Testimonials & Settlements, Verdicts and Negotiated Recoveries

The attorneys of Lord & Faris have represented injured people in all areas of Minnesota. This section contains a few of the recent cases our attorneys have successfully resolved for our clients.

TRUCK CRASH LEAVES WOMAN QUADRIPLEGIC - 6.5 MILLION

A 38-year-old woman was driving in the right-hand lane on Highway 10 in Cushing, MN near her home. Traveling too closely behind her was a semitrailer. Another semitrailer, was tailgating the first semitrailer. At the last minute, the second semitrailer veered into the left lane to avoid a collision with the woman. As the second semitrailer was traveling too close to the first semitrailer, the driver was unable to avoid crashing into the woman’s vehicle. The collision crushed the rear of her car to just behind her driver’s seat. The woman sustained catastrophic injuries rendering her a quadriplegic.

JURY AWARDED TRUCK CRASH VICTIMS AFTER CRASH KILLED SON, INJURED OTHER SON AND MOTHER BECAME PARAPLEGIC - $9 MILLION

A mother and her 14-year-old daughter were passengers in a vehicle driven by 18-year-old daughter. Driver/daughter was driving eastbound on Interstate Highway 94 near Evansville, MN, when she hit a patch of ice and lost control of her Volkswagen. The vehicle spun through a median into oncoming traffic and was struck by a semitrailer. As a result of the accident, the mother became a paraplegic, and 14 year old daughter was partially paralyzed. 17-year-old son died, and her 13 year old son was injured.

The case was brought before a Ramsey County jury for a seven-week trial arguing that Volkswagen was negligent in the making of the vehicle, the truck driver was at fault, and 18 year old daughter was negligent in her driving. After dismissing claims against Volkswagen and the truck driver, the jury awarded almost $9 Million to the mother and injured daughter.

WOMAN SUSTAINED AMPUTATION OF LEG SETTLED FOR $550,000:

A woman was traveling westbound on Highway 23, a divided four-lane highway, when she noticed a vehicle stopped at the intersection of 28th Avenue. She was traveling at the posted speed limit of sixty (60) miles per hour. The driver of the stopped vehicle, claiming not to have seen woman’s vehicle, proceeded southbound on 28th Avenue, pulling out into the direct path of client. Woman was able to apply her brakes prior to impact, but was unable to avoid the collision. Because of the serious injuries sustained in the accident, woman’s right leg, just below her knee, had to be amputated. The case settled for the $500,000.00 liability policy limits, as well as the $50,000.00 UIM policy limits.

TEENAGE DRIVER KILLED GETS POLICY LIMITS OF $130,000:

One morning in March, high school senior was with two of her friends, driving to the Mall of America to pick out dresses for their May 15th senior prom. As they were heading south on Highway 65 in the inside or left lane of the four- lane highway, a Ford Explorer was traveling just behind and to the right of senior's vehicle. As the driver of the Ford Explorer was overtaking teenager’s vehicle, she reached down to pick up a cheeseburger off the floor of her vehicle and veered into Amy Jo’s vehicle causing both vehicles to overturn, and teen’s vehicle to slide into northbound Highway 65, coming to rest on its roof.

According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, the teen died from multiple blunt force injuries. There were no controlled substances found in her body. The at-fault driver, however, was charged with felony criminal vehicular homicide and gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily harm. She was found to have amphetamine, methamphetamine and marijuana in her system at the time of the crash. The case settled for the $30,000.00 liability policy limits, and the $100,000.00 UIM policy limits.

WOMAN REARENDED RECEIVES CLOSE TO POLICY LIMITS OF $192,500:

A, woman client was the driver of her husband’s 1999 Pontiac Grand Am traveling to work. She was in the middle lane of westbound Interstate 94 in Woodbury, Minnesota. At that same time, a 2002 Ford pick-up was traveling immediately behind client. Due to the traffic conditions in front of her, client had to come to a complete stop. The driver of the pickup truck was unable to stop his vehicle before crashing into the back of client's vehicle.

Client sustained severe injuries to her cervical, lumbar and thoracic spine, specifically C5-6 posterior disc bulging, L4-5 central disc herniation, and L5-S1 posterior disc bulging. She also sustained injuries to her abdomen, right hand, arm and shoulder, and both legs, hips and feet. Because of her injuries, she suffered with headaches and TMJ pain, degenerative changes throughout her spine, difficulty sleeping, stress, anxiety and depression. A settlement of the $100,000.00 liability policy limits was reached, as well as $92,500.00 of the $100,000.00 UIM policy limits.

MOTORCYCLE CRASH VICTIM RECEIVES - $3 MILLION

A woman client was on a motorcycle outing driving northbound on County Road 101 approaching its intersection with 14th Avenue in Plymouth, Hennepin County, Minnesota. An individual driving a motor vehicle pulled out in front of our client in an attempt to make a left-hand turn from County Road 101 on to 14th Avenue. Although client was able to avoid a collision with the motor vehicle by going around it, she was caused to collide into the motorcycle of her accompanying friend after which she hit the curb and sidewalk, and was thrown from her motorcycle.

Client sustained a severe injury to her left lower leg wherein a large “L” shaped flap of her leg was peeled back, fully exposing the anterior compartment, as well as bone and tendons. She was required to undergo surgery for repair of those injuries, as well as an additional surgery and skin grafting. Woman was left with substantial scarring of her leg which has affected her both physically and emotionally. The case settled for the full liability policy limits of the at-fault driver in the amount of $250,000.00, as well as an additional $49,728.00 from the driver’s umbrella policy.

VIOXX ARTHRITIS DRUG - $8.5 MILLION

In cooperation with a network of law firms from across the nation, our firm investigated the serious and life-threatening health problems attributed to the drug Vioxx, a pain killer used to relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis and manufactured by Merck & Co. The dangers posed by Vioxx were so great that its manufacturers withdrew it from the market in September 2004. Vioxx was shown to cause serious health risks to users. Patients who took Vioxx were found to be twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. Merck & Co. entered into settlement agreements with certain plaintiffs’ counsel in order to establish a nationwide settlement program to resolve the claims of certain individuals who had suffered a heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death resulting from their use of Vioxx. The total settlement to be shared amongst those individuals who suffered a heart attack or sudden cardiac death was approximately $4 billion; and the total settlement to be shared amongst those individuals who suffered an ischemic stroke or death from stroke was approximately $850 million. The firm was able to successfully obtain settlements for our clients in the amount of approximately $8,557,475.33.

BAYCOL CHOLESTEROL DRUG - $5.5 MILLION

The firm was contacted by several individuals who were injured by the drug Baycol, a cholesterol lowering drug manufactured by Bayer. By March 2002, several law firms had filed suits against Bayer Pharmaceutical Division alleging that Bayer had failed to correctly raise awareness to the approximately 700,000 individuals who regularly consumed Baycol about possible effects, and had not warned either the government or the FDA to a sufficient extent. Baycol patients experienced severe rhabdomyolysis, which causes muscle-cell breakdown (atrophy) and causes muscle pain, weakness, tenderness, malaise, fever, dark urine, nausea and vomiting. This disease can lead to kidney failure and death. The firm worked with a network of law firms, pursued lawsuits on behalf of their several clients, with a gross recovery of $5,518,073.86.

FEN-PHEN DIET DRUG - $14 MILLION

We filed the first Minnesota lawsuit against American Home Products for injuries resulting from the use of their combo diet drug Fen- Phen. Some of the injuries associated with Fen-Phen were heart valve disorders, mitral valve regurgitation and primary pulmonary hypertension. Some users had to undergo valve replacement surgeries. After filing the lawsuit just under fifty clients were able to recover approximately $14 million. An additional 100 + Fen Phen claims were submitted to the AHP Settlement and the 7th Amendment receiving approximately $15 million in recoveries.

NORPLANT BIRTH CONTROL PATCH - $1.5 MILLION

Norplant was a hormonal birth control device that was implanted in the upper forearm. Norplant is a hormonal implant used for birth control. The way in which Norplant causes these effects is by use of hormones. A small amount of the hormone progestin is released through the capsules continuously, more during the first year and a half, but then at a level similar to most contraceptive pills afterward. It is effective for up to five years. Norplant uses hormone-carrying rods about the size and shape of matchsticks inserted under the skin, normally in the upper arm. Users contended that they had not been adequately warned about possible side effects of Norplant such as irregular menstrual bleeding, headaches, nausea and depression. Wyeth said that most of the plaintiffs experienced routine side effects described in Norplant's labeling information. Neither Norplant nor any other hormonal implant is currently available to women in the United States. The manufacturer of Norplant stopped distributing the Norplant System in July of 2002. Clients received settlements of $1,514,711.67.

SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS - $10.3 MILLION

In 1992, the first cases were filed against Dow Corning, 3M. Baxter and Bristol Meyer on behalf of women who had been implanted with silicone filled silicone shell breastimplants. Most of the implants had ruptured inside the body and silicone migrated into various pockets inside the body. Many of those who had leaking or ruptured implants also suffered from autoimmune type symptoms. Dow Corning filed for Bankruptcy in 1994 and began processing claims in 2004. To date, the firm has recovered approximately $10,351,117.00 in settlements for their clients.

GASTRIC BY-PASS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - $850,000.

Client had gastric by-pass surgery, became infected and although he showed many signs of infection, he was not treated in a timely manner and died of toxic shock leaving a young wife and small daughter. Sued 2 doctors and 2 hospitals who settled for $850,000.

NIGHT WORKER SEXUALLY HARASSED - $350,000.

A female night cleaner was sexually harassed and raped while on the job by a fellow janitor who had previously committed sexual harassment on the job. The firm settled the case for $350,000.

OFFICE WORKER SEXUALLY HARASSED BY SOLO AGENT BOSS - $250,000.

A female office worker was sexually harassed and raped by her boss while on the job. The boss had a previous record of sexual harassment. Case was settled for $250,000.