Settlements & Verdicts 2023

The Plaintiff was a deliver driver, in the course of his employment.  On the date of this incident, he was lawfully on the premises of a restaurant in Smithfield, RI to make a delivery.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, the Plaintiff drove the tractor trailer around back of the building where the delivery door was located, and turned the truck around, facing outward.  He then exited the truck and went inside the restaurant to initiate contact with a staff member of the restaurant to inquire where the delivery items should be brought.  This was Plaintiff’s first time delivering to this location.

The Plaintiff then went back out to the truck, opened the trailer and pulled the ramp out.  He then entered the trailer and loaded his dolly with product.  He then descended the ramp with the loaded dolly and when he got to the bottom of the ramp, he turned toward the right to make a wide right turn in the shape of an arc, toward the delivery door.

Due to the parking lot being a solid sheet of ice covered with a dusting of snow, his feet slipped out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground landing on his right elbow and side.

The Plaintiff suffered a massive rotator cuff tear which required two surgeries.  The Plaintiff collected Workers’ Compensation benefits for 62 weeks.  He then brought a claim against the third-party Defendant, the restaurant.  The claim was denied, causing the Plaintiff to file suit in Providence Superior Court.

The Plaintiff successfully proved that the parking lot was not level and therefore when there was any type of precipitation, a large portion of the lot would flood with water.  This water would then freeze and if snow accumulated, a person would be unable to detect the ice underneath.

The Plaintiff also proved that the Defendant should have been aware of this ongoing problem and failed to correct it, although it was foreseeable that a delivery person who utilized the rear lot could be injured by such a condition.

The case was settled during mediation.

As the Plaintiff approached the intersection with Metacom Avenue, he came to a complete stop at the marked STOP sign.  While stopped, the Defendant, attempted to take a right hand turn onto Mount Hope Avenue; however, she took the turn too wide and the front of her vehicle came into direct contact with the front driver’s side of Plaintiff’s vehicle.  The impact caused the airbags to deploy in the Plaintiff’s vehicle, striking him in the face. Both vehicles were towed from the scene due to the disabling damage sustained.

The Plaintiff suffered a collapsed lung, multiple rib fractures and a large pneumothorax on the left side which would require a chest tube placement and transfer to Rhode Island Hospital. He further suffered T2-T4,T7 and T11-12 compression fractures, multiple rib fractures and a sternal fracture.  Although the Plaintiff did not require surgery the Plaintiff’s expert opined the Plaintiff suffered a 19% whole person impairment.  Suit was filed in Providence Superior Court and thereafter Defendant offered their policy limits of $100,000.00. We then mad e a demand on the Plaintiff’s own policy for under-insurance coverage and we successfully negotiated an additional recovery of $75,000.00 for the Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff was attempting to enter Route 1 South via the off-ramp from Route 295 North; however, she was forced to stop at the end of the off-ramp due to oncoming traffic.  The Defendant whom was traveling directly behind the Plaintiff did not stop and struck the rear of Plaintiff’s vehicle.

The Plaintiff experienced pain in her teeth, tingling in her upper lip, and pain in the back of her head. She also had a band-like pain through the right side of her face down into her anterior neck, pain in her right knee and foot, low back, buttocks, and ringing in her ears. Plaintiff was diagnosed with a concussion without loss of consciousness and  bilateral tinnitus (ringing in her ears). The Plaintiff underwent extensive physical and concussion therapies for her injuries and continues to suffer from ongoing tinnitus.

Without litigation we successfully obtained the Defendant’s policy limits of 100,000.00. Thereafter, we were able to negotiate an additional $15,000.00 from Plaintiff’s under-insurance coverage.

On the morning of 02/14/19, the Plaintiff, Victoria, arrived at the Defendant’s premises for an appointment for her cat. She parked in the parking lot and was in the process of taking her cat out of the back seat of her car when she was caused to slip on black ice. As a result of her fall, she fractured her left proximal tibia and had a torn meniscus, both requiring surgery.

Suit was filed and the parties subsequently agreed to mediate the case. The Defendant’s maintained that there was no precipitation within 24 hours prior to the Plaintiffs fall and that the small patch of black ice was not only not visible to the Plaintiff but was unseen by the Defendant. The Defendant alleged that they acted reasonably under these circumstances. Plaintiff maintained that the Defendant failed to properly inspect the premises to ensure that the parking lot was safe for their customers to walk on to enter their facility. After several hours the mediator and the parties were able to settle the case.

The Plaintiff was waiting to safely merge onto Wampanoag Trail from County Road in Barrington, RI, when he was suddenly and without warning rear-ended by the Defendant whom was operating a van and transporting patients in the course of his employment.  The impact caused the Plaintiff to strike his head on the steering wheel. Later that same evening, the Plaintiff developed severe neck and back pain. The plaintiff had a long-standing history of neck and back pain prior to this accident, and his flare ups would usually resolve with an epidural steroid injection.  After this accident, the Plaintiff had to undergo a posterior discectomy at lumbar L4-5 and an anterior discectomy fusion at C4-6.

The defense argued that the Plaintiff’s injuries were pre-existing, and the surgeries were unrelated to the accident. The Plaintiff filed suit in Providence Superior Court and after a lengthy discovery phase, including taking the Plaintiff’s deposition and an independent medical review.  The parties then agreed to attend mediation and after several weeks of continuing negotiations, the case settled.