Thomas Mester, Partner

During the course of a lymph node biopsy performed by defendant, Lisa Rock, M.D., portions of the spinal accessory nerve were transected resulting in irreparable damage to the nerve and in a fusion of the shoulder. Consequently, the plaintiff's range of motion to the upper right extremity was limited on a permanent basis.

Defendant obstetrician failed to intervene in a timely fashion by way of discontinuing Pitocin or by way of c-section in the face of persistent decelerations continuing for a two hour period of time. Apgars and pH were normal and multi-organ system failure was questionable. Child suffered cerebral palsy and is profoundly retarded.

Medical Malpractice case in which plaintiff presented with pain in wrist. An x-ray was not taken, resulting in a 2 1\2 month delay in diagnosis of MFH, a bone sarcoma. Plaintiff argued that timely diagnosis would have lead to limb saving surgery, i.e. a fusion of wrist. Defendants claimed no x-ray was necessary and amputation was unavoidable if timely diagnosed. Plaintiff sustained amputation of right upper extremity below elbow, instead of resection and fusion with allograft.

Our client's worker's injury occurred on June 21, 2002, the day before his wedding. His employer, Meadowridge, Inc., was a small "mom and pop" company that performed demolition and clean-up work. Meadowridge was hired by Palmieri Builders to tear off the existing roof on a building Palmieri Builders was renovating. Palmieri Builders had worked with Meadowridge on a number of projects in the past, but had never used Meadowridge to perform a roof tear-off. Although Palmieri Builders was using a professional roofing company to re-roof the building, it chose Meadowridge to perform the tear-off at least in part for economic reasons.

Prior to beginning the job, Meadowridge's owner, unknowledgeable in this particular job, consulted with Palmieri Builders on how to perform the tear-off. Palmieri Builders assisted Meadowridge by obtaining certain equipment and extra workers to assist Meadowridge in completing the work on schedule and by arranging for another subcontractor to help Meadowridge's employees gain access to the roof to perform their work.

The roof in question was a wide flat roof, some 30 feet high, with a low lip at the edge. Federal and state law require that workers be provided with fall protection which includes barriers, body harnesses, or other similar devices. Despite these requirements, neither Palmieri Builders nor Meadowridge provided the workers performing this tear-off job with any fall protection.

On the day of the worker's injury, he and his co-worker (the only other individual employed by Meadowridge) were hauling roofing debris to the roof's edge, from where they would pitch it into a dump truck below. His co-worker had left with the truck to dump the load. The client was in the process of accumulating the debris at the roof's edge. He lost his balance and fell off the roof, sustaining a burst fracture of the L-1 vertebrae. This has left him with severe bowel and bladder dysfunction, as well as a life-long inability to walk without the assistance of a walker or confinement to a wheelchair.

The worker filed a lawsuit against Palmieri Builders for their failure to provide fall protection. To prevail on his claim, the worker had to prove that Palmieri Builders "actively participated" in the work of Meadowridge. (Under Ohio law, a general contractor has no duty to provide fall protection to the employees of its subcontractors unless it "actively participates" in their work. Unless this is shown, the duty to provide fall protection to the subcontractor's employees is the sole responsibility of the subcontractor.) Palmieri Builders contended it had no duty to provide fall protection, as it had not actively participated in Meadowridge's work. The worker responded by providing evidence that Palmieri Builders had actively participated, by giving Meadowridge directions on how to perform the job, and by providing equipment and workers to facilitate Meadowridge's performance of the job.

Following a one-week trial, the jury found Palmieri Builders liable and awarded the worker $3.3 million in damages.

Plaintiff, a 50-year-old maintenance man, was directed to sweep up around the industrial furnace. The furnace's ignition system had been in a state of disrepair for months before his injury. It had been arcing, sparking, and shorting out, and defendant, despite observing these events, failed to repair the problem. The ignition wires were hanging out of uncovered electrical junction boxes. While sweeping, plaintiff came in contact with the wires and received a 5,500 volt shock which stopped his heart for a few minutes resulting in oxygen deprivation to his brain. Plaintiff sustained a mild brain injury with some cognitive dysfunction. He is permanently and totally disabled.

A ten-year-old girl presented herself at the emergency room of a local hospital with signs and symptoms suggestive of a brain infection known as viral encephalitis. Unfortunately, the staff, physicians, and specialists on call failed to timely recognize her infection and treat with an anti-viral medication. After five full days of trial and the testimony of five experts, the local hospital and specialists settled the claim with the family. Unfortunately, as a result of the infection, this now 22-year-old young woman suffers from profound brain injury.

The plaintiff suffered "an iatrogenic complication from a radiologic test." During an attempted enterecolsis, a balloon was inadvertently blown up into the duodenum resulting in a perforation, septic condition, and other complications suffered by the patient. Additionally, subsequent to her discharge, she was treated for approximately three months by a home nursing program, is further suffering post traumatic stress emotional disorder, has an unsightly abdominal scar, polyneuropathy of her hands and fingers, and was treated for diabetes during her admission.

Plaintiff, an adult non-swimmer, found drowning in a deep end of a swimming pool. Plaintiff claimed defendant negligent in lifeguard duties. Defendants denied negligence, alleged contributory negligence of plaintiff for entering deep end of pool. Defendant alleged that plaintiff died of natural death causes based on coroner's report. Defendant claims he died of sudden arrhythmic death originating from a vegetative lesion in the mitral valve.

Maritime I Admiralty / Jones Act claim where a seafarer was attempting to secure a tug boat to a dredge when he became caught between the tug and dredge causing a fracture to his pelvis and nerve damage to his back. Plaintiff alleged that the employer failed to properly employ enough crew to safely operate the tug and dredge.