$1.37M Settlement for Family of Couple Killed in Crash with Truck
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 21st, 2014
The estate of a young couple who were killed when a tractor-trailer rear-ended their car on July 1, 2013 in Pontiac, Mich., will receive a $1.37 million settlement from the furniture company that owned the truck that caused the deadly crash. Killed in the crash were 34-year-old Lonny Moore, Jr. and 25-year-old Kari Michelle Hinspeter, who were on their way to a babysitter's house to pick up their five-month-old son, Jayce Moore, after spending a...
$4.75 Million Settlement in 2011 Philly Apartment Complex Fire
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 12th, 2014
A group of more than 100 renters whose possessions were destroyed in a January 2011 apartment building fire in West Philadelphia have reached a $4.75 million settlement with the owners and property managers of the complex. The settlement, which was announced in a Dec. 11 story in The Legal Intelligencer, came three days into a trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The massive five-alarm blaze, which occurred on Jan. 10, 2011 at the...
$2.5M Verdict to Wife of Man Killed By Drunk Driver in Dram Shop Case
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on December 5th, 2014
A $2.5 million jury verdict has been received by the wife of a Perry County, Pa., man who was killed in a 2013 car crash with a drunken driver. The drunken driver, Jason R. Madden, 32, had been served alcoholic beverages in a local bar for more than six hours before getting behind the wheel and causing the crash, according to a Nov. 18 story in The Legal Intelligencer. The crash killed Keith Kerlin, 42,...
Woman Cleared in Crash Death Due to Defective G.M. Ignition Switch
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 28th, 2014
Ten years ago, on Nov. 15, 2004, Gene Mikale Erickson, then 25, was killed in a car crash when his fiancé lost control of the 2004 Saturn Ion car they were traveling in and crashed into a tree near Tyler, Texas. The fiancé, Candice Anderson, who was 21 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, underwent five years of probation, paid more than $10,000 in fines and restitution and has...
N.Y. Ferry Crash Survivor Gets $5M Settlement for Severe Injuries
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 21st, 2014
A 43-year-old New Jersey man recently received a $5 million settlement in connection with a 2013 ferry crash in lower Manhattan in New York City that left him severely injured. John Urbanowicz suffered a skull fracture and brain injuries and underwent multiple surgeries to treat his devastating injuries after the ferry crash, according to a Nov. 20 story by The Associated Press. "More than 80 people were injured on Jan. 9, 2013 when the Wall...
$400,000 Settlement to Woman Who Fell From Backyard Deck
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 14th, 2014
As she relaxed on the backyard deck of her rental home on in Rossville, N.Y., on July 21, 2011, Lorraine Gallo leaned on the deck’s railing and was severely injured when the railing broke and she fell to the ground below. Gallo, now 55, suffered neck, back and knee injuries from the fall, which occurred at home she rented on Barry Street in Rossville, according to an Oct. 28 story in the Staten Island Advance...
$9.9 Million Verdict Against Mazda in Fiery, Deadly Car Crash
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on November 7th, 2014
Mazda Motor Corp. has been ordered by an Alabama jury to pay a total of $9.9 million to a young woman who survived a fiery November 2010 car crash and to the family of her 15-year-old passenger who was killed after being trapped in the burning wreckage. Following a three-week trial, the jury awarded $6 million to Sydney McLemore, who survived the crash but suffered serious burns over 15 percent of her body, and $3.9...
$3.8 Million Settlement to Severely Injured Lehigh County Man
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on October 31st, 2014
A 27-year-old Lehigh County man will receive a $3.8 million settlement to compensate him for severe injuries he received when two tractor-trailers smashed into his SUV on a Pennsylvania Interstate highway in July 2010. Kyle Kelly, who was 23 at the time of the crash, was driving home from work in his SUV early on July 30, 2010 in the southbound lanes of Interstate 380 in Coolbaugh Township when his SUV was struck head-on by...
$12.5 Million Jury Verdict against Toyota in Lap Belt Case
By Dean I. Weitzman, Esq. on October 25th, 2014
Toyota Motor Corp. must pay a $12.5 million verdict in California after a jury ruled that a victim in an SUV crash was severely injured due to a poorly designed lap belt in the center rear seat of a 1996 Toyota 4Runner. The victim, Chelsie Hill, who was 17 years old at the time of the 2010 crash in southern California, was a passenger in the center rear seat of the 4Runner when the SUV...