Catastrophic Injury Case Inquiry Form

Catastrophic Injuries

Zwiebel & Fairbanks, LLP has a long history of handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. These cases present extraordinary challenges to a law firm. The lawyers must possess skill, knowledge and have the appropriate contacts to retain experts in order to effectively handle these cases. Catastrophic injury cases and some wrongful death cases will necessitate the need for economic experts, medical experts, vocational rehabilitation experts, medical life plan experts, specialists in computerized prosthetic limbs and others with highly specialized knowledge. Attorneys working on catastrophic injury cases must be aware of the consequences of tax laws, disability laws, Medicare and Medicaid laws, and the need and right of catastrophically injured patients to have the very best medical care and not just the medical care provided by Worker’s Compensation or an HMO.

At Zwiebel & Fairbanks, we have developed the necessary contacts through long experience with the victims of catastrophic injuries. Law firms that handle ordinary personal injury cases frequently miss sophisticated issues, which can greatly affect the monetary value of a case.
Our lawyers have settled and tried numerous catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. When an unfortunate young man on a motorcycle was hit by an elderly driver and was disabled for life by a rare nerve disorder Jonathan Fairbanks took the case took trial. A jury in Saratoga County awarded the young man $5.5 million, the largest contested verdict in Saratoga County history. (See, Goshanauer v. Turnbull reported in The Saratogian and the New York Jury Reporter).
Our firm has settled the wrongful death case of a young mother for $3.2 million. The value of the case was, in large part, determined by mental health experts retained by our firm who determined the value of the mother’s counseling and guidance for her two infant children, including one son with serious special needs. The case would have settled for much less had these experts not been retained and brought in to testify. (See, Halley v. Albany Medical Center, New York Jury Reporter).

In another case handled by Zwiebel & Fairbanks, a premature baby who required careful treatment and observation was overdosed on potassium. The hospital, of course, tried to blame her problems on her prematurity. A recognized international expert, head of pediatric nephrology in Boston, Massachusetts and a professor at Harvard Medical School, in the field of infant kidneys was retained to analyze the record. With his expertise, we were able to convince the hospital to settle the matter for $2.2 million. However, Zwiebel & Fairbanks, did not conclude their work at this juncture. The attorneys realized that the child would need extensive continuing medical care. As a consequence, we arranged for her to continue in a special federally funded program without having to deplete her resources(See Bennett v Albany Medical Center).

Many law firms handle personal injury cases. Cases of catastrophic injury and wrongful death require “THE RIGHT LAWYERS” who can work their way through the complications that these cases present. Most importantly, our lawyers will know how to maximize recoveries and provide long-term protection to the victims of catastrophic injuries and their families.

 

Catastrophic Injury Case Inquiry Form