Case Results

We represented a 56-year-old woman who was injured when her car was struck by a truck. The driver of the truck claimed that his brakes failed at the last minute. She was admitted to the hospital and several months later she had recovered except for some residual cognitive deficits including memory, concentration, and the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. She was very intelligent but claimed to be unable to perform certain demanding aspects of her job. The defense contended she should be able to work and that the brake failure could not have been anticipated. The defendant offered $6,000,000 in settlement before trial, which was rejected. The jury awarded $19,631,000. The judgment was entered for this amount plus past interest and costs for a total of $21,000,000. Our investigation indicates this was the largest net compensatory (non-punitive) award of its type for an individual in California state history as of 2000.

This is believed to be the largest medical malpractice recovery, either by settlement or jury verdict, for a medical malpractice case in California history. In this case, our client developed a routine infection during pregnancy that wasn't treated by her health care providers. The infection worsened and she became septic. She was hospitalized and nearly died. She recovered; however, her baby sustained a severe brain injury from the mother's infection and requires 24/7 attendant care for life.

We represented a family in Hawaii whose child suffered brain damage during birth.The case was against the United States for a birth injury which resulted from the government doctor's failure to promptly deliver the baby when the labor failed to progress, and fetal monitoring revealed the baby was in trouble. The injured young boy is now able to walk and communicate, but will live with disabilities that require constant supervision for the rest of his life. The settlement is the largest pretrial settlement against the USA in this Western state’s history.

This case involved a 3-day old child with a medical condition that the defendant decided needed surgery. Laparoscopic surgery was performed at a major California university hospital. The needle that was used to insufflate the child’s abdomen was placed in the umbilical vein and the gas went straight to the child’s heart and then the brain, causing a serious brain injury. The case settled for $14 million, the largest medical malpractice settlement in California at the time (2018).

The defendants failed to monitor a fetus during critical times before the birth and when they did resume monitoring the child was found to be in distress. The baby suffered a profound brain injury resulting in cerebral palsy and will require 24-hour care for the remainder of its life. The value of the confidential settlement is based on its present value - the cost of an annuity to fund the settlement amount plus the cash agreed upon. This was the largest birth injury settlement in California as of 2010.

This case involved neonatal blindness injuries to premature triplets from retinopathy of prematurity. Retinopathy of prematurity can be treated if timely diagnosed and is a common problem in premature infants. We contended that the hospital, neonatologist, and pediatricians failed to diagnose the condition in a timely manner. The defendants contended that the mother failed to obtain an eye exam in a timely fashion after the triplets were discharged from the hospital. This 2000 confidential settlement was the largest of its type in the history of Hawaii.

Our birth injury specialists settled a case for $10,000,000 for birth injuries to a child. We contended the attending doctors failed to promptly deliver the child when fetal monitoring showed potential problems. The child is a spastic quadriplegic, tube fed with global delays, including severe cognitive deficits. The defense contended life-expectancy was limited. Plaintiffs contended life expectancy would be lengthy. This was a record settlement for an obstetrical case in the state where it was obtained.

Our wrongful death attorneys in San Francisco settled a case involving the death of an athletic 38-year-old executive, who stopped at a UCSF clinic at the airport complaining of chest "tightness". The EKG was normal; there were no cardiac risk factors. The doctor diagnosed chest muscle strain and allowed the decedent to fly to Colorado and then Mexico where he died 7 days after the clinic visit. Defendants argued that the decedent appeared healthy and in no distress and therefore the clinic symptoms were not cardiac.

This case involved a 25-year old woman who developed MRSA pneumonia and then became septic. The defendants failed to diagnose and treat her sepsis promptly. When they did treat the sepsis, an excessive administration of medication intended to improve blood pressure caused her to lose both her hands below the forearm and both legs below the knees. The case settled in 2018 for $9,750,000 - this was the highest settlement for amputation in California history.

We resolved a case involving a jail inmate who had a skin infection and was not promptly sent for emergency care by the corrections facility personnel. He developed septic shock and suffered multiple amputations of hands and feet. This was a record amputation result in the state where it was obtained.

This particular case involved a 40-year old woman who had pyelonephritis (a kidney infection) and developed sepsis because it was not properly diagnosed and treated in the ER. As a result, she lost both legs below the knees and both arms below the elbows. The case settled in California in 2017 for $9,250,000. This was a record amputation result at the time.

Our birth injury lawyers tried a case against the United States government in the Federal District Court of Hawaii. It was our contention that the child had been injured at birth because of improper management of the labor process. The defendants requested the case be divided into two trials, one on the issue of the statute of limitations, and the other on the remaining medical issues. We tried both issues in trials six months apart and won both trials. The judgment was for $8.9 million. We were told at the time that this was the highest Ninth Circuit award in history for an individual in a medical malpractice case.

This child was found not breathing by a nurse and a code was called for resuscitation during which bilateral ruptured lungs were missed. The defendants contended that damage was done in an early apneic episode while the baby was in the mother's hands and before the nurse came into the room.

We represented a 16-year-old teenager who was brain-injured as the result of poor anesthetic technique during a knee operation. The highest judgment or settlement in Oklahoma state history prior to this case was $2.2 million. We settled this case just before trial on a structured basis with $2.5 million in cash and $120,000 per year increasing at 6% for life with an additional $120,000 increasing at 6% for life to start in ten years and third $120,000 per year to increase at 6% to start in twenty years. The annuities were all guaranteed for twenty years. There were also additional annuities for the parents. The present case value of this settlement was approximately $8 million.

Our brain injury lawyers represented a 65-year-old woman who was found to have a cerebral aneurysm. While the aneurysm was being treated it ruptured causing her significant brain injuries. Her injuries included quadraparesis and moderate to severe cognitive injuries necessitating 24 hour care. Plaintiff had a history of cancer and was receiving periodic CT scans to look for metastasis. Plaintiff contended that the aneurysm was visible on one of the CT scans and could have been diagnosed before she had a bleed. When the bleed occurred, the aneurysm was diagnosed and intervention attempted. Plaintiff claimed that the intervention was undertaken by personnel who were not properly trained in coiling techniques for aneurysms and caused the rupture. The defendants contended that in the original CT scan the aneurysm looked like bone in the sella and not an aneurysms. The interventional radiologists contended that this was an emergency situation and that intervention was necessary to save her life. They further stated that the rupture occurred spontaneously and was not related to anything they did during the procedure. This was a record result for a brain injury to a person of this age in this state.

A child was rendered partially blind, partially paralyzed, and brain-damaged from cardiac arrest during surgery for the repair of a urological problem. We contended that the anesthesia machine used during the surgery malfunctioned due to faulty design and maintenance. The experts agreed this child had only mild cognitive impairment, and that he would be able to functionally ambulate. This case settled for $7,760,000 cash.

This San Francisco case involved an 18-year-old woman who had been rendered quadriplegic during radiation treatment for cancer she had suffered as a child (Necochea v. UCSF and Mt. Zion Hospital ). This was an extremely difficult liability case against two major local hospitals and a nationally recognized radiation therapist. The defense offered $500,000 to settle the case. That offer was withdrawn during the eight-week trial. The 1978 jury verdict of $7.6 million (present value) was the highest jury verdict in the country and received worldwide media coverage and was on Walter Cronkite's 6 o'clock news. It remained one of the highest present value malpractice verdicts in the western states for years. It was then exceeded by a judgment for $8,900,000 that our firm obtained in Hawaii.

We settled this confidential case in a mid-western state for a record amount. The child suffered cerebral palsy as a result of fetal distress (non-reassuring fetal monitoring strips) which was not intervened upon until too late. The child was born severely depressed.

A child suffered cerebral palsy and our birth injury team resolved the case for a record amount in California.

We handled a legal and underlying medical malpractice case against Melvin Belli Esq., wherein we represented a thirty-two-year-old man who had been paralyzed in an automobile accident when he was sixteen years old. Belli had represented the young man in his auto case, which he settled for $250,000. We contended that he had missed other potential medical defendants. This case was tried for nine weeks in San Francisco County against an original offer of $600,000, which was then raised during the trial to $1,200,000 and ultimately rejected by us. The trial involved proving medical malpractice against several doctors and a hospital, as well as legal malpractice against Mr. Belli and his firm. The jury verdict was $6.4 million with pre-judgment interest and costs. This was a record legal malpractice verdict at the time (Geisick v. Belli, 1984).

Brain infarcts caused by epinephrine overdose during emergency treatment for a respiratory crisis.

Our neonatal and birth injury lawyers in California represented a child who was brain injured shortly after her birth where the hospital personnel failed to note symptoms and treat a child suffering from hyperbilirubinemia. This resulted in a condition called kernicterus. This caused the child to become a quadriplegic with retained cognitive ability.

Our birth injury lawyers handled this case in a middle American state west of the Mississippi. This was believed to be the highest birth injury settlement in the state's history. The case was settled for the full policy limits of the physician.

We represented the parents of a 14-year-old girl who was killed at her bible camp when the ATV she was riding overturned. We sued the church that owned the camp for the negligence of the 20-year-old camp counselor operating the vehicle. Our research at the time indicated this was the largest out of court settlement for the wrongful death of a child in California history (Ramos v Twin Lakes Church).

Plaintiff was injured in an off road motorcycle accident and was admitted to an emergency hospital for evaluation and observation. Over the next 24 hours, he gradually had increasing symptoms involving changes in sensation and decreased motor ability. Eventually he was transferred by air to another facility where they diagnosed a traumatic vertebral artery dissection. Plaintiff contended that defendants failed to diagnose the vertebral artery dissection and failed to treat it promptly to prevent propagation of the clot. Defendants contended that the clot propagation was inevitable and could not have been prevented by early diagnosis and treatment. The plaintiff died one year after the settlement was obtained.