While it is always difficult to work on serious injury cases, I enjoy getting to know my clients. I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people and their families. Below are some results that I have obtained. Each case is different and the results below are not indicative of future results.

I had the pleasure of representing the family of a 28 year-old woman, Jemma Dant, with regard to a tractor trailer accident. Jemma Dant was innocently sitting in stopped traffic on I-44 headed west near the former Vandeventer exit. At the same time Ms. Dant was sitting in her passenger car, the driver of a semi tractor trailer attempted to merge right in anticipation of his approaching exit. Unfortunately, unknown to this out-of-state truck driver, the traffic off the Vandeventer exit was so backed up that cars were sitting on the interstate – backed up over a mile. Jemma Dant was one of those motorists stuck in traffic on the highway. Because the truck driver was not anticipating the stopped traffic on a roadway where vehicles and trucks were traveling at speeds in excess of 50 MPH, the truck driver could not stop fast enough to avoid a collision with Jemma Dant’s vehicle. Ms. Dant’s vehicle was so small and the tractor trailer was so large and traveling so fast that the force of the collision forced Ms. Dant’s car under the semi truck in front of her. She was killed instantly.

People often tell me they are scared to drive too close to a tractor trailer. When I question why, they typically respond that they realize the required stopping distance for a tractor trailer is much greater than that of a passenger car. In other words, if something sudden occurs on the roadway, most people realize that it is going to take a tractor trailer a lot more distance to come to a stop. What’s sad about this case is that MoDot knew that traffic was backing up at this location for a while – two years actually. In fact, in the course of litigation, we learned that MoDot had a plan in place to correct this problem for more than two years prior to Ms. Dant’s fatal accident. MoDot had this plan in place because it knew something needed to be done at that location to relieve the interstate of traffic backups. MoDot’s expert conceded that speed differentials on interstates and highways are dangerous. Yet MoDot, knowing of this danger, failed to warn motorists of the stopped traffic.

We settled out of court with the truck driver and his employer. I then tried the case against MoDot to a panel of three Arbitrators in the City. I made a simple argument – MoDot knew of a hazard on the roadway for at least two years and could have just put up a sign to warn drivers – and didn’t. The Arbitrators did the right thing and ruled that MoDot was responsible, at least in part, for the death of this vibrant young lady. An award of $1.3 million was entered in favor of the family. MoDot was ordered to pay $378,814 pursuant to certain caps for state entities under Missouri law.

Other Results

  • over $8,000,000 collected in Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex cases
  • $4,540,000 collected for coal miners against respirator defendants
  • $4,000,000 for a young man injured at a downstate Illinois medical facility
  • $1,300,000 award: defective roadway against MoDot
  • $625,000 settlement: truck accident
  • $650,000 for a man in an Illinois car crash.
  • $600,000 settlement: defective deer stand
  • $570,000 for a woman injured on rebar while delivering papers to city hall.
  • $562,500 in an Illinois motorcycle case.
  • $425,000 settlement: Smith & Nephew knee replacement
  • $249,999 settlement: worker’s compensation
  • $200,000 settlement: defective vehicle
  • $128,000 settlement: worker’s compensation
  • $115,000 settlement: worker’s compensation
  • $100,000 settlement: slip and fall at VFW
  • $100,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • $100,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • $100,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • $100,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • $100,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • $85,000 settlement: slip and fall at a carnival
  • $80,000 settlement: automobile accident
  • The policy limits were collected in a settlement for a man who injured his knee in a car crash/car accident in Joliet, Illinois (Will County).
  • $100,000.00 collected – the policy limits – in a settlement on behalf of a minor boy who was involved in a car crash/car accident in Randolph County, Illinois and broke his back.
  • The policy limits of $100,000.00 collected for a man who injured his lumbar spine, including a disc bulge, in a St. Louis City, Missouri car crash/car accident.
  • $165,000.00 obtained for a woman who fell and broke her hip at a St. Louis, Missouri hotel.
  • I tried a case on behalf of an incredible young woman, Trena Wells, in Edwardsville, Illinois (Madison County) who was injured as a result of an animal attack when her brother’s dog bit her after being hit by a car.  The plaintiff’s verdict obtained was $140,000.00 after a $30,000.00 settlement offer from the defendant.
  • I tried a case in the City of St. Louis, Missouri on behalf of Cindi Barr-Penna who was injured in a car crash/car accident in Taney County, Missouri when another car hit her head on.  The plaintiff’s verdict was for $25,000.00.
  • A policy limits settlement was obtained on behalf of a woman who injured her back in a St. Louis City, Missouri car crash/car accident.