Plaintiff Verdict

Jeff Kuntz nets a $35 Million Verdict

Confidential Settlement Cochlear Ear Implant Manufacturer

Thomas Preuss and David McMaster settled for a confidential amount in a product liability lawsuit on behalf of an 8-year-old child against the manufacturer of the child’s cochlear ear implant and a component manufacturer.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. It alleged that the cochlear ear implant device failed after only one and a half years of use due to the loss of the device’s hermetic seal. While in the child’s ear, water leaked into the device when it was intended to be water proof, resulting in electrical failure of the ear implant. Two months after implantation, the manufacturer of the child’s cochlear ear implant issued a nationwide recall of all, same, un-implanted cochlear ear implant devices due to an elevated risk of moisture-related device failures.

Tom and David successfully argued that as a result of the child’s device failing, the child suffered injuries including but not limited to numerous open-head surgical procedures to explant the defective device and re-implant properly functioning devices.

WRONGFUL DEATH AWARD – $6.7 MILLION

At the conclusion of trial, Jon Kieffer, Vanessa Gross, and Adam Davis obtained a $6,723,021.00 damages award on behalf of the family of a young woman who had been killed in a two-vehicle collision.  The case was filed by the surviving husband on behalf of himself and their three young children. The defendants in the case were the driver of the other vehicle, as well as the driver’s parents and their oil company.  We argued, successfully, that the other driver was negligent in the operation of his vehicle at the time of the collision.  We prevailed on our assertion that the other driver’s parents, who owned the vehicle, were negligent for allowing him to drive their car because they knew or should have known of his horrendous driving record.  We succeeded on our claim that the parents’ oil company should be held liable because the accident occurred while the driver was in the course and scope of work for the oil company.  We also prevailed on our claim of alter ego.  As a result, we succeeded on all claims: negligence, negligent entrustment, agency, and alter ego.  Survival, wrongful death, and Wentling damages were awarded. The $6,723,021.00 award is believed to be the largest reported compensatory damages award in a wrongful death case tried in Kansas, the largest reported negligent entrustment award in Kansas, and the largest reported “alter-ego” damages award in the state of Kansas.

$3.5 MILLION CIVIL RIGHTS WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT

T.J. Preuss, with the legal briefing assistance of Adam Davis, reached a $3,587,500 settlement on behalf of the family of a detainee of a County Department of Corrections.  The main defendants in the case were the County and its private correctional healthcare provider.  The case involved allegations of excessive force and deliberate indifference to the medical needs of the detainee.  The detainee, a 35 year old man, entered the County jail physically healthy but with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder that was confirmed by a local mental health facility hours prior to his arrest.  We claimed that he did not receive the psychiatric or medical care that he required, and officers used force on him as a result of his mental condition as opposed to initiating medical care.  On his eighth day of detention, he was urgently released to a state mental hospital.  The mental hospital was unable to treat his physical deterioration, and he was emergently rushed to a trauma center where he died approximately 24 hours later.  The decedent left a wife and two young children.

CLIENT WINS $5.7 MILLION IN TVT-ABBREVO VERDICT

A Bakersfield, Calif. jury returned a verdict awarding plaintiff Coleen M. Perry a total of $5.7 Million for damages as a result of a TVT-Abbrevo pelvic mesh sling device, manufactured by Ethicon, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

According to court documents, the TVT-Abbrevo mid-urethral sling device, used to treat urinary incontinence had degraded and eroded in Perry’s body, leaving her with pain, painful intercourse and scar tissue even after the device was removed. Also according to court documents, Perry claimed that the device was defectively designed and that Ethicon had failed to properly warn of the dangers and made misrepresentations about the device.

The trial team for the plaintiff included Tom Cartmell, Rich Freese and Tim Goss of Freese & Goss and Pedro “Peter” de la Cerda of Edwards & de la Cerda, both in Dallas.

Read the entire press release: Client Wins $5.7 Million in TVT-Abbrevo Verdict against Johnson & Johnson in California State Court

$590.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT IN PRIVATE EQUITY ANTITRUST CASE

Working with several law firms nationwide, Ty Hudson and other Wagstaff & Cartmell attorneys played a pivotal role in securing a $590 million combined class action settlement, contingent on federal court approval, of antitrust claims against seven private equity firms, including Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs, K.K.R., Silver Lake, and TPG.

The plaintiffs – former shareholders of companies acquired by the private equity firms – argued that the defendants illegally colluded to lower prices of certain corporate acquisitions.

Ty was one of several attorneys who presented oral arguments for plaintiffs during two days of summary judgment hearings in Boston in the U.S. District of Massachusetts, which produced favorable rulings for the plaintiffs and led to the settlement negotiations.

Being prepared for the courtroom, even if the case never gets there, is just one of the reasons why Wagstaff & Cartmell excels and gets results.

$3.27 MILLION BELLWETHER VERDICT IN TV MESH SLING TRIAL

A federal jury in Charleston, West Virginia, returned a $3.27 million verdict in favor of plaintiff Jo Huskey and her husband for damages Huskey sustained from a TVT-O pelvic mesh sling device, manufactured by Ethicon, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The case was a bellwether trial, and the first to reach a verdict, in the federal multi-district litigation, In re Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2327.

Jeffrey Kuntz, a partner at Wagstaff & Cartmell, was a key member of the trial team for the plaintiffs, cross-examining key defense experts and handling other trial witnesses.

Nationally known and respected as one of the leading firms in mass tort and product liability, Wagstaff & Cartmell is involved in thousands of cases pending across the United States involving various pelvic mesh devices alleged to have design and warning defects and that have caused serious injuries to thousands of women. Tom Cartmell is co-lead counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Ethicon MDL.

$1.2 MILLION JURY VERDICT IN TEXAS TV MESH TRIAL

After a two-and-a-half-week trial led by Tom Cartmell and Rich Freese from Birmingham, Alabama, a 12-person jury in Dallas County, Texas, awarded a woman $1.2 million for injuries caused by a TVT-O sling manufactured by Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. The jury found that that the TVT-O device, a medical device indicated for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, was defectively designed.

Tom delivered the closing argument for the plaintiff and presented evidence from several key witnesses, including labeling and warnings expert Dr. Peggy Pence and materials expert Dr. Howard Jordi.

This case is significant: it was the first in the nation where a jury found a manufacturer liable for damages caused by pelvic mesh for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

We are proud to be on the front lines of mass tort and product liability cases like these, helping our clients find justice and redress for their injuries.

CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT – WRONGFUL DEATH FROM ZIP LINE FALL

Brandon Henry and other attorneys settled a wrongful death case for a confidential amount arising from the death of a 39-year-old woman who fell from a zip line. The zip line was constructed on private property by the property owner and others.

Because one of the property owner’s sons, who was separately insured, assisted in the construction of the zip line and was personally present at the time of the fall at issue in the case, we were able to successfully argue that he shared in the responsibility, which led to his participation in the settlement, thereby increasing the recovery to our clients, the decedent’s husband and three minor children.

At Wagstaff & Cartmell, our personal injury attorneys bring our strategic focus and courtroom experience to achieve the best results possible for our clients.

$20.25 MILLION CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT IN RE POTASH ANTITRUST LITIGATION (N.D. ILL.)

Wagstaff & Cartmell represented a class of indirect purchasers, mostly farmers and agribusinesses. Our trial attorneys obtained a class action settlement, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, in the total amount of $20.25 million from the major North American and foreign producers of potash fertilizer.

The case alleged that the producers illegally colluded to raise the price of potash above competitive levels.

Eric D. Barton, Tyler W. Hudson, and Adam Davis contributed to the result for the plaintiffs.

SETTLEMENT CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING

Attorney Brian Madden and others at Wagstaff & Cartmell settled a personal injury case for a confidential amount in which it was alleged that a driver lost control of his vehicle while accepting a cell phone call. The driver left the roadway and struck three pedestrians, injuring one and killing two.

The negligent driver was allegedly not working at the time of the accident. However, Wagstaff & Cartmell alleged that the driver’s employer shared responsibility for the accident because the driver was using a work-issued cell phone. Additionally, the driver had inadequate training with regard to use of the cell phone while in transit.

At Wagstaff & Cartmell, our personal injury attorneys bring our strategic focus and courtroom experience to achieve the best results possible for our clients.

IN RE: AVANDIA MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION (E.D. PA.)

Tom Cartmell was part of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee and was selected to act as co-lead counsel and co-lead trial counsel in this pharmaceutical mass tort multi-district litigation. In addition to co-leading the MDL, Wagstaff & Cartmell successfully resolved cases for thousands of clients.

$10 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTY DAMAGE

Wagstaff & Cartmell, on behalf of a class of Northwest Missouri landowners, reached a $10 million class action settlement with an engineering firm. The case involved allegations that Prime Tanning, a St. Joseph tannery, distributed tannery sludge containing hexavalent chromium produced from its tanning operations to landowners to use as fertilizer in four Missouri counties from 1983 through 2009. The defendant engineering firm provided consulting services to the tannery during some of that time period.

Numerous attorneys and staff from Wagstaff & Cartmell contributed to achieving this result for our clients, including Brian Madden, Tom Cartmell, Diane Watkins, Joan Toomey and others, a testament to not only our lawyers’ talents and experience, but also our ability to collaborate internally and externally to achieve the best outcomes for our clients.

$3 MILLION JURY VERDICT – NURSING HOME NEGLIGENCE

Tom Cartmell obtained a $3 million verdict, including more than $2.5 million in punitive damages, against a nursing home on behalf of the estate of a 73-year-old resident. Our client had developed pressure sores on both his right and left heels from inadequate care and positioning. The sores progressed and became severely infected, which led to the amputation of both of the resident’s legs.

At Wagstaff & Cartmell, our personal injury attorneys bring our strategic focus and courtroom experience to achieve the best results possible for our clients.

SETTLEMENT IN BENZENE EXPOSURE CASE

Brian Madden and other Wagstaff & Cartmell attorneys settled a case in Montgomery County, Texas, styled Ross v. Chevron U.S.A. et al.Our client, Charles Ross, worked at a Chevron refinery in Mississippi as an independent contractor. Mr. Ross contracted Myelodisplastic Syndrome (MDS) while working at the refinery. We alleged that his illness was caused by benzene exposure at the refinery.

$15 MILLION SETTLEMENT – BREACH OF CONTRACT

Brian Madden, Marc Erickson, and other Wagstaff & Cartmell attorneys and staff represented Citadel Plaza LLC (Citadel), which settled a commercial case against the City of Kansas City, Missouri, for $15 million on the Friday before trial was to begin.

The case involved a failed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan called “The Citadel” near 63rd and Prospect streets in Kansas City.

Our client entered contracts with the city and TIF Commission for redevelopment of a blighted neighborhood in the city’s urban core. The city was to provide partial funding for the project but failed to do so after our client Citadel expended significant time and money redeveloping the site. When the city failed to fund, the project stalled and failed. As a result, our client Citadel suffered substantial losses.

The settlement called for land that was cleared and assembled by Citadel and other landowners to be transferred to the city for future redevelopment.

$745 MILLION SETTLEMENT: IN RE: BEXTRA AND CELEBREX MARKETING SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCT LIABILITY LITIGATION (N.D. CA.)

Tom Cartmell and other Wagstaff & Cartmell attorneys played a key role in obtaining a $745 million settlement announced on October 17, 2008, between pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, Inc., and claimants across the United States seeking damages as a result of injuries from taking medications Bextra and Celebrex.

Wagstaff & Cartmell represents hundreds of such claimants. Tom was one of 15 lawyers appointed to the national Plaintiff’s Steering Committee (PSC) by Judge Charles R. Breyer, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in In re: Bextra and Celebrex Marketing Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1699 (N.D. Cal.).

Tom took a very active role as a member of the PSC. He argued a key Daubert motion on behalf of the plaintiffs in the MDL proceeding before Judge Breyer in San Francisco. He was then one of three lawyers who were lead counsel in the first Bextra case that was set for jury trial in San Francisco in May 2008.

Days before trial was to start, after numerous rounds of negotiations, Tom and his trial team agreed to settlement terms with Pfizer resolving thousands of pending cases and which paved the way for the eventual $745 million settlement finalized in October.

The preparation and readiness of Tom and his team to take the first Bextra case to trial was a key factor leading to the $745 million settlement.

Once again, Wagstaff & Cartmell proved its reputation and ability to get results in a national mass tort case. We’re proud to serve on the front lines to bring justice to our clients,

ARBITRATION AWARD – DANGEROUS ROAD CONDITION

T.J. Preuss and Brian Madden achieved a $750,000 arbitration award for their client against the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (MODOT), arising from an intersection collision at Routes NN and VV in Clinton County, Missouri.

The collision occurred on January 14, 2006, when an intoxicated driver ran a stop sign and collided with a car in which our client was a restrained passenger. Our client suffered severe injuries including brain injuries. The arbitration panel determined that the intoxicated driver, who ran a stop sign, was the primary cause of the intersection collision. However, the arbitration panel also found that MODOT contributed to cause this collision because of the dangerous condition of the NN and VV intersection at the time of the collision.

The arbitration panel determined that the sightlines at the intersection were obscured and that there was inadequate signage on both roads. The panel determined that the sightlines at the intersection created a blind spot that prevented drivers on eastbound Route NN (the direction of travel for our client) from being able to see traffic approaching from the north on Route VV (the direction of travel of the intoxicated driver).

At the time of the collision, the intersection was not a 4-way stop, so our client and his driver had no warning of the oncoming southbound vehicle on Route VV. Before this collision, the accident rate at this intersection was almost six times higher than the Missouri state average. In addition, there had been complaints to MODOT about the sightline problems at this intersection before this collision that went unheeded.

Pursuant to Missouri law, which caps MODOT liability, the arbitration award was reduced to approximately $380,000.

At Wagstaff & Cartmell, our personal injury attorneys bring our strategic focus and courtroom experience to achieve the best results possible for our clients.

RECORD SETTLEMENT IN TRAILER DECOUPLING CASE

Jon Kieffer and Brian Madden achieved a record settlement against Penske Truck Leasing Company and other defendants in a lawsuit arising from a fatal accident near Dallas, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of two Texas A&M College Students, Rachel Rollings and Britney Lipsey.

Jon and Brian represented Tom and Colleen Rollings, the parents of Rachel Rollings. In August 2006, Rachel Rollings and Britney Lipsey were killed when a Penske “car carrier” trailer decoupled from the rental truck that was towing it, crossed the median of an interstate highway, and collided head-on with the girls’ Ford Explorer, causing it to roll over several times.

The plaintiffs sued Penske as well as the manufacturer of the trailer, the driver of the Penske rental truck, and a Harley-Davidson dealer who participated with the driver in connecting the trailer to the truck.

Discovery in the case revealed that Penske had removed a decoupling prevention device before the accident and that Penske’s own mechanics had documented that the brakes on the trailer did not work and had removed the trailer from service until repairs could be made. Unfortunately, those repairs were never made. Evidence revealed that Penske sets strict time requirements for safety inspections and maintenance and its mechanics are evaluated in large part based upon whether they stay under those time requirements.

Evidence also revealed that Penske imposes monetary penalties against rental stores when equipment remains on the lot too long without being rented out. The plaintiffs alleged that this and other practices of Penske created a financial incentive to keep unsafe equipment on the road.

After extensive discovery and as the case was near trial, Jon and Brian obtained a court order allowing them real-time access to Penske’s computer system where documents showed that the trailer was placed back into service with non-functioning brakes to fill a reservation.

The case settled shortly thereafter against all of the defendants for a total amount exceeding $3 million, which is believed to be more than three times the highest jury verdict on record in the suburban Dallas county.

At Wagstaff & Cartmell, our personal injury attorneys bring our strategic focus and courtroom experience to achieve the best results possible for our clients.

$12M VERDICT FOR QUADRIPLEGIC MINOR

Jeff Kuntz teamed with Derek H. Potts and Timothy L. Sifers, both of the Potts Law Firm, in obtaining a landmark, $12.1 million jury verdict for their client, a quadriplegic minor, in a medical negligence case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

After a seven-day trial and twenty hours of deliberation, the eight-person jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the child against her emergency room physician in the case of “Midwest Trust vs. Lisa Gard, M.D.” The jury found that the emergency room doctor was negligent in her assessment of the minor upon her presentation to the emergency room of a Kansas hospital.

Potts, Sifers, and Kuntz argued on behalf of their client that a child shown by testing to have emergent blood pressure and complaining of severe posterior neck pain and right arm pain should have been assessed for a neurological condition on the differential diagnosis to rule out neurological problems. The plaintiff further alleged that the misdiagnosis of strep throat that sent the child back home caused a significant delay in the detection of a hemorrhaging arteriovenous malformation (“AVM”) that was putting pressure on the child’s spinal cord.

By the time the child returned to the hospital, she was suffering from extended paralysis and was sent to Children’s Mercy Hospital where she was operated on to remove the AVM. The defendant denied that she was negligent in any way, denied that an earlier transfer would have improved the minor’s outcome, and denied the nature and extent of her injuries and damages.

With one of the leading professional liability practices in the Midwest, Wagstaff & Cartmell uses our experience on both sides of the docket, for plaintiffs and defendants, to best represent our clients and pursue the best outcomes possible.

$9 MILLION IN SETTLEMENTS – EPHEDRA AND METABOLIFE

Wagstaff & Cartmell was heavily involved in national products liability litigation against Metabolife and other manufacturers of ephredra products. Our trial attorneys helped secure more than $9 million in settlements for our clients from the defendant manufacturers.

Tom Cartmell was a member of the expert/science committee in the In Re: Ephedra Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1598 and was also a member of the settlement/resolution group of attorneys who helped negotiate final resolutions of these cases.

$1 MILLION JURY VERDICT – AUTO PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT AFFIRMED ON APPEAL

Tom Wagstaff, Tom Cartmell, and T.J. Preuss obtained a plaintiff’s verdict against the City of Kansas City, Missouri, on behalf of the family of Chen Pei, a 20-year-old student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, who was tragically hit by a car at 53rd and Troost while using a crosswalk to cross Troost.

Wagstaff & Cartmell successfully argued that the city had been negligent in not making the crosswalk safer after having been on notice that it was dangerous before the accident that took the life of Chen Pei. The verdict was later affirmed on appeal by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District.

$1 MILLION SETTLEMENT – AUTO ACCIDENT

Marc Erickson and Jeff Kuntz represented the family of a man who was killed in a one car auto accident in Stone County, Missouri. Two men were in the car at the time of the accident, both were ejected in the crash, and both men died.

At issue was who had been driving at the time of the accident. Wagstaff & Cartmell’s investigation enabled our clients to successful establish that the other person had been driving, and this helped our clients obtain a settlement in excess of $1 million.