Add your title here

Reported Cases:

• Short v. Wilson Meat House, LLC, 36 So. 3d 1247, 1248 (Miss. 2010)

• Piney Woods Country Life Sch. v. Young, 946 So. 2d 805, 807 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006)

• Kukor v. Ne. Tree Serv., Inc., 77 So. 3d 1134, 1135 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011), reh'g denied (Oct. 11, 2011), cert. denied, 78 So. 3d 906 (Miss. 2012)

• Barnes v. W.S. Newell, Inc., 949 So. 2d 823, 824 (Miss Ct. App. 2006)

• Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Caston, 812 So. 1052, 1053 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001)

• Smith v. Johnston Tombigbee Furniture Mfg. Co., 43 So. 3d 1159, 1161 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007)

• Still v. Georgia-Pac. Corp., 965 F. Supp. 878, 878 (S.D. Miss. 1997)

• Underwood v. McRae's, 811 So. 2d 400, 400 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001)

• Ballard v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 338 F. Supp. 2d 712, 714 (S.D. Miss. 2004)

• McCarty Farms, Inc. v. Kelly, 811 So, 2d 250, 252 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001)

• Martinez v. Swift Transp. & Ins. Co. of State of Pennsylvania, 962 So. 2d 746, 747 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007)

• Scott v. KLLM, Inc., 37 So. 3d 713, 715 (Miss Ct. App. 2010)

• James v. Cincinnati Inc., 243 F. App'x 25 (5th Cir. 2007); No. 06-60163

• Payne v. Martin Sprocket & Gear, Inc., 146 F, 3d 867 (5th Cir. 1998); No. 97-60572

• Ayers v. Legion Ins. Co, 2006 WC 01681 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006)

• Brown v. Miller's Insurance Agency, Inc., et al., No. 2010-0004708, 21st JDC, Tangipahoa Parish (September 24, 2014) $1,000,000.00 Judgment

• Adcox v. MS Dept. of Public Safety, MS Bureau of Narcotics, # 2012-WC-01537; Court of Appeals Affirmed January 28, 2014. Six-figure judgment Affirmed

• Doe v. ABC Flying Service; Agricultural Pilot crashed resulting in a six-figure settlement. (2014)

• Bellsouth Telecommunications, Inc. v. Larry B. Harris, # 2012-WC-01975; Court of Appeals Affirmed May 19, 2015

• Elsas v. Yakkassippi, LLC; 746 F. App'x 344, 346-48 (5th Cir. 2018) No. 19-60179 Affirmed April 29, 2020

• Young v. Air Masters Mechanical Inc., # 2018-WC-00401; Court of Appeals Affirmed April 30, 2020

• The Cincinnati Insurance Company v. Wilson et al, #2018-CA-01703; Court of Appeals Affirmed May 25, 2021

• Geico et al v. Stapleton., #2019-IA-00478; Mississippi Supreme Court Affirmed April 15, 2021

Verdicts

Products Liability Verdict



• James vs. Cincinnati Incorporated — Affirmed U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 6-27-07 (06-60163) — Defective Press Brake, hand injury verdict — $850,000

Settlements

Wrongful Death Settlements

• Automobile/Truck Collision — $400,000

• Automobile/Truck Collision — $500,000

• Electric Shock Drowning in Commercial Marina — confidential settlement

• Logging Truck/18-wheeler Collision -- confidential settlement

Personal Injury Settlements

• Martinez v. Granite Construction Co. — Jones Act — Workman killed while working on Mississippi River bridge in Greenville — confidential settlement

• White v. Royal Trucking – Vehicle truck wreck – Death Case – confidential settlement

• Haley v. Various Asbestos Defendants — Mesothelioma — confidential settlement

• Barnett v. American Optical Company et al. — Silicosis — confidential settlement

• Railroad crossing motor vehicle accident — Head injury — Seven-figure settlement

• Off-road vehicle collision — Seven-figure settlement

• Smith v. Acme Logging — Logging truck accident — $1.1 million

• Fall at self-service watch resulting leg injuries and multiple surgeries — $1 million

• Truck Accident resulting in injuries to shoulder and neck — Seven-figure settlement

• Law enforcement officer injured in on duty motorcycle crash -- Six figure settlement

• Slip and fall -- $225,000

Defective Drug/medical Device Settlements

• Fen-Phen, diet drug — Multimillion-dollar mass tort settlement

• Duract — confidential settlement

• Stadol — confidential settlement

• Rezulin, diabetes drug — confidential settlement

• Parlodel, anti-lactate drug — $1,500,000

• Breast Implant — $7,500,000

• Motor vehicle steering defect resulting in injuries — confidential settlement also resulting in product recall

Workers’ Compensation Judgments and Workplace Injury Settlements

• Ayers vs. Legion Insurance Company – Miss. Court of Appeals (2006-WC-01681) – Work injury — Six-figure Judgment Affirmed

• Judy Young vs. Piney Woods School – Miss. Supreme Court (05-WC-01839), Cert Denied, 2007 — Work injury — Six-figure judgment affirmed

• Law enforcement officer injured on the job during Hurricane Katrina — $200,000 judgment affirmed

• Pilot injured on the job in a plane crash — maximum settlement under workers’ compensation limits

• Teacher injured in slip and fall at work -- $190,000

Nursing Home Abuse/negligence Settlements

• Wrongful Death — confidential settlement



• Failure to use appropriate restraints in nursing home/severe injury — confidential settlement

Products Liability

Industrial Equipment

• Defective industrial machine — Leg amputation — confidential settlement



• Defective punch press — Hand injury — confidential settlement

• Posthole digger — Arm amputation — confidential settlement

Automobile Design Defect

• Post collision fuel tank fire — Wrongful death — confidential settlement

• Rollover – Wrongful death — confidential settlement

• Defective seatbelt – Wrongful death — confidential settlement

• Defective tie-rod steering system — Severe brain injury — Seven-figure confidential settlement

Infant Child Carrier Design Defect

• Head injury — Confidential settlement

ATV

• Defective design — 4-wheeler rollover — Confidential settlement

Premises Liability

• Rape on commercial business premises, inadequate security and lack of safety protection — Confidential settlement

• Jane Doe v. Books-A-Million, et al. — Hinds County Circuit Court — Rape/abduction — Confidential settlement

• Rawson v. CK Food Mart — Gunshot wound while on the premises of convenience store — Confidential settlement

• Robert Young v. Laxmi Food Mart — Gunshot injury on the premises of a convenience store — Confidential settlement

• Jane Doe v. the Dock — Rankin County Circuit Court — Rape and abduction — Confidential settlement

Trip and Fall Verdict

Jeanette Brown v. Miller’s Insurance Agency, Inc., et al., No. 2010-0004708, 21ST JDC, Tangipahoa Parish, LA. 9/23/2014 – $1 Million

Cases of Interest

A Louisiana trial involving a fall wherein his client fell at a self-service car wash and sustained a lower-leg fracture which required multiple surgeries. Using expert testimony, the evidence proved the Defendant created a dangerous hazard that contributed to the fall and injuries to the client. At the conclusion of the trial, a judgment was rendered in the amount of $1,000,000.00.

In Kansas City, MO, a client sustained multiple injuries to both shoulders and his neck as a result of an 18-wheeler collision. These injuries prevented the client from returning to his occupation as a truck driver. Settlement was obtained for the maximum seven-figure insurance coverage.

John recently also achieved judgment for a law enforcement officer who was injured on the job while rendering emergency support during and after Hurricane Katrina on the gulf coast of Mississippi. Ultimately, this client suffered from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as diagnosed by her physicians and was unable to return to her career as a law enforcement officer. The Administrative Law Judge found the Claimant to be permanently and totally disabled and awarded the maximum benefits allowable under the Worker's Compensation Act. The Employer exhausted all appeals at multiple levels and ultimately appealed the case to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which affirmed the Judge's findings and ordered the Employer to pay the judgment in full, as well as pay her past, present and future medical expenses for the remainder of her lifetime. The total amount of the judgment was in excess of $200,000.00, which does not include the value of the medical treatment.

Additionally, John represented an agricultural pilot in a work-related injury, wherein the pilot was injured when the plane crashed during a crop dusting maneuver. His client was severely injured and required back surgery. A favorable settlement was obtained justifying payment of the maximum limits under the Workers' Compensation Act.

John also represented the family of a man who sustained a traumatic brain injury as a result of a motor vehicle collision. A claim was made against the automobile manufacturer, alleging a defect in the steering system, which caused the man to lose control of the vehicle and result in the crash. The case was resolved for a confidential amount, used to compensate him and his family and to provide for the medical needs for the remainder of the man's lifetime.

While the terms of this settlement is confidential, at the time the litigation was resolved, the manufacturer issued a massive recall on the same model vehicle, which specifically  addresses the steering mechanisms, which  we alleged to be defective. It is believed or hoped that his claim, made on behalf of this family, may have resulted in or contributed to this recall. Hopefully, as a result of this family's actions in pursing this litigation, this recall may have prevented some other person or family from injury or death. Sometimes it appears that litigation is required for a company to take action that may save others from similar injury or death.