Case Studies

These are a few interesting cases that I have settled over the years. If you have a unique case, don't hesitate to contact us.

Dog Bite

My client was a contractor who went to see a client about building a wine cellar. He had been to the house many times during the course of the job. This time, he knocked on the door and opened it. He was immediately attacked by a large Portuguese Water Dog, which bit him in his groin. As a result of the bite, he was unable to work for months and suffered severe psychological trauma. I was able to secure a $1,500,000 settlement for him from the homeowner and the owner of the dog.

Collapse of House

My client’s home in Oakland was built many years ago over a natural creek. Over time, the City of Oakland and Alameda County had placed a concrete culvert in the creek to drain water into municipal storm drains. The City and County had allowed the culvert to deteriorate to the point that the top was severely cracked, which caused the ground supporting my client’s foundation to be sucked into the culvert. As a result, an entire wall of my client’s house was destroyed and her house was leaning. We sued the City and County for negligence and won an outstanding jury award.

Pilates Injury

My client bought a Groupon for a visit to a Pilates studio. She had done Pilates exercises on the mat before, but had never worked on the Pilates Reformer, a spring-loaded device that you have to climb on.

The instructor told her to stand on the Reformer and perform a dangerous exercise. As she was doing the exercise, the springs caused the platform to snap back, throwing her to the floor. She fell and fractured her wrist.

Despite the fact that she had signed a waiver of liability and despite the fact that the law provides that gyms are usually not responsible for such injuries, we were able to achieve a very favorable settlement for our client.

Medical Negligence

One of my clients received chemotherapy for breast cancer. The drug the nurse administered to her was quite toxic and is required to be injected into a vein.

However, the nurse used the wrong injection site, causing the drug to leak into the client’s surrounding breast tissue. This negligence caused severe tissue damage which required surgical intervention.

Through litigation, I secured a settlement for the maximum allowed under California law for pain and suffering damages in a medical negligence case.

Medical Abuse

I represented a 31 year-old woman who sought treatment from an ENT specialist for breathing problems. The doctor suggested she have surgery to reduce her sinuses.

When my client agreed to the surgery, she specifically instructed the surgeon not to change the shape of her nose, because she felt it was an important part of her heritage. The surgeon ignored her instructions and drastically changed the shape of her nose by peforming a rhinoplasty (nose job), not just sinus surgery.

We sued the doctor, not only for medical malpractice, but also for battery, because he performed a medical procedure without the consent of the patient.

In medical negligence cases it’s rare to also get a settlement for medical battery, however I achieved an excellent settlement for the client.