Review of Recent Personal Injury Settlements
Sep 23, 2011 Updates
The following is a summary of recent and significant personal injury settlements from my law practice:
Houston State Court 2000-$90,000
Client was staying in a Perry hotel, when he slipped and fell across the bathtub and the toilet tank in the hotel room after slipping in the hotel room bathtub on Defendant’s slippery and invisible cleaning fluid. Client’s injuries required a double fusion surgery for his lower back. This case settled at mediation.
Bleckley Superior Court 2007-$125,000
Client was duck hunting with a friend when they were separated in a swamp. Ducks flew up between them, and the friend opened fire in client’s direction. Steel shot pellets became embedded in client’s eye. Client required three different eye surgeries, and lost vision as a result. This case settled at mediation after we showed client’s actual loss of vision with visual field tests that were done before and after the shooting.
Peach Superior Court 2010-$16,000.00
Client was a front seat passenger in a pickup truck being driven by her husband. Just as the vehicle was turning left from the I-75 off ramp onto Sam Nunn Boulevard in Perry, the truck was t-boned by a Ford F350 truck that had run a red light at the same intersection. This case settled after written discovery was completed. Client sustained a whiplash injury in this collision.
Bleckley Superior Court 2010-$52,500.00
Client was seated in the front passenger seat of a pickup truck that was parked on a Cochran street. A delivery truck of the Defendant, which was a tractor-trailer truck, turned the corner, and the right rear wheel of the trailer lifted the back of the pickup truck. The pickup was lifted up and slammed down violently. Client required a cervical fusion surgery after the collision. This case settled at mediation after suit was filed.
Peach Superior Court 2006-$50,000
Plaintiff was a youth that was a rear seat passenger in an automobile. An affray occurred at a residence in Crawford County. As client was leaving the residence of a youth there with his friends, the father of one of the youths fired a handgun in the direction of their automobile. A .38 caliber bullet entered the vehicle and struck client in the head, causing him serious and severe injuries. This case settled after suit was filed against the shooter and his homeowner’s carrier was served with the lawsuit. The carrier paid their policy limits to settle the case.
Houston State Court 2011-$25,000
Client was a patron in Defendant’s restaurant when she went to the restroom. In the restroom, she slipped and fell on Defendant’s floor after Defendant’s employee mopped the floor with a greasy mop from the kitchen. No signs were posted in the restroom that would have warned others of a wet or slippery floor. Client sustained a whiplash injury from her fall. This case settled after written discovery was completed.
Washington Superior Court 2006-$72,500
Clients were lawfully driving down U.S. Highway 80 to Dublin, when their pickup truck was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 fueling vehicle owned by Defendant logging company. The F-350 truck was being driven by an employee of the logging company in the course of his employment. The impact of the collision knocked the clients’ vehicle on its side. Client husband received cuts, bruises, and a whiplash injury in the collision. Client wife broke a vertebrae in her lower spine in this collision. The driver of the fueling truck was under the influence of alcohol, and his blood alcohol level was over .18 grams percent at the time of the collision. This case settled after suit was filed against the defendant logging company.
Bibb Superior Court 2010-$60,000
Client had a medical device inserted into his back to control his lower back pain. Client met the representative of the medical device company in his doctor’s office for the purpose of activating the anti-pain device in his lower back. Another rep had already preset the device when client was in the recovery room after it was implanted. When the second rep powered up the device, it turned on at full power, throwing client into excruciating pain for over 15 minutes. Client sustained a mild heart attack during this period. This case settled after depositions were taken.
Bibb Superior Court 2010-$105,000
Client was a U.S. Postal employee delivering mail on the side of a roadway in Bibb County. Defendant was operating his father’s sport car in excess of the posted speed limit. Defendant ran his vehicle into the rear of another vehicle, which then rear ended Plaintiff’s postal truck. Client received a low back injury which required a spinal fusion surgery. This case settled at mediation after completion of discovery. Eyewitness testimony was especially useful in helping us to establish the speed of the defendant’s vehicle at the time of impact.
Afghanistan and Pakistan-Time to Get Out
Sep 2, 2011 Updates
We have had military forces in Afghanistan since 2001, when al Qaeda bases were found there after the 911 attacks here in the U.S. We overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001, and U.S. forces have been fighting al Qaeda and Taliban forces inside various sectors of the country ever since. Most of the U.S. activity in Afghanistan has been directed at building and defending air bases in the southern region of the country. From these air bases, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has flown drone strike missions into Pakistan using Predator drone aircraft. These attacks have been largely successful, as many officers and important Taliban and al Qaeda leaders have been killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan with attacks from U.S. controlled drone aircraft.
Shortly after the Obama Administration took office, a so called surge of troops was sent to Afghanistan, in an effort to pacify the country by covering the country with over 100,000 U.S. troops. A concerted effort was made to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by having U.S. forces build schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure there.
However, the government of Afghanistan under President Karzai has been notoriously corrupt. Much of the U.S. aid monies in the country have been embezzled and wasted. President Karzai’s own brother was one of the largest drug dealers and drug distributors in Afghanistan, until he was murdered by the Taliban this year. The level of corruption in the country is amazing, and the corruption is so bad there that any decent amount of funds spent on aid to the people probably never trickles down to the regions where the funds were earmarked.
I understand the reason or reasons for continuing to occupy Afghanistan while Osama bin Laden was at large in Pakistan. The Navy Seal Team Six raid into Pakistan earlier this year that killed Osama bin Laden originated from an airbase in southern Afghanistan. Now that bin Laden and much of his al Qaeda leadership have been killed, it just makes no sense to continue to spend U.S. tax dollars on a military occupation of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been occupied by foreign powers off and on since 1839. We are not going to make card carrying democrats out of the Afghan people. We are not going to win their hearts and minds, either. What we are doing, and what we have been doing is spending millions upon millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars while trying to engage in nation building in this God-forsaken country. Nation building did not work in Vietnam, and it will not work either in Afghanistan. It is high time we got out.
Speaking of nation building, the U.S. State Department has pushed a project which would have the U.S. build and pay for a hydroelectric power dam in Pakistan. Keep in mind that Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan earlier this year, after that country was supposed to be one of our friendly partners in the war on terror. I say that with “friends” such as Pakistan, we have little need of enemies. Pakistan contains many people that are friendly to militant Muslims and to al Qaeda operatives. Many of the 9/11/2001 bombers were Pakistani citizens. It was clear at the time of the raid against Osama bin Laden that he was hiding in the bosom of friendly Pakistani nationals, as these people hate the U.S. and western culture just as badly as al Qaeda. The American people have no business funding anything in this fickle, terrorist filled nation of Pakistan. We should look to our founding father, George Washington for advice in matters such as these. He advised our Congress to avoid foreign entanglements in the affairs of other nations. We are having a tough time with our own infrastructure. We need to get out of the Middle East in general, and focus our efforts on developing a workable hydrogen fuel cell technology here in the U.S. The Middle East has sucked in our young people in unnecessary wars for far too long. It is time to declare victory in Afghanistan and bring the troops home. It costs millions upon millions of U.S. dollars per day to house, victual, supply, and move the large numbers of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. There are at present no real military or tactical reasons to continue to maintain high numbers of U.S. troops in Afghanistan at this time. The military budget should be cut, and it cannot be cut if we continue to maintain a very large military presence in that part of the world.
