Verdicts & Settlements

Medical Malpractice

In Campbell, Duffy + Partners won a $21,400,000 million verdict on behalf of a diabetic man with brain damage over the care he received in the emergency room of Temple University Hospital
In a recent case, Duffy + Partners reached a $13,500,000 confidential settlement with a hospital for a child and her family. The child was born with cerebral palsy as a result of the neglect of the hospital staff and physicians during the birthing process of the infant.
In Divon, Duffy + Partners won a $6,000,000 verdict against Wills Eye Hospital for Peter Divon, a forklift operator, who suffered blindness in one eye as a result of an infection which developed following a surgery to repair a detached retina. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.
In Smith, Duffy + Partners won a $4,500,000 verdict against Misericordia Hospital, finding the hospital negligent in their testing and treatment of David Smith, ultimately resulting in his death. Mr. Smith was taken by his mother to Misericordia Hospital, and ultimately died of an aortic dissection after the hospital staff failed to properly treat or diagnose Mr. Smith’s condition. The jury returned its verdict after a 2 week long trial. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.
In Graves, a jury returned a $2,000,000 verdict following a 5 day trial, finding that Hahnemann Hospital, and its staff, committed malpractice during a surgical procedure when nerves in Mrs. Graves throat were accidentally cut. This verdict was especially impressive considering no claim for lost wages or medical bills was made – the verdict was based entirely on “pain and suffering”.
In Rivera, the firm successfully argued before a Philadelphia Jury that a 31-year-old man’s poor care at a local hospital led to his death, obtaining a $750,000 verdict for his family.

Birth Injury

Duffy + Partners obtained a $20,500,000 settlement from a major Philadelphia hospital and its doctors based on our proof that the doctors failed to appreciate distress on a fetal monitoring strip. The doctors delayed performing a cesarean section. That delay resulted in anoxic injury to the child and severe cerebral palsy.
The firm secured a $13,500,000 settlement from a major Philadelphia hospital and its doctors based on our proof that the attending maternal fetal medicine physician and the residents who were asked to monitor the mother's labor failed to see that an increase in the mother's glucose level was caused by a failure to properly administer insulin. The doctors delayed initiating delivery for the child resulting in an anoxic injury causing severe cerebral palsy.
A $5,000,000 settlement was obtained for a child who suffered severe cerebral palsy due to head trauma that was sustained when the doctors improperly used instruments during delivery.
Duffy + Partners won a $4,500,000 settlement from a teaching hospital and an attending physician who failed to recognize that a mother had had a recent outbreak of herpes. The doctor permitted the mother to deliver the child vaginally, exposing the child to the herpes virus which caused severe cerebral palsy. The child was 15 when the mother first approached Duffy + Partners, after another attorney had reviewed the case and turned it down.
A $3,800,000 settlement was attained for a boy who, at 28 hours after birth, developed necrotizing endocolitis (NEC). Failure to properly diagnose the NEC resulted in a decrease in oxygen saturation that ultimately caused an anoxic injury and cerebral palsy to the boy.
A $2,250,000 settlement was reached for a baby with cerebral palsy who was delivered by a midwife and nurses. The midwife and nurses failed to recognize the significance of deceleration and drop in the baseline on the fetal monitor
Duffy + Partners won a $1,500,000 settlement for a boy with Erb's Palsy caused by an attending doctor's negligent delivery after a shoulder dystocia was encountered. The doctor failed to perform the necessary maneuvers to avoid an injury.

Product Liability

In Rice, Duffy + Partners obtained a $14,000,000 verdict/settlement for a forklift operator who was crushed by pallets of frozen food when the warehouse racking he was working near collapsed upon him, resulting in partial paralysis. $3,400,000 of the result was by way of settlement with some of the defendants prior to trial. The other $10,600,000 of the result was a jury verdict against the racking manufacturer following a 5 day trial. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year. In a retrial, Rice was awarded $12,400,000, which, added to his previous settlements, and with delay damages, totals over $20,000,000.
In Eap, a $7,000,000 combined policy limits settlement was reached for a 34 year old small business owner rendered a paraplegic when a slab of stone fell upon him from a table used to fabricate stone into decorative countertops. The settlement was obtained from the table manufacturer and two distributors.
In Straub, Duffy + Partners obtained a $4,500,000 verdict in favor of Doug Straub, a construction worker, and his wife, Carol. Mr. Straub suffered many broken bones and a closed head injury following the failure of a sewer plug which exploded, breaking bones in his face, arms and legs. The verdict was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court twice and was ultimately affirmed resulting, with delay damages, in payment of approximately $6,500,000. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.

Motor Vehicle and Trucking Accidents

In Whittlesey, Duffy + Partners obtained a $12,000,000 settlement for their client, Mr. Whittlesey, who suffered quadriplegia from a motor vehicle accident caused by a trucking company. The trucking company, who denied all fault associated with the accident, agreed to the settlement after jury selection. Mr. Whittlesey was able to move from his trailer after having a home specially constructed to accommodate his physical needs. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.
In Kelly, Duffy + Partners settled Reverend Kelly’s injury claim for $6,000,000, the full policy limits available in the litigation. Rev. Kelly’s vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer, causing Rev. Kelly’s vehicle to flip and resulting in the traumatic amputation of Rev. Kelly’s arm. The incident occurred in New Jersey, and the settlement was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.
In Mathis, Duffy + Partners obtained a $3,750,000 settlement during the fourth day of trial for a man who was injured in a low-speed, low-impact crash. There was only $750 in property damage, and there was no traumatic injury established on any x-ray, MRI or other study. However, during trial, Duffy + Partners, through expert research and testimony, established that the minor accident triggered a genetic condition in Mr. Mathis, then 44, known as Ankylosing Spondylitis, a condition of which Mr. Mathis was even unaware. By the time of trial, Mr. Mathis walked with a cane as his genetic condition had caused a progressive fusing of his spine.
In Schramm, Duffy + Partners won a $3,400,000 settlement for their client, a truck driver who suffered massive leg injuries when his tractor-trailer was hit by another trucker's rig.
In Nalls, Duffy + Partners secured a $2.65 million settlement for a young off-duty police officer who was forced off the job by injuries he received when the driver of an automobile hit him on his motorcycle, causing injuries to his face, arm and leg.
In Eager, Duffy + Partners secured a $1,950,000 settlement for a woman who sustained a traumatic brain injury, fractures and other injuries in a motor vehicle accident when the defendant's employee crossed the center line at a dangerous curve on a rain slicked road where a number of accidents had occurred over the years.
In Duffy, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,900,000 verdict for John Duffy, an insurance salesman, who suffered a broken hip following a motor vehicle collision with a police cruiser. The police officer contended he was in a high-speed pursuit of another vehicle, which simply did not pan out to be accurate based upon the police tapes.
In Wardrop, Duffy + Partners attained a $1,700,000 settlement for the family of a warehouse worker who was killed when the driver of a tractor trailer being unloaded by Bruce Wardrop moved the truck wtihout warning, which caused the forklift being operated by Mr. Wardrop to overturn, causing his untimely death.
In Pakuris, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,550,000 verdict for a veteran Philadelphia attorney who suffered a torn rotator cuff following a motor vehicle accident in Media. The attorney sought the assistance of Duffy + Partners for the handling of his claim against the defense driver. The defendant contended that the insignificant impact could not have caused the total disruption of Mr. Pakuris’ rotator cuff. Duffy + Partners was successful in having the defendant’s biomechanical engineer precluded from testifying based upon research against the expert that Duffy + Partners had located in other States.
In Staton, Duffy + Partners settled client Stacy Staton’s suit for $1,100,000 against a company who improperly loaded items onto a tractor trailer he was driving, which caused the truck to tip over during a turn and which resulted in his suffering multiple injuries, surgery and ongoing physical limitations and pain.
In Britt, Duffy + Partners obtained a policy limits settlement of $1,000,000 in Lehigh County for an Upper Darby police officer who suffered a back injury following an accident with a lumber truck. While the defense disputed liability, causation and damages, and conducted countless hours of surveillance of Mr. Britt, an inflexible policy limit demand was made, and a tender ultimately came shortly before trial.

Construction Accidents

A construction failure can result in massive property damage. In NCO Group, Duffy + Partners obtained a $28,200,000 verdict for property owners who suffered catastrophic losses due to failures in construction sequencing that ultimately resulted in the virtual destruction of several businesses by way of flooding. While the defendants argued that they were not negligent, or that their negligence did not cause the damages suffered by the plaintiffs, the jury clearly found otherwise.
In Voce, a 49 year old union glazer was caused to suffer a permanent hip injury, resulting in his inability to return work, when the ladder he was working on, collapsed into a nearby ditch. The jury returned a $6,500,000 verdict for Mr. and Mrs. Voce, finding the general contractor negligent by providing an unsafe working environment for Mr. Voce and his co-workers.
In Baird, Duffy + Partners secured a $2,350,000 settlement for a union glazier who became permanently disabled because he had to dive to get out of the way of a crate of glass being unloaded by a crane.
In Davia, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,900,000 settlement for a contractor who suffered multiple injuries after a fall from scaffolding that had been improperly and unsafely built by another contractor on a construction site.
In Kee, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,500,000 settlement for a union plumber who fell through a rotted floor during a commercial construction project. While Mr. Kee fell only 2 feet, he suffered bilateral shoulder injuries resulting in his inability to continue work as a union plumber.

Premises Liability

In Gymnastics Plus, Duffy + Partners obtained a $3,000,000 verdict for a New Jersey gymnastics facility which burned down due to the failure of the local utility, GPU, to maintain adequate surge protection at its transformers. GPU contended that such a verdict was the first of its kind and would set a new standard of safety for the utility. GPU fought the case, unsuccessfully, through the Appellate Division and Supreme Courts of New Jersey.
In Cole, a truck driver, Mike Cole, suffered a wrist injury when a steel roll-away door, fell from its track, landing on Mr. Cole’s wrist, causing it to fracture in multiple places. Mr. Cole, a truck driver, was unable to continue driving trucks. A New Castle County, Delaware jury returned a $1,600,000 verdict for Mr. Cole against the Port of Wilmington.
In Eshleman, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,000,000 settlement for a security office who suffered an electrical shock, resulting in RSD, while performing her patrol at a nuclear power plant. The RSD condition affected Ms. Eshleman’s right arm, preventing her from handling fire-arms, a necessary part of her job.

Personal Injury

In Ward, Duffy + Partners secured a $2,500,000 settlement for a woman who, while working at her job as a bank teller supervisor, sustained injuries and permanent nerve damage when a deliveryman knocked a heavy box off of a hand truck onto our client's foot and leg.
In Williams, Duffy + Partners obtained a jury award of $2,360,000 for a young teenager kicked in the face by a horse while participating in a nonprofit program that provided urban youths with activities centered around horses.
In Moyer, a a Philadelphia jury awarded $850,000 to a client who had been struck and knocked down by a delivery truck as the truck was pulling out from the loading dock. The defense argued that the driver had looked in his mirrors within seconds before the incident, and Ms. Moyer was not present. Duffy + Partners successfully argued that whether Ms. Moyer was present for merely seconds or longer is immaterial as one should not move a truck without confirming it was safe to do so. The defense also argued that Ms. Moyer sustained nothing more than soft-tissue injuries.