- $2 million industrial accident products liability settlement
Cohen & Feeley attorney, Mark Altemose, obtained a 2 million dollar settlement on August of 2008 in an industrial workplace accident. Our client was a 57 year old maintenance worker for the borough of Lehighton and was injured when a sewer line suddenly and unexpectedly exploded while he was performing a routine maintenance procedure. The explosion was caused as a result of certain chemicals being improperly introduced into the sewer.
As a result of the explosion our client suffered serious injuries to his face and head including burning injuries to his face and eyes. A product liability lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County based upon defective design. The lawsuit asserted the chemicals were not properly mixed and that the product did not provide adequate warnings. Only after extensive litigation were the parties able to resolve the case through mediation.
- $1 million industrial accident settlement
- $4.36 million construction accident verdict
Cohen & Feeley attorneys, Mark Altemose and Kelly Rambo won a 4.36 million dollar verdict in the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County for a 55 year old client whose leg was amputated above the knee as a result of injuries he sustained in a construction site accident. At the time that the client’s leg was crushed, he was acting as a volunteer during a remodeling project for a church. The client had volunteered to run computer lines and phone wiring as the walls were being constructed. The drywall subcontractor negligently stacked 20 sheets of drywall in the hallway directly in front of the outlets that our client needed to access to perform his work. This action was a violation of good construction site practices and standards.
The combined weight of the stacked drywall sheets was approximately 1 ton. When Mr. Benfield arrived at the construction he realized that the drywall sheets blocked his access to the wall where he needed to work. As he was in the process of attempting to move the drywall sheets, they fell on his leg trapping him underneath for over ten hours. By the time he was found his leg had sustained such severe and extensive injury that it had to be amputated. Both Cohen & Feeley lawyers alleged that the contractors were negligent for violating OSHA regulations that required all hallways be kept cleared of stacked materials. After a ten day jury trial, both the contractor and subcontractor were found negligent. They awarded our client a total of 4,368,847.10.
- $3.9 million medical malpractice verdict
In January 2008 after five days of trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, Cohen & Feeley attorneys, Steven Margolis and Jonathan B. Acklen were successful in obtaining a verdict of $3,973,000 against Dr. Joseph M. Skutches and St. Luke’s Hospital. The lawsuit was based upon a failure to recommend the biopsy of a breast lump which led to an eleven month delay in the diagnosis of cancer. As a result of this medical negligence our client, who had a 20% chance of survival, lost her battle with cancer on May 23, 2009.
Our client developed a lump on her breast for which she sought medical attention with her ob/gyn doctors. After an examination the doctor told her not to worry about the lump and that it was a sebaceous cyst. He failed to instruct her that a biopsy would be necessary to rule out the possibility of cancer. The failure to perform the biopsy of the tumor was a violation of the standard of care and constituted medical malpractice.
- $2 million medical malpractice settlement
- $1.5 million construction accident verdict
- $440,000 trucking accident verdict, which included $150,000 in punitive damages
- $2 million in automobile accident settlement
- 3 medical malpractice verdicts of over $500,000
- $1 million
In January of 2009, Cohen & Feeley Attorneys Steven J. Margolis and Jonathan B. Acklen conducted a trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County. Our client was performing maintenance and repair to a machine. Prior to working upon the machine, it was our client’s understanding that the machine had been “tagged out and locked out” to prevent the machine from becoming operational. During the repair process, the machine unexpectedly became operational causing our client to lose his balance and his leg to become crushed in the machinery. The lawsuit against the company was instituted and thereafter an additional defendant was joined into the lawsuit on a product liability theory. Attorney Margolis, a partner with Cohen & Feeley, presented evidence on behalf of our client indicating that the machine was not secured and that the safety interlock system on the machine had been intentionally disabled by the defendant. Cohen & Feeley filed a claim for pain and suffering, past and future lost income as well as medical expenses. A claim was also brought for punitive damages. After four days of trial the case was settled in an amount in excess of 1 million dollars.
- $950,000 work site machinery settlement
In May of 2009, Cohen & Feeley attorney Mark Altemose settled a workplace related injury filed in the United State District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for $950,000. Cohen & Feeley’s client resides in Lehighton and the injury occurred at his place of employment in Macungie. The Plaintiff suffered an amputation injury to the first and second toes and partial amputation of his third toe while he was assisting in the process of unloading a 35,000 gallon plastic fire truck poly tank which was going to be used on the body of a fire truck. As the tank was being hoisted from the truck bolts that are attached to the rigging system to the tank for the purpose of lifting the tank failed and the tank weighing just under 3,000 pounds fell and crushed the Plaintiff’s left foot.
Attorney Altemose sued both the manufacturer of the rigging system used to lift the tank as well as the company that manufacturer the wrapping around the tank. Both of these claims asserted a product liability defect in the design and manufacture of the faulty equipment. There were approximately $110,000 in past medical expenses and a loss of earning capacity claim. Even though the Plaintiff will return at his former position, Attorney Altemose was able to negotiate a settlement with both defendants in the amount of $950,000.
- $1.86 million in route 22 auto crash
In November of 2008, our client was operating her 1996 Jeep Cherokee east on Route 22 in Whitehall, Lehigh County Pennsylvania and was on her way to work. As she entered the area of Fullerton Bridge over Route 22, a tractor trailer owned and operated by the Vidov Trucking, Inc., struck the bottom of the bridge causing the container which it was carrying to fall to the ground. Our client was unable to avoid the container causing her to suffer severe blunt trauma injuries which caused her immediate death.
Partner Mark Altemose of Cohen & Feeley brought a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Federal Court against the driver of the truck and his employer. The evidence revealed that these companies also caused the accident by either failing to provide the dimensions of the container on the shipping documents or by supplying the wrong dimensions for the container on the shipping documents supplied to Vidov Trucking.
After extensive litigation and the involvement of the client’s underinsured motorist insured company, a total settlement was reached in the amount of 1,860,000 payable to the Plaintiff’s estate and her heirs.
