurance Company. Defendant Safeco Insurance denied Ms. Kinder’s claim, asserting that Ms. Leideigh’s policy adequately compensated her for her injuries. Defendant Safeco hired an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Marvin Mishkin, who testified at trial that Ms. Kinder’s injuries were degenerative in nature and not related to the crash. Specifically, Dr. Mishkin testified that the collision did not cause her injuries, citing Ms. Kinder’s long history of back complaints (including over 30 prior doctor’s visits for back pain). On rigorous cross-examination by W. Morris Taylor, Dr. Mishkin admitted that he testified almost exclusively for defendants and never treated Ms. Kinder, but was hired by Defendant Safeco to perform what he called an “independent” medical evaluation. Peggy Taylor, D.O., Ms. Kinder’s treating physician, explained that Ms. Kinder’s prior back complaints were generalized, while her current injuries were radicular and related to a bulging disc suffered from the crash. After three days of trial, W. Morris Taylor and Scott Bailey secured a verdict for Ms. Kinder in the amount of $75,000.00. The defendant offered only $6,000.00 prior to trial and made its final offer of $7,500.00 as the trial proceeded. Medical: $5,500.00. Verdict: $75,000.00. August 2, 2007 Settlement for Personal Injury - Steve Smith v. Board of Police Commissioners St. Louis City Circuit Court. On September 20, 2000, plaintiff Steve Smith was returning to Boeing after lunch with colleagues as a passenger in a vehicle driven by David Plegge. Mr. Smith was injured when Mr. Plegge’s Explorer collided with a St. Louis City Police car driven by Officer Rodney Gilliam. There were differing accounts of just how this collision occurred. Mr. Plegge claimed that Officer Gilliam ran through the intersection located at Banshee Road and Lot 27 of Boeing without a siren and without his flashing lights, while Officer Gilliam claimed that Mr. Plegge failed to yield to his siren and flashing lights. Several witnesses disagreed on whether or not Officer Gilliam’s vehicle had lights and a siren prior to the collision. By all accounts, Officer Gilliam was responding to a “suspicious vehicle” parked at the airport, although there was no distress, and he did not stop at the intersection. Indeed, the Department later cited and admonished Officer Gilliam for responding to a non-emergency in an emergent fashion. Several witnesses testified that he was traveling at a high rate of speed as he entered the intersection and struck Mr. Plegge’s Explorer, causing the Explorer to spin and collide with a guard shack on the other side of the intersection. Mr. Smith suffered injuries to his back and a broken shoulder blade in the collision. While Mr. Smith claimed his injuries were permanent, Dr. Van Ryne performed an independent medical examination and testified that Mr. Smith’s injuries had healed and that his current condition was a result of repetitive movement. Moreover, the Defendants noted that since the collision Mr. Smith was able to perform intensely physical home improvements such as remodeling and patio installation. This case was set for trial in January 2007, but postponed due to weather. W. Morris Taylor settled this case on the eve of the second trial setting. Settlement: $221,500.00. June, 2007 Skilled Trial Attorneys Representing Your Legal Interests Since 1970Phone: (314) 725-7000 Our lawyers primarily focus on Missouri and the St. Louis – Kansas City metropolitan areas, including the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Charles, St. Peters, Wentzville, Cape Girardeu, Clayton, Kirksville, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Mehlville, Ladue, Lake of the Ozarks, as well as the counties of St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, and Franklin County. |
