Cases & Verdicts

Type of Case – Framingham Injury Attorneys and Negligence Case – Failure to Properly Protect Elderly Patron from Dangerously Wet Floor
Settlement – $725,000.00

History

A totally independent elderly woman who lived alone and drove entered a fast food restaurant by an entrance that did not have a weather carpet over the ceramic tiling flooring. Two other entrances did have such protective weather carpeting. Outside the restaurant there was a snow cover and a cleared walkway but it was wet and water was tracked in from the doorway our client used. As she entered, she slipped and fell fracturing her hip requiring surgery and external wire fixation to stabilize the fracture.

After a lengthy hospital admission, she was transferred to a rehabilitation facility for several months and then, because it was feared she could not care for herself or get around easily, she was told she would have to move to a nursing home. The restaurant argued that the floor was not wet and not recently mopped. However, witnesses that we located disproved the restaurant’s initial argument. The restaurant then argued that water must have been tracked in from outside because of the weather conditions and here is where their failure to have a weather mat at each of the three entrances let to a successful resolution of the case. [Read more...]

Type of Case – Greater Boston Negligence Attorneys – Failure to Protect Disabled Student
Settlement – $300,000.00

History

An eighteen year old disabled residential student of a non-profit school jumped approximately 30 feet from the roof of the school building in an apparent attempt to kill herself. The mission of the school was to provide educational services to adolescence and young adults who were challenged physically as well as by problems such as childhood abuse and mental illness. Prior to living at the school, our client was an inpatient at a local state mental hospital because she twice climbed on the roof of her home with the intention of jumping. On the day of accident, she became upset after interacting with other students and began screaming, hitting and otherwise acting out. The staff controlled her by using a one-to-one staff to student ratio. After about thirty minutes, staff believed that the student had calmed down. The staff member then agreed to take our client on a walk around the campus. As the two exited the school building, the student ran up a wide wooden set of stairs used as a fire escape, ducked under the railing and went onto the flat roof of the school. The student stood at the edge of the roof 30 feet in the air and stated that she was going to count to 60 and jump. The staff member, while positioned at the top of the fire escape, attempted to try to talk her down but without success. When the student finished her count, she said good-by and jumped feet first from the roof.

[Read more...]

Type of Case – Massachusetts Workers Compensation Accident
Settlement – $1,000,000.00

History

Our client worked as a maintenance person for a large Massachusetts defense contractor in one of its manufacturing plants. On the day of his accident, our client was required to lower an industrial bucket filled with water and mop from one level in the building to another. In order to assist employees in moving material from one level to another, the employer had installed a scissors lift. A scissors lift is a flat piece of steel powered by a hydraulic ram to raise and lower it. The scissors lift was designed and manufactured by a corporation other than the employer.

Our client stood next to the lift and used an on/off switch attached to a wire to operate the lift. As the lift began to descend, the bucket began to roll. In an effort to stop the bucket, our client stepped forward to brace it and placed his foot under the lift as it descended to the floor. The lift came down and crushed the plaintiff’s left foot.

As a result of the crush injury, the plaintiff suffered reflex sympathetic dystrophy. This is a very painful condition that involves the soft tissues and nerves of the foot. One suffering from this injury is caused excruciating pain when attempting to stand on the foot or weight bear. As a result of this accident, the plaintiff became permanently non-weight bearing and now either uses crutches or a wheelchair. [Read more...]

Type of Case – Boston Metrowest Negligence Attorneys – Failure to Observe Pedestrian
Settlement – $130,000.00

History

While visiting a strip mall, a two and half year old boy suddenly ran from his seven year old sister and onto a parking lot where a pizza delivery vehicle was backing out of a parking space. The child was struck by the car. We were able to demonstrate through depositions of witnesses and of the defendant operator that he never looked in his rear-view mirror before he placed his vehicle in reverse and backed up striking the child, knocking him over and causing the hot exhaust and muffler system to come in contact with his chest and neck.

In addition to obtaining the full amount of the insurance policy from the automobile involved, an additional claim was made against the pizza shop owner for negligently employing the driver. The case settled for $130,000.00. The additional monies obtained from the pizza shop business insurance policy allowed for a sufficient structured settlement for the child assisting with his care at present and providing money for college in the future.

[Read more...]

Type of Case – Massachusetts Maritime Personal Injury Case – Maritime Injury Attorneys
Defense Verdict for Boat Owner

History

In this case the Firm represented the defendant who was the owner of a 95 foot commercial fishing trawler.

The plaintiff who sued our client was an experienced commercial fisherman who worked as a deck hand aboard the vessel. The plaintiff alleged that the Captain ordered the three member crew to clean, break down and neatly pile a retrieved fishing net together with all of its associated gear. The combined weight of this net and gear was estimated to be 1,000 pounds. Plaintiff claimed that upon lifting the third section of the gear, he lost feeling in his legs and felt pain in his back. Sometime thereafter the plaintiff was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his lower back that necessitated surgery. The plaintiff complained that he could never go to sea again. We denied that our client was responsible for the plaintiff’s injury and that the boat was fit for her intended purpose at all times. We proved at trial that the plaintiff never complained of any back pain at the time of the alleged accident and it wasn’t until several days later that the claim was made. All other crew members testified at trial and none of them supported the plaintiff’s version of the accident. As such, the jury was convinced that our client was not legally responsible for any injuries suffered by the plaintiff and returned a defense verdict completely exonerating our client.

The Massachusetts Maritime Injury Attorneys at Krasnow, Keller, & Boris handle all personal injury claims and represent individuals, families and businesses throughout the Greater Boston region as well as all of Massachusetts. Our personal injury litigation attorneys serve the Boston Metrowest town of Framingham, and our attorneys serve adjacent communities including Ashland, Cambridge, Dedham, Dover, Hopkinton, Holliston, Lowell, Marlborough, Maynard, Medfield, Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, Middlesex County and Worcester County.