Results

Our client, Michael Shank, was hit on a motorcycle by a commercial vehicle resulting in the amputations of his left arm and leg. The truck driver was speeding and looked away from his lane of travel for approximately 400 feet before he hit the motorcycle.  The case was highly contested in terms of which vehicle was over the center lane.  The driver, Gerner, was working on behalf of both Hilltop Energy and D.W. Dickey at the time of the crash (the two companies are owned by one family).  The jury found that both companies were vicariously liable for the actions of Gerner as their employee.

The verdict was $82,105,345.70 (believed to be the highest verdict in Ohio history.) Our client was found to be 0% of the cause of the crash. The verdict was $79,105,345.70 for Michael Shank, and $3,000,000 in loss of consortium for his wife Brittany Shank.

Lawyer George Sidiropolis of West Virginia represented the Shank family for many years, taking the case over from other lawyers. He developed a strong relationship with the family in the most difficult times. While discovery was nearly complete, the insurers and corporate defendants refused to make a meaningful settlement offer - far less than the $2.7 million in past medical bills.

Mr. Sideropolous decided to assemble a specialized legal team for the Shank family. In 2023 Sidiropolous hired Dr. Aaron DeShaw and trucking lawyer Michael Leizerman as trial counsel.

DeShaw is one of the leading amputation lawyers in the country with two of the largest amputation verdicts in US history. After being hired, DeShaw attempted to settle the case for the policy limit of the two companies’ insurance. The insurers refused to tender their policies, making no offer. During a judicial settlement conference the defendants and their insurers highest offer was $350,000.

The case is also believed to be the highest amputation verdict in US history for an amputee. While there was a double leg amputation case that received a verdict of $95,000,000 total, $10,000,000 of that was for the loss of consortium claim, and that plaintiff was found to be 10% liable - reducing the verdict to $76,500,000.  As a result, the verdict of $79,105,345.70 for Michael Shank is the highest jury verdict for an amputee in US history.

Learn more about this record jury verdict.

Amputation Lawyer, Personal Injury, Portland Truck Accident Lawyer

M Shank and B Shank

$350,000.00

$0.00

$82,105,345.70

Oregon trial lawyer, Aaron DeShaw, has obtained a $77,523,748.93 compensatory damage verdict in the case of M.M. & N.S. v. Nicolopoulos -  the largest personal injury jury verdict in Oregon history. In addition to it being the largest compensatory damage jury verdict (with no punitive damages) in Oregon history, it is also believed to be the highest single leg amputation verdict in US history, and the second largest amputation verdict in US history (the highest being a $95,477,464 for a double leg above-knee amputation client obtained by Joseph Power of Illinois. In that case, the jury awarded the Plaintiff $83,477,464 and his wife $12 million for loss of consortium for a total of $95,477,464. This award was reduced 10% for the Plaintiff’s liability, making the total recoverable amount $86,429,717.60.) 

Very few amputation cases are tried to verdict in the United States.  DeShaw, who has tried multiple amputation trials to verdict is believed to be one of few lawyers in the United States to try two or more amputation cases to verdict. The other two are Inner Circle of Advocates members Joseph Power Jr. of Chicago, and Tom Kline of Philadelphia. DeShaw obtained and studied the trial transcripts of Power and Kline before trying his first amputation trial in 2014.

Learn more about this record setting verdict.

Two years after obtaining this record breaking verdict in Oregon, DeShaw obtained the record verdict in Ohio for an even larger amputation verdict of $82,105,345.70 for a man who lost his arm and leg - considered the largest jury verdict in US history for an amputee.

Amputation Lawyer, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents, Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

MM & NS

$300,000

$300,000

$77,523,748.93

The Hensley lawsuit alleged that over 580 insurers conspired with insurance software manufacturers to intentionally and fraudulently underpay bodily injury claims to policyholders.  The DeShaw law firm was one of four firms working on the case nationally, with Nix Patterson Roach of Texas, Whitten Burrage of Oklahoma and Goodson Keil of Arkansas as local counsel in Texarkana. The case took the firms many years, and involved millions of documents that were all reviewed.  It is worth noting that every one of the insurers settled these cases, rather than face a jury regarding the intentional underpayments to their own policyholders.

Class Action

Georgia Hensley as class representative

Over $1 Billion in payments to class members(1)

• Cazares v. Allstate – CV-2009-72-3 – $358,000,000 to $699,000,000 settlement
• Zareboki v. Hartford Insurance – $215,000,000 settlement
• Hunsucker v. American Standard Insurance Company (American Family)- $104,000,000 settlement
• Soto v. USAA Casualty Insurance Co. – $34,300,000 to $64,900,000
• Hunter v. American Central Insurance Co. (One Beacon / White Mountain) – $39,000,000 (settlement)
• Webb v. First Liberty (Liberty Mutual Insurance Company) – $15,250,000 (settlement)
• Frugia v. Allied Property & Casualty Insurance (Nationwide Insurance) – $10,000,000 (settlement)
• Atkinson v. General Casualty Company of Wisconsin – $9,600,000 (settlement)
• Parker v. Mountain Laurel (Progressive Insurance) – $8,300,000 (settlement)
• Johnson v. Clarendon America Insurance Company – $7,600,000 (settlement)
• Easley v. Ohio Casualty Insurance Company – $5,900,000 (settlement)
• Gooding v. Grange Indemnity Insurance Company (CV-2007-456-3) – Increase on all applicable claims of 13%, up to total payout of $5,473,248 (settlement)
• Simental v. California State Automobile Association – $4,800,000 (settlement)
• Sweeten v. American Insurance Company – Increase on all applicable claims of 14%, up to total payout of $4,200,000 (settlement)
• Sweeten v. American Empire Insurance (Great American Insurance) – $3,000,000 (settlement)
• Vanschuyver v. State Auto Insurance –  $2,900,000 (settlement)
• Gross v. Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance, Republic Franklin Insurance and UTICA – $2,700,000 (settlement)
• White v. American Casualty Company of Reading PA (CNA) – $2,300,000
• Gibson v. The Hanover Insurance Co. – $2,200,000 (settlement)
• Hunter v. American Central Insurance Company – $1,800,000 (settlement)
• Jones v. American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company (Motorists Insurance) – $1,800,000 (settlement)
• Pizarro v. Horace Mann – $1,700,000 (settlement)
• Hogue v. Federated Mutual Insurance – $ 1,200,000 settlement (settlement)
• Soto v. AAA Mid-Atlantic (Keystone Insurance) – $1,100,000 (settlement)
• Gross v. W.R. Berkeley Corp. – $542,649 (Settlement)
• Gross v. Atlantic Lloyds Insurance Standard Company of Texas (Atlantic Mutual) – $542,604 (settlement)
• Gross v. Insurance Company of the West and Explorer Insurance Company – $472,571 (settlement)

In this case Aaron DeShaw served as a legal consultant, creating strategy, analyzing data, and preparing the lead lawyers for depositions in national class action against Farmers Insurance for the use of bodily injury software which systematically underpaid claims.  Unable to serve as counsel due to the potential of being called as a material rebuttal witness. Policyholders were paid in excess of $150 million. Counsel were Whitten, Nelson, McGuire of Oklahoma.

Class Action

Helen Sikes as class representative

Over $150 million in payments to class members

After several years of work on behalf of five clients, Aaron DeShaw and counsel for the insurers for Shearers Foods reached a global settlement with three of four defendants in our litigation against the companies that caused the explosion of the Shearer's Food factory in Hermiston Oregon.  The global policy limit settlement amount from Apollo Sheet Metal is $30,306,870.22. The global policy limit settlement amount from Atlas was $6,000,000. The global policy limit settlement amount from A-1 was $4,000,000

Our claims against Shearer's Foods remain in litigation at this time.

Natural Gas Explosions, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Five Clients

$40,306,870.22

$0

$40,306,870.22

In this case we were hired as co-counsel by a national trucking law firm to write the demand letter to the trucking company's insurers.  We were not involved in the trial of this case and the case settled at trial with the trucking company.

Our involvement became important because of Dr. DeShaw's unique background as a retired Doctor of Chiropractic, who during his career as a doctor conducted DOT physicals on truck drivers as well as post-crash drug and alcohol testing.  The client had sustained complex injuries including a mild traumatic brain injury and the law firm hiring us, did so knowing of Dr. DeShaw's extensive history handling complex injury cases such as this one.

Dr. DeShaw's 23 page demand letter included an extensive discussion of the impaired driver's drug use and the trucking company's liability for putting him on the road despite that history. This set the tone for the trial of this truck crash case in which a severely impaired truck driver drove into rush hour traffic at 7:00 a.m. in Denver.  For more see this blog post.

Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

E.C.

$32,500,000 ($7,500,000 trial verdict against the impaired driver, and $25,000,000 settlement during trial with trucking company)

We represented this client as Oregon garbage truck crash lawyers.

Our client was a 61 year old OHSU employee walking to work as a pedestrian, and was run over by a garbage truck causing head laceration, facial fractures, facial scarring, and bilateral complex tibia fractures, including rod insertion into one leg and permanent lower leg edema. Client returned to work within months of the collision, and despite the severity of injuries, did not expect future treatment related to the injuries beyond her pre-existing treatment, or any diminished earning capacity. 

The trucking company denied all wrongdoing.  During this case, Dr. DeShaw noticed that the garbage truck company had accepted an altered urine sample after the crash from the truck driver.  This demonstrated that it had not been collected from the driver.  Dr. DeShaw only detected this because of his own background doing DOT physicals for truck drivers and his background doing post-crash drug and breath alcohol testing.  This case helps demonstrate the importance of hiring a truck crash lawyer with expertise in topics important in trucking cases, education specifically on how to handle truck crash cases, and experience in handling delivery vehicle and garbage truck vehicle crash cases.

Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Personal Injury, Pedestrian Injuries

C.K.

Confidential

Confidential settlement. This was a wrongful death claim in which our office represented the estate of two children that were burned to death in a motor vehicle collision. All four occupants died when a car and motorhome collided head on.

Wrongful Death, Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

P.N. & E.N.

Confidential

Maritime case in which client was injured by a freon leak in the boat’s refrigeration system, causing extensive damage to client’s heart.  Client died during litigation of heart failure.  Co-counsel with Friedman | Rubin.

Personal Injury, Wrongful Death

Confidential

$3,500,000.00 settlement

One of Dr. DeShaw’s first legal cases.

Plaintiff was hit by an unlit large tractor disc plow being pulled down the road in the dark, and which was 1/2 way across his lane. The impact cut plaintiff’s Volvo in half, and cut through his arm (which was successfully operated on). Defendant farmer was uninsured, stating in public that he had so much money he didn’t need to be insured. Settlement included the insurance policy limit from a negligent lead vehicle that was approximately 2 miles ahead of the tractor, the policy limit of Uninsured Motorist coverage (from our client’s insurance), and personal assets from the negligent tractor operator.

Personal Injury

M.C.

Confidential Mediation Settlement

Client sustained serious injuries when struck while riding in a Lyft rideshare vehicle.  For more information on this case see the case summary regarding how our office navigated complex factual, medical and insurance issues on behalf of this client.

The client's injuries include a mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Superior Canal Dehiscence (a type of inner ear injury), complex clavicle fracture, humerus fracture, herniated cervical discs and other injuries.  The injuries have left her with ongoing permanent injuries that impact her brain, visual system and the balance functions of her inner ear.  Her quality of life is significantly impacted.

Client was unaware whether she had been riding in an Uber or Lyft vehicle that had been hailed by her friend.  Both Uber and Lyft denied coverage and offered $0 before litigation.

Client had three separate auto policies from State Farm at the time of the crash that covered her with insurance for injuries sustained as a result of the negligent conduct of an Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist. While State Farm did provide medical coverage under all three of the insurance policies under the policies' Personal Injury Protection coverage, it made a $0 offer on one of her auto policies, and denied Underinsured Motorist coverage for two of her policies.

Our office had obtained $195,000 in compensation from the at fault drivers prior to this federal litigation.    The insurance company offers for her Underinsured Motorist claims before litigation were $0 from Indian Harbor - denying coverage, and $0 from State Farm on one policy and denial of coverage on two separate policies.  

After the lawsuit was filed, State Farm then acknowledged insurance coverage under all three policies but only offered $250,000 out of their total coverage of $750,000.  

Lyft's records produced during the lawsuit, reflect that Lyft driver (Defendant Alder) accepted the ride placed on the Lyft app by the client's friend. Deposition testimony of all three women details that the Lyft driver found them using the Lyft app, but then turned it off after the women were in the car.  The Lyft app had identified Defendant Alder as their Lyft driver and identified the make, model and color of his vehicle along with its license plate number.  Before getting in the car, client again confirmed that the driver was their rideshare driver and he confirmed that he was their driver.  The three Lyft passengers started to become concerned when it appeared that the driver was attempting to drop off two women and carry one of the intoxicated passengers alone.  The three women only became aware the Lyft driver had turned the app off just as they got hit and were asking him to pull over to let them out of the vehicle. 

Indian Harbor on behalf of Lyft accepted insurance coverage on a $1,000,000 underinsured motorist insurance policy, but then claimed that the policy for the Lyft driver (Defendant Alder) was only $50,000 because he had cancelled the ride while the client and her friends were in the vehicle.  Lyft's records indicated that despite a history of accepting and then cancelling rides through the Lyft app, his driving privileges had not been revoked and in fact he was continuing to drive for Lyft several years later during the time of his deposition.

Upon mutual consent of the parties, the damages in this federal court case were determined in a binding arbitration by two senior lawyers and a retired judge.  During arbitration Lyft's insurer improperly showed surveillance video it had not disclosed as required by the Federal Rules of Evidence.  The surveillance which was done over many months, regularly went to the clients house and waited to come out, followed her driving, followed her into dark parking garages, recorded her in a store buying a present for her hospitalized son, and filmed her at a restaurant with her children.  The defense then falsely claimed that plaintiff counsel had created a traveling educational seminar series fraudulently building up fake traumatic brain injury claims nationwide, when in fact, Dr. DeShaw had been lecturing for free to doctors and lawyers in one event in Florida several years before, just as he has in well over 100 free lectures for health care providers, lawyers, injured people he doesn't represent, the veterans administration staff, the Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon, and the Oregon legislature over the course of his career educating professionals, the public, and lawmakers on the topic of traumatic brain injury and other traumatic injuries. In addition, defense counsel also raised Dr. DeShaw's own medical history and treatment, in a desperate attempt to discredit the impact of the client's injuries.

The defense's sole medical expert during the arbitration was Tarvez Tucker, MD of OHSU.  During the arbitration, it became evident that the defense did not disclose Dr. Tucker's main report to our office or the arbitrators, in which some of the client's injuries were admitted. It is unclear whether the IME company, MedConnect Pro, didn't provide the negative report to the defense lawyers, or whether it was withheld by defense counsel. Instead, two short reports were produced to our office and the arbitrators denying the injuries and disclaiming others were outside her scope of practice. In live testimony, she then disputed those same injuries. She acknowledged the fractured clavicle and "soft tissue" injuries of the spine that she opined was deserving of a few weeks of treatment.  She opined that the neurosurgery that the client had undergone for the Superior Canal Dehiscence, performed at Providence St. Vincent's Hospital, was unnecessary and unrelated to the crash. She also opined that despite significant ongoing symptoms that the client needed no ongoing care, and further that approximately $200,000 of past medical care was unnecessary.

Given that both insurers refused to make any offer prior to litigation, both State Farm and Indian Harbor now face insurance bad faith claims, as the case returns to federal court.  Given the defense's conduct, claims for defamation of character and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress were added to the federal court litigation case.  Indian Harbor filed a Motion for Summary Judgment stating it could do anything it wanted in defense of the claim under the absolute litigation privilege (allowing it to intentionally defame the client if it was within the course of litigation).  The Federal Judge denied Indian Harbor's motion, and this case is ongoing.

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Insurance Bad Faith

W. Triem

$300,000.00

$0

$2,550,000.00

We represented this client as Oregon commercial truck crash lawyers.

Our client was a 26 year old who was driving his vehicle when a metal recycling dumptruck pulled out in front of him.  He sustained a traumatic brain injury, facial lacerations, damaged temporomandibular joints bilaterally, injuries to his lip, mouth, neck, back, knees, legs, left hand, shoulder and wrist.  He has permanent facial scarring, which impacted him as a salesperson. 

Rather than make a settlement offer, the trucking company hired a lawyer.  We filed litigation.  The crash was caught on a security camera which we obtained through litigation.  The video showed the driver cleaning his side mirror at a stop before pulling out directly in front of our client's vehicle.  This case helps demonstrate the importance of hiring a truck crash lawyer with expertise in topics important in trucking cases, education specifically on how to handle truck crash cases, and experience in handling commercial vehicle and dump trucks cases.

To learn more see this case study.

Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Portland Truck Accident Lawyer

R.C.

0

Confidential

$1,600,000 record trial verdict on $25,000 offer in auto vs. motorcycle case resulting in the amputation of client’s right leg. Largest recorded civil trial verdict in history in Columbia County, Oregon.

Client was uninsured at the time, which prohibited the jury from considering the value of the client’s personal losses. The jury only heard evidence of the financial losses the client would experience after the loss of his leg. Client went through approximately 15 surgeries before his leg was amputated, and then has had many surgeries since then as a result of ongoing infections.

Despite losing his leg, the defense vocational expert told the jury that our client would make more money than he had earned working at OHSU before the amputation. This was the insurance company witness’ testimony, despite our client’s constant rejections for job applications, and the expert’s own resources telling him they would not employ an amputee during his market surveys. The defense witness also refused to acknowledge US Government data on decreased earnings after a severe physical disability like an amputation.

Insurance company offer before trial was $25,000.

Amputation Lawyer

S. Fitzgerald

$25,000

$1,600,000 Jury Verdict (Economic Damages Only – In excess of Policy Limit*)

Client sustained a moderate brain injury as well as lacerations of the kidney and liver in a side-impact collision. The story of this crash was the subject of two articles in The Oregonian, including front page coverage of the trial verdict. The facts were complex – our client was the passenger in a car driven by her brother.  Her brother had moved into a middle refuge lane, intending to turn left across traffic.  There were two oncoming lanes.  The driver in the first lane (who drove a large pickup) and who was never identified (“John Doe”) waived the brother across traffic.  Unfortunately, John Doe waived him to cross traffic when a driver in a Ford F-250 was approaching in the lane closest to the curb.  Our client’s brother could not see the approaching F-250 because his view was blocked by the stopped pickup that was telling him to turn.  As a result, our client’s brother believed he was clear when John Doe waived him across traffic. Instead, the Ford F-250 struck our client’s vehicle at the passenger door where she was sitting.  The steel bumper intruded into the window striking our client in the head, causing an internal bleed in her brain.  She lost consciousness, and her brother was concerned she was dead at the scene.

State Farm Insurance insured all three vehicles.  The liability of her brother, due to Oregon laws, limited her recovery against him under their parent's State Farm insurance policy to $25,000.  The claim against John Doe was covered under our client’s State Farm Uninsured Motorist coverage.  State Farm also insured the F-250 driver.  The defense was aimed at minimizing the liability of all drivers, and State Farm paid for the defense lawyers for all of the parties.

While our client looked completely normal several years later during the trial, she had serious injuries that are permanent and continue to impact her.  Her CT and advanced MRI study showed holes in her brain from the bleeding.  Despite this, State Farm’s neurologist claimed that the holes in her brain would have no effect on her life.  His testimony was completely contrary to reality, as she was not able to finish college on her sports scholarship, and was never able to work normally again.  She was only 18 at the time of the injury and would become severely fatigued even after a few hours of work.

The client is a wonderful person and 7 of the 12 jurors requested to be friends with her on Facebook after the trial.  Several called her an inspiration for their own lives.  She had started religious support groups for girls before the crash and attempted to continue doing some work for the group after her injury.  Despite her injuries she also attempted to go back and do work for the homeless.  She helped her parents who had adopted several foster children.

In the end, the jury divided liability for the collision as 55% liability attributed to our client’s brother, 35% to John Doe who waived them through, and 10% to the F-250 driver who the evidence suggested had been speeding at the time of the crash.  The jury returned a verdict of $1,125,000, all for the past and future medical treatment, and future wage loss.  For reasons that remain unclear, the jury provided $0 compensation for the client's pain, change in quality of life, humiliation and mental suffering.  While providing economic damages with no “non-economic damages” violated Oregon law, our client asked that we not request the jury to go back given that it could result in an increased chance the defendants would appeal.  By that time they had harassed her for years, taken her diary, obtained videos of her lecturing, gotten into her Facebook account via her brother’s account, and required her to disclose every personal photo she had taken for years.  She was through with her life being intruded upon simply in order to get compensated for her serious personal loss.  We understand from one juror that the jury decided not to provide any money for her personal loss because they believed her church would pay to take care of her (which was both untrue, and a violation of the court’s rules not to consider outside sources to pay for the client’s needs.)

At the time of the verdict, it was the 4th largest auto accident verdict in the past 20 years, with two of the other three higher verdicts involving the death of the plaintiff.  Despite this, it was very difficult to accept that the jury didn’t believe her personal losses deserved any compensation.

The insurance company offer prior to trial was $37,500 during a judicial settlement conference.  Insurance coverage for both her brother and John Doe was limited by their State Farm policy, and as a result, of the $1,125,000 verdict, the client only received a small amount.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Edlin

$37,500

$1,125,000.00 Jury Verdict (Excess of Policy Limit*)

Our client was a 15-year-old boy riding his bike to school in a bike lane, when an SUV turned directly in front of him, cutting off the bike lane.  The driver had been stopped in heavy traffic and our client was directly in the bicycle lane coming up from behind with no obstruction to the driver’s view. There was a dispute between the driver and our client about whether the driver’s right turn signal was on.  The client was picked up by his mother and denied EMT transport, but later saw EMTs at his home.

Client spent the first few weeks in bed crying with severe pain, and feeling really poorly.  He had significant headaches, problems thinking and neck pain. Client then experienced a significant illness that he attributed to systemic health consequences of the collision.  When he returned to school he experienced cognitive problems.  Doctors diagnosed a traumatic brain injury and spinal injuries.  Shortly after this, he was hit in the head while in PE because the school would not excuse him – aggravating the brain injury from the bike crash.  He was put into a special education program for the remainder of high school and has experienced social isolation as a result of many doctors visits and being unable to complete school work normally.  Doctors additionally suspected and later diagnosed a C1 instability caused by damage to the cervical ligaments.  This led to him stopping all physical activities.  A later high resolution MRI of the cervical spine found the cervical ligaments to not be ruptured, but the client continued to have neck pain.  As a result, approximately two years post injury he returned to bicycling.

A high resolution 3T MRI of the brain demonstrated small amounts of traumatic damage in the brain.  Approximately two years post injury a nationally recognized neuropsychologist performed testing demonstrating ongoing and permanent cognitive damage.   Given the positive brain imaging, the client’s neuropsychologist diagnosed him with a complicated mild traumatic brain injury that was permanent. The client also suffered from depression as a result of the significant changes in his quality of life.

The offer from the insurer prior to litigation was $0, and remained $0 throughout the litigation.

Then in 2016, the client crashed his own bike prior to litigation being filed, but after he had already been pronounced to have permanent brain damage from the bicycle crash three years earlier.

The neuropsychologist hired by the insurer near the end of litigation, refuted the defense case finding that the SUV-bicycle crash in 2013 had caused a complicated mild traumatic brain injury resulting in permanent brain damage.  Plaintiff’s vocational rehabilitation expert confirmed that client would not be able to pass college classes, significantly impacting his future earning capacity.  Plaintiff’s neuropsychologist, neurologist, vocational rehabilitation expert, and the defense neuropsychologist all agreed that the client had sustained a permanent mild traumatic brain injury.

Our office had provided the insurer the ability to settle for the limits of the defendant’s insurance policy several years before, and before litigation was filed.  In response, the insurer offered $0 and forced the child into litigation in order to obtain any compensation for his significant loss.

The insurer paid $1,050,000 at mediation a few weeks prior to trial.  The case was resolved after nearly five years.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

J. Cozzocrea

$0

$1,050,000.00 Pre-trial Mediation

Client was passenger in a rideshare vehicle that was hit by another driver who had turned the wrong direction on Naito Parkway.

Client was unconscious and unresponsive at the scene.  She was transported to the ICU at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU).

As a result of this crash the client sustained head injury with a 8cm forehead laceration, intracranial bleeding (brain bleed), a “profound” 5-part fracture of the C1 vertebra (called a Jefferson Fracture), a fracture of the odontoid process of the C2 vertebra, a C7 compression fracture, bilateral vertebral artery injuries, and initial paralysis of all four arms and legs (quadriplegia.) In the following days this improved to a partial paralysis of her arms and legs, and after surgery on her neck, residual symptoms in only one arm.

We were hired by California counsel for the client, due to Dr. DeShaw's national reputation as traumatic brain injury lawyer.  We took over primary handling of the case, including communication with multiple insurers, and writing the demand letters.

We did extensive work on capturing images for the insurance demand letter within the advanced imaging (CT and MRI) DICOM and x-ray files from the hospital to demonstrate the actual injuries to the insurers. These advanced image files demonstrated the seriousness of the multiple fractures, and the end result of the surgeries.  We then obtained medical illustrations from a leading medical-legal illustration company, of the injuries to help the insurer understand the severity and permanency of the injuries that the jury would see if the case was not settled.

This case settled with all insurers paying policy limits.

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Confidential

$1,030,000.00 Settlement (Policy Limits)

This case involved a high school student being hit by a drunk driver. The drunk driver had previously shot and killed a relative shortly before the drunk driving incident with our client and remained under investigation. Upon hitting our client he fled the scene. Our client obtained a photograph of his license plate as he fled the scene. Police found the defendant and arrested him for DUI, reckless driving and hit and run.  Resulting lab testing showed a BAC of 0.16 - double Oregon's legal limit for blood alcohol concentration while operating a vehicle.  

The drunk driver's wife provided a statement to the police that they had drank several bottles of wine and mixed drinks before him driving, that he was driving at a very high rate of speed, and never slowed down before hitting our client. Our client sustained a mild traumatic brain injury resulting in difficulties finishing high school, and preventing him from going into a trade school. The total loss of his vehicle (not paid properly to him) resulted in difficulties in attending doctors appointments and much less than optimal care or proof of his injuries. The client's care was also limited by the COVID-19 pandemic closing many health care facilities that provided brain injury rehabilitation.

Consistent with insurer's abusive practices in Oregon by making improperly low settlement offers, the settlement offer on this case was $21,241. Litigation was filed on behalf of our injured client. 

The drunk driver testified in deposition that he had never been informed by his insurer of the opportunity to settle the case prior to the lawsuit being filed against him.  Our office sent the insurer a letter with Oregon case law noting the insurer would be responsible for the full amount of an excess verdict, or face an insurance bad faith claim for a failure to protect its policyholder from an excess verdict.

The case settled during litigation for many times higher than the initial offer.

Insurance Bad Faith, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents

Client

$21,241

$21,241

Confidential

Car vs. Pedestrian collision.  Our client was thrown into the air more than 30 feet, and then landed on the ground first on her face then on her chest, fracturing three ribs, rupturing her spleen and tearing open her head. 

Client sustained a deep vertical laceration to the forehead which caused a clearly deforming, and permanent deformity to her appearance.  The skin, where torn open, is discolored a dark grayish blue color (referred to as “tattooing” by her plastic surgeon), and has a 4 inch raised keloid scar that runs vertically from the hairline down to just over the right eyebrow in a jagged fashion. 

In addition, she sustained fractures of both of her upper front teeth, a left lower lung contusion with preumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema, as well as blood into the retropertoreum and pelvis caused by the ruptured spleen, and a puncture wound and severe bruising of the left arm with loss of sensation in a rotation pattern around the distal tricep.  

The case settled for the insurance policy limit of all available insurance policies.

Auto Accidents, Pedestrian Injuries, Personal Injury

E.L.

Client was putting a tarp on a semi truck loaded with steel rollers that were improperly secured.  The wind blew and the steel rollers came off and smashed him in the head. He was immediately knocked unconscious and sustained a skull fracture and had bleeding in his brain.  The case settled for the $1,000,000 policy limit.  Co-counsel: Langdon & Emison of Missouri

Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

J.B.

$1,000,000.00 (policy limit settlement*)

We represented this client as Oregon commercial truck crash lawyers due to our reputation as leading Portland brain injury lawyers.  The client was the spouse of a well respected doctor who knew of our reputation for handling brain injury cases and wanted the best brain injury lawyer in Oregon for this life changing case.

The client was hit in an SUV by a heavy commercial excavation truck loaded with equipment.  The client sustained a mild traumatic brain injury with significant symptoms including memory problems, light sensitivity and sound sensitivity, inner ear injuries, vision disturbances, PTSD, and an aggravation of pre-existing spinal injuries.  The clients injury had been changed. 

One notable difficulty in the case was that the client had experienced pre-crash fatigue and cognitive deficits due to long-COVID.  Some of these symptoms were ongoing at the time of the crash.  But, the difference in the client's function was very significant after the crash, demonstrating that the commercial truck crash had caused long term consequences.

The pre-litigation offer was $0.  When our office filed a lawsuit, the insurer re-assigned the case to a senior experienced adjuster who is often assigned to Dr. DeShaw's cases to resolve them before trial.  The case settled during a multi-party mediation for $815,000 for our client, and $125,000 for our client's passenger (represented by two other lawyers).  The highly experienced mediator told the client that the insurer paid substantially more for this case due to Portland brain injury lawyer Aaron DeShaw's reputation for obtaining large brain injury trial verdicts.

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Personal Injury

M.U.

$815,000.00

$0.00

$815,000.00

Our Portland personal injury law firm represented a real estate agent who sustained a mild traumatic brain injury in an auto accident.  The client was hit by a commercial vehicle.  As a result, our significant experience as brain injury lawyers and as commercial vehicle lawyers helped the client choose our Oregon personal injury law firm.  The client had a pre-existing history of a moderate traumatic brain injury from a fall over 10 years before and had some residual symptoms.  The brain injury from our crash did not improve for the client and she has ongoing cognitive and behavioral symptoms that effect her behavior, relationships and work.

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Portland Truck Accident Lawyer

S.F.

$800,000

$375,000

$800,000

Snow ski collision with fractured ankle resulting in chronic pain, and a mild traumatic brain injury. 

The case involved a student ski racer who left the race course at the request of the program instructor but then went at a high rate of speed down the ski slope and hit our client from behind.  This involved hiring a former coach of the U.S. National Ski Team World Cup, and U.S. Olympic Team as our expert witness on ski safety.  Our client was a Doctor of Physical Therapy that worked for a school district, resulting in a complex financial damage analysis.  A vocational rehabilitation expert and economist were hired to determine the ongoing financial impact caused to the client due to the time lost and the loss of seniority pay that will continue the rest of the client's work life.

The client's efforts to recover were very significant and resulted in visits to approximately 100 different health care providers resulting in very substantial medical costs for what the insurer incorrectly viewed as a relatively insignificant injury.  The client had personally spent a significant amount of money in her recovery, when her insurance would not cover certain procedures including PRP and stem cell injections.

This litigation expanded from the personal injury case to a declaration action insurance coverage case between the defendant ski race association, defendant skier and ski race association insurer when insurance coverage for the ski racer was denied, contrary to the assurances of the ski race association. This case, like others, involved a significant (and years long) effort to obtain maximum insurance coverage for the client to recover the best possible outcome for the injuries, personal losses and financial losses.

Personal Injury, Insurance Bad Faith, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

S Jones

$300,000

$0.00

$800,000

A few days before Christmas, our client, who was a wife and mother of two, was at a store getting crafts for her family’s holiday.  A heavily weighted shelf at the retailer fell on her head causing a mild traumatic brain injury, and a torn cervical spine ligament that supported her skull on her neck.  The result was significant vision and balance disturbances that left her largely housebound.

Our office took over this case approximately eight years into the case, after the case had been put on a lengthy abatement while the client sought ways to improve.  Our office was suggested by several of the treating doctors when the case became too medically complex for the prior lawyer. By the time we took over the case, there were over 50 doctors, and others were experiencing difficulty understanding the medical reasons why the client experienced the type of symptoms she experienced.  Some of her own treating doctors believed her problems were the result of a psychological problem rather than a physical injury.  Some of the client’s treating doctors became key witnesses for the defense.

Once our office was hired, we recognized that some of the client’s symptoms were likely the result of an instability of the C1 vertebra due to the tearing of one of the ligaments that secured her skull to her neck.  Our research into this injury was consistent with the client’s symptoms.  An MRI and a motion x-ray study confirmed the C1 instability and the tearing of one of her upper cervical ligaments.  A detailed neuropsychological study confirmed brain based cognitive deficits.  Detailed eye and inner ear examinations confirmed her ongoing problems with her visual and balance systems.

Depositions of the defense experts was undertaken as this was a Washington case, demonstrating that they did not have a firm basis for their opinions that the client was faking or exaggerating her symptoms.

A settlement conference was undertaken in an attempt to settle the case short of trial.  The insurer’s top offer was $30,000 for the client’s permanent and disabling injuries.  Not only had the client already lost eight years of her life, but she was young and would have cognitive problems, vision problems and chronic pain the rest of her life.

Aaron DeShaw and Ken Friedman of Friedman | Rubin of Seattle (as co-counsel) undertook three weeks of trial. On the last day of a three-week trial, defendants settled the case for $800,000 after the cross-examination of the defense neuropsychologist.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Confidential

$30,000

$800,000.00 settlement during trial

We represented this client as Oregon taxi crash lawyers and Portland rideshare lawyers.

In this case, a taxi company had hired a driver with an unsafe driving history.  He had been improperly entrusted with a taxi despite this bad history of driving.  He hit our client resulting in a mild traumatic brain injury.  The insurer for the taxi company made no settlement offer and so we had to file a lawsuit for the client. Between the time of the crash and the litigation being filed, the driver moved outside the United States, and the owners of the taxi company moved outside the United States.  The insurer settled with us shortly before trial for $750,000.

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

S.L.

$750,000.00

$0.00

$750,000.00

This case involved a client who was hit when an improperly maintained dump truck had its rear axle fall off while carrying a load.  The axle flew off and struck our client's vehicle injuring him. The client chose our Portland trucking crash law firm due to our experience handling Oregon truck crash cases.

As soon as our client saw the axle separating from the truck, he steered the vehicle sharply to the right and attempted to avoid the axle quickly approaching his vehicle.  Despite his effort to avoid the collision, the wheel of the dump truck struck the windshield, left support beam, and hood.  As the tire hit the soft ceiling of our client's convertible it bowed striking our client in the head and leaving a 2” laceration on his head.  The compression on the client's neck caused by the significant downward pressure on his head, resulted in a C3-4 disc herniation with impingement on the thecal sac, later confirmed on MRI.  

At impact, glass fragments from the windshield and side windows shattered, leaving shards of glass embedded in the client's head, neck, chest, back and legs.   He lost consciousness at impact, and does not remember anything for approximately 15 seconds after the initial impact. When he regained consciousness, he was laying in what he estimates was 1/4” of glass.  He continues to have many small scars from the cuts, and continues to have glass fragments embedded in his body. 

Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Personal Injury

B.K.

0

Confidential

Client was a passenger in a rideshare vehicle when it was hit by a drunk driver.  The drunk driver was traveling at high speed and ran a red light, hitting client's rideshare vehicle.  Drunk driver had been drinking at home so no dram shop cases were possible. Driver was arrested and charged with DUI in violation of ORS 813.010.

Client's vehicle was t-boned by drunk driver.  The crashed caused intrusion into the driver's side of the rideshare vehicle at the location where client was sitting and struck client within the vehicle.  Client was unconscious and unresponsive for approximately 10 minutes. (A person who is found unconscious and unresponsive has a Glasgow Coma Score of 3, and is defined as having a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury).  She was transported to the ICU at Legacy Emanuel Trauma Center.

Client was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with increased symptoms of chest pain, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and acute lower extremity pain. Imaging revealed a large left diaphragm rupture with herniation of the stomach and spleen up into the chest with tracheal deviation and oxygen desaturation, prompting emergency surgery.

Injuries included a Ruptured Diaphragm, Splenic Laceration, Grade II Liver Laceration, Right Pulmonary Contusion, Pneumothorax, Hemothorax requiring emergent operative exploration and management; Closed Fracture of the left Femoral Head/Hip; Multiple Pelvis Fractures with Right Pelvic Hematoma, Displaced Fracture of the Sacrum, and Closed Fracture of the Superior Pubic Rami requiring surgical intervention, a fracture of the femoral neck requiring an Open Reduction and Internal Fixation (ORIF) of the femur, followed by ORIF with left posterior percutaneous sacral screw fixation of the pelvis. She also sustained multiple rib fractures.

We did extensive work on capturing images within the advanced imaging (CT and MRI) DICOM and x-ray files from the hospital to demonstrate the actual injuries to the insurers. These illustrated both the seriousness of the multiple fractures, the end result of the surgeries (showing the inserted metal plates and screws).  We then hired a leading medical-legal illustration and animation company to provide custom illustration work on the case.  These illustrations showed the original injuries, the surgical procedures and the resulting metal implants in the client.  This helped the insurer understand the severity and permanency of the injuries.

Unfortunately, there was not nearly enough insurance for this client's loss (which had to be further divided with one other passenger injured at the same time).  We obtained all available insurance from the drunk driver's insurance policy as well as two underinsured motorist insurance policies.

Auto Accidents, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents

Confidential

$716,660.00 Settlement (Multiple Policy Limits including two Underinsured Motorist Policy Limits)

This case arose as a result of a natural gas pipeline explosion.  This claim was on behalf of a business, its owner, and his wife.  

Owner and wife were not physically injured, but the business was destroyed in a natural gas explosion caused when defendant hit a pipeline at NW 23rd x Glisan. Since the owner and wife were not physically injured, Oregon case law suggested that they would be unable to get noneconomic damages (for mental suffering or change in quality of life) for their loss.

Defendant offered $0 prior to litigation and made no offer during litigation taking the position that plaintiff's insurer had fully compensated them for the economic damage and that they were not entitled to any money for their personal loss.  Unlike a later trial on the same incident (tried after the date this case was set for trial), the jury in one of our firm's prior cases did not find punitive damages against the gas pipeline company and returned a jury verdict for $250,000 for a person who sustained a traumatic brain injury and inner ear damage in the blast.

Our legal briefing on the issue of noneconomic damages during the destruction of the business turned on our allegations, and our firm won the right to seek noneconomic damages (mental suffering and change in quality of life) at the trial level.  Defendant was clear that they intended to appeal the trial outcome on that issue.

The case involved several complicating factors.  The couple got divorced as a result of the fallout from the destruction of the business in the natural gas explosion. Medical and psychological records reflected negatively on the clients as a result of the discord that occurred after the explosion.  There were concerns that the initial ruling in our favor on noneconomic damages would not hold up on appeal.  Also, the State of Oregon's legal right to 70% of a punitive damage award left the plaintiff's with minimal financial benefit to going to trial, particularly in light of remaining punitive damages being taxable.

In light of these factors, the clients chose to avoid the risk of trial in response to the defendant's offer, and after several years of litigation (delayed by COVID-19 court closures) the plaintiffs wanted to complete the litigation and the divorce rather than wait for trial and a highly likely multi-year appeal if they won. DeShaw worked on this case for several years with lawyer Peter Mullenix of the law firm of Friedman | Rubin as co-counsel.

Natural Gas Explosions

Confidential

0.00

0.00

$700,000.00

This case arose as a result of a natural gas pipeline explosion.  Older plaintiff alleged the onset of a mild traumatic brain injury and inner ear injury caused by the explosion two blocks away.

Defendant offered $70,000 prior to litigation and made no offer during litigation.  Unlike a later trial on the same incident, the jury in one of our firm's prior cases did not find punitive damages against the gas pipeline company and returned a jury verdict for $250,000 for a person in a building closer to the blast. This client chose to avoid the risk of trial in response to a higher offer on the first day of trial. DeShaw worked on this case for several years with the law firm of Friedman Rubin.  Trial counsel were Peter Mullenix and Ken Friedman of Friedman Rubin of Bremerton Washington.

$700,000 settlement on the first day of trial.

Natural Gas Explosions, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

N.E.

$70,000

$700,000 Settlement on the first day of trial

A Clark County Washington jury returned a verdict of $700,000 against the owner of a dump truck that pulled out in front of a woman driving an automobile. While her overt physical injuries, cervical strain and contusions, largely resolved with time, she continued to experience chronic headache, post-traumatic stress, depression and personality changes. It was eventually determined that she had suffered a closed-head, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Testimony of family members and co-workers regarding changes in her personality and abilities was important in obtaining this substantial verdict.

The initial insurance company offer to settle this case was $7,000, 1/100th of the verdict.  The case was tried by co-counsel Rick Friedman of Friedman | Rubin.  During the trial, the defense claimed that our client was malingering (lying about her injuries.)  The jury clearly did not agree.  The defendant appealed the jury verdict and the Washington Court of Appeals upheld the verdict.

This case became the basis for the second section of Rick Friedman’s landmark legal book Polarizing the Case, which has gone on to help tens of thousands of other lawyers handle cases where insurance companies and their defense lawyers claim that injured people are lying or exaggerating their injuries.

Portland Truck Accident Lawyer, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

E.L.

$7,000

$700,000.00 Jury Verdict

The client sustained a serious spinal injury as a result of a defectively designed chair collapsing. Co-counsel James Parziale.

Personal Injury

Abrams

$600,000.00 settlement

The client sustained erosion of the shoulder joint as a result of a defective pain pump in his shoulder. With co-counsel Beasley Allen.

Price

$550,000.00 settlement

Our firm represented the estate of an 83-year-old woman who was a hard working matriarch of a large family including six children and multiple grandchildren and great grandchildren with whom she played an active role. Before this incident, she was in excellent health, continued to work in real estate, hiked, gardened and spent a great deal of time with her family and helping disadvantaged members of the community.  She had been a pioneer in getting girl’s high school basketball started in Oregon, had graduated in three years from high school and graduated from Willamette University.

On the evening of the event, she visited members of her LDS ward at the Oswego Summit residential community in Lake Oswego to give them advice about selling their condo, after longstanding and widespread construction defects at Oswego Summit resulted in a large repair assessment to the unit owners.  She left the owners condo unit and walked out to get them a business card in her car.  As she walked out her pathway was lit by a bright commercial parking lot light.  While she was returning, the scene going back to the condo was unlit and too dark to see the steps of the walkway.  As a result, she fell and struck her head on a raised concrete sidewall, sustaining a severe brain injury and resulted in her death at the scene.  The State of Oregon Medical Examiner and police reported that the area of her death at Oswego Summit was very dark (a building code violation.)  An investigation by our office also uncovered that the external lights at Oswego Summit have been wired incorrectly since the facility was built in the 1970s, leaving Oswego Summit unable to properly control the external lighting at the facility.  Further investigation by our office, and retained building code experts revealed that the walkway where she died did not meet commercial building code.  After our office disclosing these building code violations, American Family Insurance, the insurer for Oswego Summit, offered the family $0 for the death of this wonderful woman. Despite the family not wanting to to file litigation, they also wanted Oswego Summit to make changes to improve the safety of the facility to prevent the injury or death to other people.  During depositions of the former property manager of Oswego Summit is was noted that when our client died the property manager never even left their condo despite seeing the police and fire department lights a short distance from their condo.  Despite the death, Oswego Summit did no investigation, made no changes to the walkway, and when changing its external lights, failed to bring them up to code.  Oswego Summit refused to provide background documents, but alleged throughout trial that there were no prior reports of injuries on this stairway, which was not surprising as there was also no report on this client’s death.

The family was forced to go through trial due to insufficient offers from American Family Insurance.  Evidence of the widespread construction defects at Oswego Summit was excluded from the trial.  Evidence was limited only to the defects in the stairway where the death occurred, depriving the jury of evidence that these changes had not been made because of the widespread defects throughout the property that Oswego Summit had failed to correct in the 30 years before the death.

During trial two police officers who were on the scene that night noted that they had been to Oswego Summit in the exact same stairway multiple times before the client’s death (due to domestic violence occurring in the same building) and that on each time they had been to the facility in the months before, the stairway had been too dark, just as it was on the night of the death.

The jury verdict was for $550,000.  Despite multiple witnesses discussing her excellent stability on her feet and her great eyesight, the jury found the decedent 47% at fault, thereby reducing the final payment to the estate.

Wrongful Death

The Estate of Mitchell

$0

$550,000.00 jury verdict (reduced by comparative negligence to $291,000)

Our firm was hired as trial counsel for this case, which had already been in litigation for several months before we were hired. Prior to our involvement the client had been offered $0 for her claim.  We took over most aspects of the case including writing a new demand letter, several motions and motion responses, preparing for trial, and the mediation brief.  Co-counsel remained involved in the deposition and mediation.

The client was involved in a side impact motor vehicle crash in which she sustained a mild traumatic brain injury resulting in cognitive deficits, behavioral changes, visual symptoms, and severe fatigue.  This led to a decreased quality of life, and the end of a career where she had just received a promotion a few days before her crash.

Defense counsel filed a motion to have the judge dismiss the national pizza franchise as it was not involved in the crash.  Our office filed an 18 page brief on agency law, tying control of the pizza franchisee defendant to the control of the national pizza franchor defendant - leaving the national chain susceptible to direct liability for the crash.

The defense lawyers' position was that the client was either falsely claiming or inflating her symptoms.  She hired well known defense neuropsychologist Laurence Binder, Ph.D. to defend the case.  The defense's position was also that the crash could not have hurt our client because it was a "low speed" impact.  In response, our office hired a biomechanist who determined that due to the fact that our client's vehicle spun approximately 180 degrees when hit by the pizza delivery vehicle, the pizza driver had run a stop sign on the side street and T-boned our client at approximately 28 miles per hour - not a low speed impact.

Our demand letter to the Pizza company's insurer was 22 pages long - addressing the extensive damage to our client, images from the client's brain imaging (MRI), medical illustrations of the injuries, medical record quotes, neuropsychological test analysis for both the examining neuropsychologist and the defense neuropsychologist, and medical research citations supporting the case.  The demand letter request was pending at the time of mediation.

Due to a few negative factors potentially impacting the trial outcome, this case was settled at mediation for $500,000.  During the mediation, the mediator (a well respected lawyer in Oregon) told the client that despite his expertise in the field of brain injury cases, he had learned a great deal from our 30 page mediation submission on her case.  He further told the client that the $500,000 settlement was the result of her hiring a lawyer with substantial expertise in traumatic brain injury cases.

Defendant: Confidential

Defense experts: Laurence Binder, Ph.D. 

Defense Counsel: Hilary Boyd

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Confidential

$0 (prior to our involvement)

$500,000 Mediation Settlement

Client was a young woman who was a passenger in a car.  She hit her head and jammed her left hand into the dash, despite the airbag deploying. There was a license plate in the passenger side dash that flew off and hit her in the face, causing multiple facial lacerations, demonstrated in photos.

She was bloody, with clear disfigurement of the nose and face, blood splattered on her chest, and a lacerated and swollen left middle finger. She was spitting out blood as a result of a hematoma and laceration on the inside of her upper lip (over one of the fracture sites.) 

She was diagnosed at the ER with multiple lacerations (complex lacerations to the lip with internal hematoma, and bilateral nose lacerations) requiring surgical intervention, fractured left middle phalanx of 3rd finger, fractured left middle phalanx of the 4th finger, a fracture of the radial aspect of the proximal phalanx of the 4th finger, a chip fracture of the left side maxillary spine (bottom part of nose), fractured nasal bone with disfigurement (upper nose), depressed fracture right nasal bone, left zygomatic arch fracture (cheek) and black eye.  The CT demonstrates several fractures in the face, surrounding the area of the nose, with associated swelling and internal bleeding.  The image below is directly from the DICOM files of the ER imaging disc, and demonstrates a displaced fracture from the top of the nose, with the maxillary spine fracture at the bottom of the nose.   

The client had permanent disfigurement of her face that was not resolved through plastic surgery procedures.

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

S.E.

Confidential

This Oregon personal injury case involved traumatic heart damage caused to a woman with no pre-existing heart problems as a result of motor vehicle collision in which the airbag did not deflate and she hit the steering wheel. She was diagnosed with heart muscle damage and sternum fracture with elevated cardiac lab results on the date of the collision after transport by ambulance.  Despite this, the insurer offered $0 on this case claiming that the crash did not cause the heart damage.

The amount of defendant’s insurance policy limit ($250,000) was requested.  Defendant’s insurer failed to accept the offer, and made no counteroffer.  

Dr. DeShaw used the original imaging DICOM files on the client and created 3D images from the files using a radiologist program.  These images demonstrated that the area of the heart damaged was directly behind the area of the sternum fractured in the crash.  These images were relayed to the defense, demonstrating that there would be no credible way to suggest that the heart damage wasn’t caused by the sternum fracture and the crash.

Shortly after this, approximately two weeks before trial, the insurer called our office and agreed to settle the claim for $500,000, twice the amount of the defendant’s insurance policy limit.  Despite our reluctance to accept the offer, the client did accept this offer prior to trial.

For more on this case read the associated blog post about this traumatic heart injury lawsuit.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury, Auto Accidents

R. N.

$0

$500,000.00 pre-trial after a failed mediation (double the insurance policy limits*)

Underinsured Motorist case.  Client sustained a mild traumatic brain injury with permanent consequences resulting in cognitive, behavioral, visual and vestibular problems leading to working memory problems, and ongoing balance disturbances.  Client had a few episodes of pre-existing dizziness and a few mild cognitive complaints in the years before the crash. All testing pre-crash was negative.  Client diagnosed with concussion, mild traumatic brain injury, Endolymph Hydrops, as well as spinal injuries post-crash.  Notably, the neuropsychological evaluation was largely normal post-crash.  Client's neurologist determined with further testing that the client had damage in her dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, resulting in decreased performance with auditory and visual stimulus - not normally experienced during neuropsych testing.  

The at-fault driver settled for their full policy limit amount of $100,000.

GEICO's offer to their own policyholder was $0 and never increased prior to arbitration.  Despite paying all of client's PIP without disputing the charges, they argued in arbitration that very little  of her treatment was reasonable and necessary.

A panel arbitration decision was $488,638.05 - ($38,638.05 in past medical costs, $50,000 in past wage loss, and $400,000 in non-economic damages.) 

Defendant: GEICO Insurance Company

Defense experts: Donna Wicher, Ph.D., Paul Williams M.D., Harold Kim, M.D.

Defense Counsel: Glenn Barger

Auto Accidents

J. Olsen

$0.00

$0.00

$488,638.05 (*In excess of the client's insurance policy limit.)

This client was hit from behind by a driver in The Dalles Oregon. The crash caused a mild traumatic brain injury that impacted the client's cognitive abilities, and produced significant behavioral changes that deply impacted her relationships with her husband and children.  The case resolved for a total equivalent value of $600,000 with $487,000 collected ($137,000 collected of a $250,000 policy, plus $350,000 in Underinsured Motorist insurance), far in excess of an expected jury verdict in Wasco County.  For more on this case and how we used our experience in traumatic brain injuries and insurance bad faith to obtain this outcome please visit the blog post on this case.

Insurance Bad Faith, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

R.W.

$0

$0

$487,000 ($137,000 collected of a $250,000 policy, plus $350,000 in Underinsured Motorist insurance)

Physician sustained permanent cognitive damage from a mild traumatic brain injury, disabling her from practice. Insurance policy limit was $500,000 and client requested settlement to avoid expert costs for arbitration.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Dr. E.C.

$463,000.00 Mediation settlement

Client was local area physician of 40+ years, who had sustained a mild traumatic brain injury in a crash with an underinsured motorist in 2012.  The traumatic brain injury was deemed “mild” despite significant personal impact, because under the medical definitions for traumatic brain injury he did not meet the >30 minute loss of consciousness criteria for moderate traumatic brain injury despite a very hard head strike inside the car.

In the period following the collision, the doctor continued to have cognitive and behavioral changes, resulting in him having to close a health food company he had started (but which was not yet profitable), and doubling the hours he worked in his clinical practice to accommodate the problems from his injury.

Medical bills in the case were just under $60,000.

Despite the client’s car being thrown forward 60 feet, a photograph clearly showing a large bruise on the doctor’s forehead, positive SPECT scans, positive CT scan and positive MRI scan, both insurance doctors claimed that there was minimal injury to the doctor, that he should have been fully healed within approximately 12 weeks, and that he had a psychological condition that would explain what he falsely believed were ongoing symptoms related to the brain injury.

The highest settlement offer from GEICO on this case was $39,700.  Case resolved by decision of a three panel, two day arbitration in October 2016.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Dr. C

$39,700

$420,281.00 arbitration decision (in excess of policy limits*)

Severe catastrophic injuries to a 16 year old involving multiple fractures, traumatic brain injuries and inner ear injuries.  

The young woman and her parents approached our law firm after being represented by a plaintiff lawyer who had spent much of his career as a defense lawyer.  One would think he would have great credibility with the insurers.  But despite extensive catastrophic injuries the plaintiff lawyer couldn't get an offer from the insurer due to difficult liability.  The family was unhappy with the $0 offer.  
 
This is a case where another plaintiff lawyer was offered $0 multiple times for a contested liability case, and within a few months we settled three of four claims for the full policy limit available under those three policies; $400,000. That is the difference that trial reputation makes to the value of people's claims.

Learn more about the facts of this case.

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Pedestrian Injuries

AK

$400,000

0

$400,000 (policy limit of insurance)

Plaintiff sustained severe injuries, including a mild traumatic brain injury, neurological injuries and deforming orthopedic injuries. She has been permanently disabled.  Due to the need for money to survive while she was unable to work, she settled the case.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

J.O.

$400,000.00 settlement

Client sustained a traumatic inner ear injury called a dehiscence of her inner ear (where the space between the cranium and the superior semicircular canal is fractured) resulting in an Encephalocele, and a cerebrospinal fluid (“CSF”) leak out of her nose.  Intracranial surgery was required to repair the inner ear and cranial fracture.  The client had a significant symptomatic recovery after her surgery.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

J. Silva

$400,000.00 settlement

Client started a Spanish immersion school in Oregon which has been very successful.  She was hit by an uninsured driver. She had a mild traumatic brain injury and was no longer able to run her school correctly and had to hire two people to replace her.  She had memory problems, difficulty speaking normally, and changes in her ability to lead her business.  She had corporate insurance on her auto with Stonington Insurance / QBE through her school.

She was forced to hire a lawyer because QBE denied her PIP coverage. We attempted to settle the case, laying out all of the losses she had sustained with medical records confirming her losses.  Instead of making a reasonable offer to their own policyholder, she was given a $5,000 offer by her own insurer for injuries that had substantially impacted her personal and professional life. The insurer then refused to agree to binding arbitration under the Uninsured Motorist contract, and forced her to file a lawsuit against her insurance company.

After the claim was in litigation the insurer then did a psychological examination on her, in which the insurance doctor claimed she was exaggerating her symptoms and that she had a personality disorder. Due to our substantial experience in this field, we broke down the findings of the personality testing (MMPI) and made the insurance doctor apply the correct demographic information for our client within the MMPI scoring program.  Three separate times this frequent insurance doctor mis-applied the demographic data trying to mislead us (and the attorney who hired her) about whether the test results were normal. When she finally applied the client’s correct information, the MMPI-2RF computerized program showed that our client was in fact normal on her personality testing.  After recognizing that we knew the testing results were being reported incorrectly, the insurer offered $400,000 before the client’s deposition.

The settlement offer on this case went from $5,000 to $400,000 because our expertise demonstrated that the insurance doctor was lying about the client being injured.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

A. Garcia

$5,000

$400,000.00 settlement

Male client was a passenger in a rideshare vehicle when it was hit by a drunk driver.  Drunk driver was drinking at home rather than at a bar, so no dram shop cases were possible.  Driver was arrested and charged with DUI in violation of ORS 813.010.

Client's vehicle was t-boned by drunk driver.  The crashed caused intrusion into the driver's side of the rideshare vehicle.  Client was found unconscious and unresponsive by EMTs from American Medical Response upon their arrival. (A person who is found unconscious and unresponsive has a Glasgow Coma Score of 3, and is defined as having a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury).  He was transported to Legacy Emanuel Trauma Center.

He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit “based on life threatening injuries” including traumatic brain injury with subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain).  A CT performed in the ER showed that the client had sustained bilateral fractures of the skull base, left temporal lobe, petrus bone and the sphenoid process; a burst fracture of the T1-2 transverse process, comminuted fracture of the left clavicle requiring ORIF, and fractures of the left #2 and #6 ribs causing pulmonary contusions. The client, who was previously a software engineer, had ongoing cognitive problems, but returned to work shortly after he was released from the hospital.

We did extensive work on capturing images within the advanced imaging (CT and MRI) DICOM files from the hospital, and obtained medical illustration to explain his injuries to the insurance adjustors involved in this case.

Unfortunately, there was not nearly enough insurance for this client's loss, which had to be further divided with another passenger more seriously injured at the same time.  To his credit, this client reduced the amount of money he sought so that it was given to his fellow passenger who had substantially higher bills and much more extensive injuries.  We obtained all available insurance from the drunk driver as well as two underinsured motorist insurance policies.

Auto Accidents, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents

Confidential

$395,840 (Multiple Policy Limits including two Underinsured Motorist Policies)

Plaintiff sustained a mild traumatic brain injury, trigeminal nerve injury and hearing loss.  Plaintiff hit by a Ford F-350 carrying a fully loaded tool trailer, which struck the client from the side. Liberty Mutual Insurance’s pre-litigation offer was $35,000.  Liberty Mutual Insurance made no other offers until approximately two week before trial.  A series of offers were rejected as being too low.  Insurer finally offered $395,000 two days prior to trial, which was accepted by the client.  

Jurisdiction in a conservative county in Washington resulted in acceptance of the offer by the client.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

M.S.

$35,000

$395,000.00 settlement

Client sustained mild traumatic brain injury in motor vehicle crash in 2005. The brain injury was missed by client’s neuropsychologist, and then that report was relied upon by her other doctors, all denying she had sustained a brain injury. She continued to have cognitive and balance problems, which are permanent. One year later, believing she had no brain injury due to her multiple doctors denying it, she got on a moped, lost balance and went into oncoming traffic, causing fractures to both arms, fractured ribs, and other injuries.

Client’s first attorney withdrew two weeks before trial after client refused $50,000 offer from Farmers Insurance. Plaintiff then hired lawyer Joshua Shulman who referred the case to Dr. DeShaw, who tried the case. After DeShaw took over the case, the offer from Farmers first went down to $45,000, but then went up to $200,000 one week before trial. The jury verdict after a two week trial was $367,000, all for the injuries from the first collision in 2005, and did not find the second collision in 2006 to be the responsibility of defendant Halsey Automotive Inc.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

D. Stephens

$45,000

$367,000.00 Trial Verdict

This case involved a nationally respected doctor injured in a rear end collision that resulted in a short term mild traumatic brain injury (fully resolved) as well as an ongoing case of mild Complex Regional Pain Syndrome ("CRPS" and formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or "RSD") in his foot.  

This doctor is very highly regarded nationally, and ongoing pain in his foot (that decreased from significant to mild over the course of his injury) initially impacted his ability to practice and lecture.

There were several complicating factors in this case, notably that the client provided almost all of his own treatment. (The client was treating himself with multiple modalities on a daily basis.)  This minimized his proof of injury and the small medical bills suggested that the injury was not as significant as it was. The economic damage claim was also adversely impacted by his status as semi-retired at the time he was injured, and the COVID-19 pandemic impaging a clinic he was about to open. His income as a sports medicine doctor to olympic athletes and professional athletic teams was also adversely impacted by the pandemic - eliminating what would have been his normal income during the time of his injury.

As his condition improved, the client decided to settle his case.  The third party case settled against the at-fault driver during litigation in Washington county on a policy of $250,000. The Underinsured Motorist claim against Country Financial, was initially valued at $0.00 by his insurer, but eventually settled for an additional $100,000. 

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Dr. F

$100,000.00

$0.00

$350,000.00

Clear mild traumatic brain injury to medical assistant in hit and run parking lot collision, where uninsured motorist had a suspended license. Uninsured driver fled the scene but was caught by police and found to be uninsured. Mild traumatic brain injury caused change in cognition to a person with superior pre-accident IQ, and which changed the quality of her life. Client struggled with clinical billing work, at home activities, and in volunteer activities after the mild traumatic brain injury. The amount of client’s policy limit ($100,000) was requested a year before arbitration proceeding, and no offer was made. Oregon Mutual’s pre-arbitration offer was $0.00 until one week before arbitration, when $15,000 was offered.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

T. Holland

$0

$320,000.00 arbitration decision (in excess of insurance policy limits*)

Business owner sustained a disabling low back injury. Client had previously been disabled from logging in a workers compensation injury approximately 10 years before, but had built a very profitable business after that, which had been damaged from the injuries sustained in this collision.  With Jan Baisch as co-counsel.

Personal Injury

I. Kutsev

$308,000 arbitration decision

Policy Limit settlement of homeowners claim, for client who sustained a severe brain injury leading to a multiple week coma, and permanent brain damage. Client was transported from Oregon to Craig Hospital (which specializes in brain injury and spinal cord injury care) in Colorado. Client and guardian, chose not to litigate against homeowner as it was a relative of the client.

The client was a member of the US Coast Guard at the time of this off duty injury.  Our office navigated getting the client the best medical care possible through his military insurance coverage.  We also navigated getting the military to waive its right to reimbursement so that the client could have some funds to care for himself long term, once he was discharged from the Coast Guard.  Our work generated positive recognition from the judge overseeing the conservatorship for the client for our quality of legal work, as he would have otherwise received no compensation for his injuries.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

C. Shunk

$305,000.00 settlement (policy limit*)

This young woman sustained significant injuries in two auto accidents within a month of each other.  The first crash involved a deranged driver who was driving erratically in NE Portland when he swerved in traffic and hit our client. He then attempted to flee the scene in an attempted hit and run, but was stopped by our client. After trying to give his credit card as his insurance card, he ran over grass and sidewalk in order to leave the scene. When interviewed by the insurers, they reported him as not being in a normal mental state. Needless to say his insurer was eager to settle the case with our Portland personal injury law firm.

The second involves a commercial vehicle that struck her, significantly worsening her existing injuries and creating additional new injuries. The injuries include two lumbar disc herniations, damage to the ligaments of the pelvis and SI joint instability that is pending surgery, neurogenic bladder (causing urinary incontinence that has been ongoing for more than six months) from the low back herniations, damage to the TMJ (requiring surgery and a limited diet), and much more.  The client lost their job as a result of a long period of being unable to work.

While this case is ongoing, attorney Caleb Coon secured a policy limit payment of $50,000 from the at fault driver in Crash 1 (who had no other assets), and the $250,000 Underinsured Motorist policy limit from PEMCO.  The legal claims for Crash 2 are ongoing.

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents

R.A.

$300,000

$300,000

$300,000

Client sustained a mild traumatic brain injury and face injury when product was dropped on the client's head.  The client's treatment was significantly limited by COVID-19 health care facility closures and limitations.  As a result, the case value was adversely impacted due to a lack of treatment substantiating the client's injuries. This client was also retired at the time of injury, resulting in no wage loss or future diminished earning capacity claim. No further treatment was recommended by the client's doctors, again resulting in lower claim value than in many mild TBI cases.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Confidential

$115,000 in pre-litigation mediation.

$0

$295,000

This was a case in which we represented a distinguished and internationally renowned professor from Portland State University.  He was hit by a 19 year old driver. He had no symptoms at the scene but in the hours following the crash he developed early signs of a mild traumatic brain injury. As is common, the diagnosis was missed in the Urgent Care according to the records, but a later note from him to his treating provider at Kaiser Permanente suggests he was told he may have a concussion.  The formal diagnosis of concussion wasn't for several more days despite him clearly having early TBI symptoms within a few hours of the collision, with additional TBI symptoms increasing in the days following the collision.  The delay of TBI symptoms has been accepted broadly within the brain injury scientific literature for decades with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Center for Disease Control instructing physicians that TBI symptoms may come on in the days, weeks or months following an injury.

While the professor was already retired from full time work and was working half time, he quit teaching three years earlier than he had intended as a result of moderate post-TBI fatigue and cognitive changes.  The fatigue, cognitive changes and behavioral changes from his brain injury reduced with treatment, but remain at over 50% of their post-crash severity, several years after the injury.

We are often known for accepting challenging traumatic brain injury cases because the client is a person with much higher than normal intelligence, in which the neuropsychological testing shows "normal" test scores that are not normal for our client.  In this case, the client was estimated as having a pre-injury intelligence between the 92nd and 95th percentile of society.  Many of his cognitive testing scores after the crash fell between the 3rd percentile and the 50th percentile - large deviations from his pre-crash capacity.  While scores over the 16th percentile can be called "average" they are definitely not normal for someone who had high level intelligence before a traumatic brain injury.  Our ability to graphically demonstrate the difference, helps us demonstrate the changes in our clients.

Defense experts included Donna Wicher, Ph.D. and Richard Polin M.D.  Thankfully, our law firm has extensive research on insurance doctors and often have a history of cross examinations and trial transcripts on them to assist in our cross examination each time they show up in our litigation.   In addition, we have a medical research database containing thousands of articles on the traumatic injuries sustained by our clients, including over 500 medical journal articles on the topic of all aspects of traumatic brain injury.  In this case, our ability to quickly access that database was important as Allstate never provided the IME report by Richard Polin to our office or the arbitrators and so we had no idea what his opinion was.  Our 25 years of experience as brain injury lawyers is critical to winning in trials and arbitrations in Oregon where "trial by ambush" results in us not knowing who the witnesses are, or in this case, where the arbitrators allowed testimony despite the expert never providing a report, even prior to testimony.

While insurance law requires that in "first party" insurance claims such as Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist claims between the policyholder and the insurer treat the policyholder with equal consideration to the insurer, that certainly is not what happened with Allstate.  This client had been an Allstate policyholder for over 50 years with multiple car, home and commercial apartment complexes, with zero prior auto claims in his life.  Despite this, Allstate offered him $7,700 for his loss.  This binding arbitration was conducted over two days, resulting in an outcome of $285,634 that is 24x the highest offer from Allstate Insurance even when offset with the $100,000 obtained from the at-fault driver. We intend to file an insurance bad faith claim in Oregon as a result of the intentional undervaluation of his claim by his long time insurer. 

To learn more about Allstate's long standing policies and procedures to intentionally underpay policyholder claims through a method often referred to as  "deny, delay, defend" read the book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves. 

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

F.R.

$7,700

$7,700

$285,634.20 Arbitration Decision

Underinsured Motorist arbitration decision, for the traumatic brain injury to a real estate broker, and land developer. Pre-arbitration offer was $5,000.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

D. Chabala

$5,000

$276,000 Arbitration Decision (In excess of the $50,000 policy limit*)

In this case, our client was a pedestrian hit by a car.  She was in the early stage of pregnancy at the time and experienced a miscarriage.  In addition she sustained complex injuries to the spine resulting in instability of the upper neck and other complex spinal and nervous system conditions.  The client left their prior law firm due to an inability to understand the complex injuries involved.

The insurers offered our law firm policy limits shortly after litigation was filed.

Auto Accidents, Pedestrian Injuries, Personal Injury

Confidential

Confidential (Policy Limits)

$0.00

Confidential

Client sustained a head laceration, mild traumatic brain injury and arm injury when an electric bicycle display fell on her while shopping. The client had cognitive changes, behavioral changes, visual system changes and ongoing severe headaches.  Her treatment was significantly limited by her health care system and more notably by being injured just before COVID-19 health care facility closures and limitations.  As a result, the case was adversely impacted due to a lack of treatment substantiating the client's injuries. Despite her best attempts to get brain injury care during COVID, she received very little of the brain injury evaluation and treatments common to a traumatic brain injury case.

To find out more about the challenges and successes of this case see the related blog post here.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Baird

$50,000.00 at Mediation

$0

$265,000.00 Settlement two days before trial

Physician sustained permanent cognitive damage and behavioral changes from a mild traumatic brain injury, making practice difficult and leading to decreased earnings. Client and spouse requested settlement for a lesser amount than our office advised, rather than continue with the stress of litigation with the doctor’s insurer.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Dr. S

$264,236 settlement

Deceased client was injured in a moderate severity car crash.  Due to significant pre-accident health conditions and blood thinner use, the impact caused a slow bleed in his brain that led to his death.  Due to not seeking medical treatment for three days post injury, the brain damage was so serious by the time he reported to the ER, that he was inoperable and went into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital.  Despite an initial intention to fight the claim due to the client's failure to seek appropriate treatment, the at fault driver’s insurer, through her defense lawyer, offered her insurance policy limit.  The client's own insurance through Farmers Insurance, agreed to pay the remaining $200,000 policy limit for his death.

Wrongful Death, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

The Estate of T.H.

$0

$250,000 settlement (policy limits*)

Mr. Essin is a wonderful man from Eugene who was injured by a distracted younger driver. He sustained a mild traumatic brain injury that changed his life, that of his wife, and family, as well as that of his community.  Highly involved in his children’s schools, community sports, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, church, and much more, he also ran a business with his wife in the Eugene Oregon area.  All of this was changed in this crash that resulted in cognitive and behavioral changes, significant cognitive fatigue, and more. The at-fault driver settled for the full amount of their insurance policy – $100,000.  State Farm offered $0, and forced the family into arbitration to recover additional compensation for his losses. Shortly before the arbitration was to take place in October 2016, State Farm offered the full amount of the client’s auto policy limit of $150,000 – bringing the client’s total recovery to the maximum available insurance – $250,000.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

J. Essin

$250,000 pre-arbitration settlement (policy limits*)

Underinsured Motorist arbitration decision – client sustained a mild brain injury, with an aggravation of a pre-existing low back condition that had existed since childhood.

Pre-arbitration offer was $0.

Personal Injury

Schultz

$0

$241,500 Arbitration Decision

Underinsured Motorist arbitration decision, for two collisions leading to two shoulder surgeries, a TMJ surgery and chronic pain.  Despite minimal vehicle damage, Mr. S was permanently disabled by the pain.

Pre-arbitration offer was $0.

Personal Injury

G.S.

$0

$0

$222,000 Arbitration Decision

Client was a passenger in a motorhome that was hit at between 70-100 mph by a drunk driver who had previously received 3 DUIs. Not surprisingly, he was not properly insured at the time. She was accompanied in the motorhome by her father (driver), mother, grandmother and grandfather.

The impact caused over $100,000 in vehicle damage to the motorhome, destroying the entire side. The impact threw client from the side seat forward into the engine area and then to the floor. She had a lost period of consciousness of approximately 3-4 minutes. There were several collisions all at once in a small rural area hospital in SW Washington on the coast, and she didn’t get much care at the ER.

She went to a doctor a few days later complaining of head pain, blackouts, light headedness, loss of sleep, vertigo and head pain. The doctor failed to follow up with any of these initial complaints. The doctor took poor notes from there forward. But, over time the arbitration testimony showed that she started having unusual losses in understanding of where she was, abnormal brain activity, and increasing cognitive problems.

Despite this, her own insurer offered her $5,000 in settlement.

Defense counsel in this case was extremely aggressive both toward client and her parents who were also injured. What we showed in the arbitration was that client had sustained a brain injury in the crash and that this had caused the onset of non-spasmodic temporal lobe seizures that had caused increasing brain damage because it was missed by her initial treating doctor for a year. She had clear seizure activity that was immediately picked up when she and her parents left the initial doctor. She had positive EEG studies, and at our suggestion had an advanced epilepsy study called MEG at UCSD, which definitely diagnosed the epilepsy. The epilepsy and increasing brain damage had also caused widespread hormonal changes, which is typical for that type of temporal lobe epilepsy. (There was, incidentally, no epilepsy present before the crash, or in any member of her family.) We showed both through plaintiff and defense experts that the risk of epilepsy after head trauma was increased by 25x the normal rate when the person experienced a “blackout” within the first week after the accident, as noted in the first doctor’s intake records.

She experienced problems working since the crash, and other problems functioning normally.

The defense arbitrator was a former partner with the defense lawyer, and apparently was successful at convincing the neutral arbitrator that the brain injury should not be included in the arbitration decision due to the lack of notes by the first doctor, despite her report of the problems within three days of the collision, and lay witness testimony about the loss of consciousness at the scene and multiple problems within the first year after the crash.

Despite all of the brain injury damages being excluded, the arbitrators still awarded $181,000 in damages, 36 times the amount offered prior to the arbitration.  While we do not view this case as a success, it demonstrates a case that our firm took from a $5,000 offer to a $181,000 outcome that was only held down by the first doctors failure to correctly refer the patient or take adequate chart notes.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Auto Accidents, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents, Personal Injury

H.B.

$5,000

$181,000 Arbitration Decision

This case was early in this history of our firm.  The client was a passenger in a taxi that was struck by an uninsured drunk driver on Las Vegas Boulevard "the strip" in Las Vegas.  His taxi was pushed up onto the median and sideswiped many trees. The case was an Uninsured Motorist insurance claim against his auto insurance company.

Auto Accidents, DUII and Drugged Driver Accidents, Personal Injury

$116,278.89 Underinsured Motorist Arbitration Award

This case involved a C1 vertebral instability that resulted in restriction of blood flow into the client's brain in certain position leading to variable symptoms.  This was a very early legal case in which motion radiographs combined with an angiogram showing the client's pre-existing abnormality in his neck and head blood vessesls were implemented in a legal case to demonstrate the effect of the C1 instability on vertebral artery blood flow.  

The client demonstrated a loss of consciousness when his vertebra was pressed on, and thankfully his Doctor of Chiropractic suspected a C1 instability and referred him out for advanced imaging to understand the reason for his symptoms.

The average verdict in Linn County Oregon at the time of this incident was approximately $1,100.  The initial offer before litigation was $0.00.  The offer during mediation was $5,000 and the judge strongly urged the client to accept that offer.  We rejected the offer during court ordered judicial settlement conference and went to trial, obtaining a verdict of $105,388.20, approximately 100x the average verdict in that county.

Auto Accidents, Personal Injury

S. Bailey

$5,000.00

$0.00

$105,388.20 jury verdict.

This case involved a traumatic heart attack as the result of a motor vehicle collision.  The insurance policy limit of all insurance policies was $100,000.

The injuries were initially denied, but additional information from our office resulted in the insurer acknowledging the heart attack directly resulting from the crash.

$100,000 (Policy Limits)* Heart Attack after car crash trauma.

Plaintiffs sustained brain damage when treated with ElectroConvulsive Therapy administered with a Mecta ECT machine.  This claim was litigated in Oregon state courts and settled prior to trial, in part as a result of Mecta declaring bankruptcy during the litigation.  Our firms obtained the full insurance policy limit from Mecta on these cases.

Co-Counsel with Baum Hedlund of California.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Class Action, Personal Injury

Multiple

Confidential

Plaintiff sustained brain damage when treated with ElectroConvulsive Therapy administered with a Mecta ECT machine.  This claim was litigated in Oregon state courts and settled prior to trial.

Co-Counsel with Baum Hedlund of California.

Class Action, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Confidential

Plaintiff sustained brain damage when treated with ElectroConvulsive Therapy administered with a Mecta ECT machine.

Co-Counsel with Baum Hedlund of California.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer, Personal Injury

Confidential

This was an exceptionally complex traumatic brain injury case involving a client who had a pre-existing severe traumatic brain injury that had disabled him approximately one year before the case for which we represented him.  He was unable to walk, use his left arm, had limited speaking abilities, a deviated left eye, and had significant cognitive and behavioral issues prior to the event for which we represented him.

While seeking care for the pre-existing traumatic brain injury a medical transportation company failed to put a lift gate up when unloading him from the transport vehicle.  Client was pushed backward out of the transport vehicle in a wheelchair, fell three feet and struck his head. This created a worsening of his pre-existing severe symptoms, including the onset of two seizures within a week of him being pushed out of the medical transport van. The insurer initially made no offer, hired defense counsel and then asked us to enter into pre-litigation mediation.  In order to properly resolve this case, negotiations were necessary with Medicaid and Medicare to ensure he doesn’t lose care for his pre-existing injury, and we helped the family set up a special needs trust.

Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

Confidential

$0

Confidential

Client was an 11-year-old boy on a non-motorized scooter in an area heavily populated by children in Vancouver Washington. Liability was contested due to an allegation that the minor client was primarily at fault for his injuries.

The client sustained serious injuries including a severe traumatic brain injury with multiple skull fractures. He also had internal bleeding and a ruptured spleen. 

Through our legal research, we were able to demonstrate to the insurer that they could not attribute negligence to our minor client in the same way as they would with an adult. Given the severity of the injuries, if the jury found that a “reasonable child” would not have stopped while other kids were playing in the street, we expected the verdict would be very large.

For more on this unique case see the blog post on this case.

Personal Injury, Pedestrian Injuries, Portland Brain Injury Lawyer

C.J.

$25,000

Undisclosed policy limit settlements from both the liability and UIM insurers

Our office represented this Nevada Doctor and his wife in an injury claim against their insurer, Travelers Insurance, for a failure to pay their Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist claim.

Confidential

• Wang v. State Farm – $145,000 UIM Arbitration Award (In Excess of Insurance Policy Limit)*
• Doe v. State Farm – $130,515 UM Arbitration Decision on $0 offer. Minor vehicle damage crash with traumatic brain injury and depression.
• C.B v. Wahedi – $110,000 Policy Limits settlement + UIM settlement*
• E.L. v. Shaver – $110,000 Policy limits + Personal Assets*
• G.N. v. Locey – $100,000 (Policy Limits)*
• T.O. v. Nationwide Insurance – $100,000 (Policy Limits)*
• D.W. v. Sampson – $100,000 (Policy Limits)*
• J.J. v. Candamo – $100,000 (Policy Limits)* mild traumatic brain injury
• V.C. v. Healy & Boelter – $100,000 policy limits from first defendant + $5,000 from second defendant.*
• M.T. v. Hoerner – $100,000 (Policy Limits)*
• Bucknell v. Estate of Hammer – Confidential Settlement

Multiple more jury verdicts, arbitration awards, and settlements for policy limits at or below $100,000.

If you or someone you know needs a personal injury attorney for a serious injury, give us a call. The initial call, and consultation with a lawyer are available to you for free, and with no obligation to hire us.

• Call us locally (503) 227-1233
• Toll-Free (866) 843-3476
• Schedule online