One of the Top Twenty Personal Injury Settlement in Virginia for 2013
In September, 2010, our client was seriously injured at a construction site where the defendant was the general contractor constructing a mixed use high rise building. He was standing at the tailgate of his work truck, using it as a workbench to assemble parts for a portable pump when a large fork lift operated by an employee of the general contractor backed into him and crushed him against the tailgate of the delivery truck. The forklift driver, rather than stopping at that point, actually hit the accelerator a couple of more times, further injuring the plaintiff, before someone on the site yelled at him to stop.
Our client recalls that he was going in and out of consciousness at the scene, but he clearly felt himself being cut in half by the tailgate, and was afraid that he was about to die. Once the forklift backed away, he was aided at the scene by workers who laid him down and called 911. He sustained multiple severe crush injuries to his abdomen, right hip and right thigh. He spent weeks in the hospital and in rehabilitation to return to the point where he could walk with assistance. His pain and limitation of function is permanent, and he is no longer able to work. Medical expenses for past treatment alone were in excess of $80,000.
This case was complicated by the defendant’s claim that it owed nothing to our client other than workers compensation benefits. After over two years of pretrial proceedings, during which this claim of immunity was rejected by the trial court, the case was scheduled to go before a jury in Late October, 2013. Prior to that date the parties participated in two full days of mediation in an attempt to reach a reasonable compromise that would fully compensate our client for his significant past and future losses. The mediation was facilitated by a recently retired and very capable United States District Court judge.
At the end of the second day of this mediation the defendant agreed to pay $2,000,000 in damages to our client, who was well-satisfied with the result. His testimonial can be found on our website.
This settlement was one of the top twenty settlements in Virginia for all of 2013.
Goss and Fentress PLC also assisted this client in a successful claim for Social Security disability benefits.
One of the Top Twenty Personal Injury Settlement in Virginia for 2013
