“Exceeding Expectations”
Last week was a busy week for us at Russell & Lazarus. We finalized some strong personal injury claim settlements and I can confidently state that we lived up to our tag line last week by exceeding the expectations of our clients with the following results.
At the beginning of the week we put the finishing touches on a settlement we obtained on behalf of a 14 year old girl who lost 15% of her peripheral vision and now has an increased risk of Glaucoma as a result of being shot in the eye by a air soft pellet gun. The gun was operated by an unsupervised 10 year old boy. The claim was settled one week prior to trial for $500,000 after we filed a motion to specially set the case for trial due to the fact the client was under the age of 14.
We also settled a Medical Malpractice wrongful death claim involving a 69 year old woman who allegedly bled to death in a hospital due to miscommunication between the in charge doctor and hospital staff. That claim was resolved, much to the relief of the surviving spouse — a retired police officer — at a second all day mediation session up in Sacramento for $175,000. The case highlights the article I recently penned “Medical Malpractice- The Dirty Secret” and why the life of a beloved wife and mother is worth less than what most doctors pay for their automobiles here in the State of California.
Rounding off the week, Attorney Marc Lazarus resolved a knee injury case for $135,000 which involved a 70 year old man who was getting out of a car when it was struck from behind by a taxi cab. Marc was in the middle of a jury trial regarding the claim up in Santa Monica when the insurance carrier for the Taxi Cab Company increased its offer to the settlement amount after a “best and last” offer of $90,000 prior to trial. In light of the fact that the client had a serious pre-existing condition, this settlement was a very strong effort which was made possible by Mr. Lazarus’ significant preparation and trial presentation. The defense was concerned about being hit for more than that and therefore ended up resolving the claim for almost 40% more than the initial offer. This was also a claim where we filed a motion to specially set a trial date due to our client’s poor health.
We are proud to have obtained those outstanding results for our deserving and appreciative clients.