Verdicts + Settlements
The Duffy Firm successfully negotiated a confidential pre-litigation settlement of $7,500,000 - without discovery - against a parking facility and its management company following an assault on a patron who, in approaching her car after leaving a store, was the victim of an attack. While the commercial defendants argued that the criminal defendants were the culpable parties, the firm amassed significant evidence of local crimes and conducted a nationwide search of the defendants’ other parking facilities to establish that the negligent security system at the facility in issue allowed the criminal defendants to perpetrate their crimes.
A young professional man visited a hospital ER in the region complaining of back pain, chest pain, headache and cough. Even though a number of tests indicated emergency surgery was needed that could not be performed at that hospital, the hospital delayed the transfer of the patient to another hospital and failed to include critical test results when the patient was finally transferred. Sadly, the patient died. The defendants argued that underlying medical issues, including Marfan syndrome and mitral valve prolapse, were contributing factors out of their control, that the patient was in significant end-organ dysfunction upon arrival and that he would not have survived the surgery. However, The Duffy Firm obtained a $7,500,000 settlement for his surviving wife and young child.
The Duffy Firm obtained a combination verdict and settlement exceeding $7,250,000 for two clients who received gunshot injuries while exiting a bar. Fortunately, both clients survived the shooting, but suffered orthopedic and other internal injuries. The clients brought negligent security claims against the bar and claims against the shooter, and the firm worked to establish a significant criminal history at the establishment, putting the bar on notice of the potential for future crimes.
In Fitzpatrick v. Toll Brothers, Inc., et al, The Duffy Firm represented Vinny Fitzpatrick, a 54-year-old insulation installer who fell through a hole at a construction site. The hole had been cut in the floor of a home under construction so as to lower drywall to the basement level. There were several entities involved in the litigation, including general contractor Toll Brothers, Inc., supplier L&W Supply Corporation, installer Advanced Drywall Systems II, LLC, and handyman service provider Johnston Built, LLC. Each of the defendants claimed another was responsible for both the cause of the hazard and whose responsibility it had been to secure and mark it per OSHA guidelines. Additionally, the defendants universally claimed that our client’s injuries were minor and that he was capable of returning to work. However, the firm was able to effectively establish the severity, trauma and permanent nature of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s injuries and obtained a global settlement of $7,000,001 just two days before jury selection.
In Eap, a combined policy limits settlement of $7,000,000 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 Duffy Firm obtained the settlement from the table manufacturer and two distributors.
In Voce, The Duffy Firm's client, a 49-year-old union glazier, suffered a permanent hip injury when the ladder he was working on collapsed into a nearby ditch, resulting in his inability to return to work. 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 our client and his co-workers.
In Straub, The Duffy Firm 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 Pennsylvania that year.
In Kelly, The Duffy Firm settled Reverend Crawford Kelly, Jr.'s claim for $6,000,000, the full insurance policy limit available in the litigation, after Reverend Kelly’s vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer, causing his vehicle to flip and resulting in the traumatic amputation of his arm. The settlement for the incident, which occurred in New Jersey, was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the state that year.
In Divon, The Duffy Firm 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 Pennsylvania that year.
In Williams, The Duffy Firm secured a $5,700,000 verdict after a mentally impaired man who had been admitted to a hospital for self-inflicted stab wounds was left alone and leaped from a fourth-floor window.
The Duffy Firm recovered $5,000,000 for the estate of a family whose wife/mother died when construction debris fell off the back of a passing truck, killing her instantly. She was a passenger and her husband, who was driving, witnessed the entire horrific event.
A confidential settlement of $5,000,000 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.
In Mangano, a high school administrator came to The Duffy Firm for help after she slipped on wet flooring glue that had been applied by a flooring contractor. While the defense admitted spreading the glue, they claimed that Mrs. Mangano was not watching where she was walking and should have seen the bright white glue on the floor. Through depositions of defense corporate representatives, it was discovered that while the contractor had prepared a company safety manual, it never distributed it to their employees as it burdensome to do so. Mrs. Mangano claimed severe pain in her leg, which, while it did not appear on MRIs or X-Rays, was identified as RSD/CRPS, a post-traumatic pain syndrome linked to her accident. The defense denied the diagnosis of RSD/CRPS and blamed her pain on a prior accident and/or prior medical conditions. In the end, the firm secured a $5,000,000 settlement for Mr. and Mrs. Mangano to compensate them for Mrs. Mangano’s pain, limitations, wage loss and medical bills.
The Duffy Firm recovered a confidential settlement of $4,625,000 for a young lady who lost three fingers on her non-dominant hand when it was pulled into a machine which the plaintiff contended lacked proper guards and/or warnings. Complicating factors with this matter included the fact that the machine was 25 years old at the time of the incident without evidence of prior incident, and the plaintiff had an unfortunate arrest record both before and after the incident.
A confidential settlement in the amount of $4,500,000 was obtained for a school bus driver whose arm got stuck in a wheelchair lift when the lift malfunctioned and failed to stop upon reaching the floor of the school bus.