Results

Defense verdict after a four-day jury trial in northeastern Pennsylvania on behalf of a registered investment advisor and a securities broker dealer who were sued by their former client for investment losses in alternative investments.

We obtained summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where the court found in favor of the insurance carrier on a breach of contract and statutory bad faith claim filed by its insured. The plaintiff returned from vacation to find that his basement oil tank leaked, causing extensive damage to his home and the soil below the foundation. The plaintiff sued the carrier for improperly denying the claim based on the pollutant exclusion.

We obtained a dismissal in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in an extremely complex, multi-party legal malpractice action. The action arose out of two estate litigations filed in state court in which our client was the attorney for the decedent and the temporary administrator. The plaintiff, the nephew of the decedent, filed a breach of fiduciary duty claim against our client in the U.S. District Court. The probate cases went against the nephew.

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of an insurance agency and insurance agent in a fraud action. Venued in Cincinnati, the case involved a dispute over the agent’s alleged failure to procure insurance coverage for a residence that sustained extensive, uncovered fire damage. The client had assisted the two homeowners in procuring insurance coverage for their residential properties with the Ohio Fair Plan Underwriting Association, an entity created by the Ohio legislature to provide insurance for property that is not insurable in the normal insurance market.

The plaintiff suffered a perforated uterus following an ambulatory IUD removal surgery that was performed by our Ob/Gyn client. The following day, the plaintiff was readmitted with worsening symptoms and underwent surgery to repair the perforation. The plaintiff alleged that our client was negligent in failing to timely and properly manage the uterine perforation and that the delayed treatment resulted in the plaintiff requiring two open surgeries and ultimately a hysterectomy. With $4.4 million at stake, the jury returned a complete defense verdict.

The plaintiff alleged to have suffered a fall in a hospital bathroom three days post-operatively that reinjured his surgically repaired knees. The nurses denied the patient fell to the ground and testified, consistent with their charting, that the patient lost his balance in the bathroom and sat on a commode. There was a significant economic damage claim in that the plaintiff was a young restaurant owner who suffered two distinct orthopedic injuries that required multiple surgeries and additional future care.

After being blinded in one eye by a defective product purchased through the retailer’s marketplace (but manufactured, sold and shipped by a non-party vendor), the plaintiff sued the retailer on multiple theories, including strict liability. The court held that the retailer is not strictly or otherwise liable for making its electronic platform available to sellers and is not itself a seller under Pennsylvania product liability principles.

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of a wellhead manufacturer in a product liability matter pending in Western Pennsylvania. The plaintiff drill operator alleged a wellhead was defectively designed, causing oil and gas to escape during operation, which led to a fire at the well site. The plaintiff asserted economic losses in excess of $1.4 million. We successfully argued that the plaintiff failed to elicit sufficient expert opinion to support the defect claim and also spoliated evidence in discarding the subject wellhead.

In this complex lawsuit, the plaintiff suffered traumatic injury when the steering column of his tractor trailer became unyoked, rendering it uncontrollable and causing it to crash. The manufacturer is a Delaware LLC headquartered in North Carolina, but it manufactured the truck at its plant in Virginia. The plaintiff, a Pennsylvania citizen, crashed while driving it in Texas. The suit was filed in Philadelphia, as the LLC’s sole corporate parent is a Pennsylvania corporation. Based upon that, the plaintiff argued that the LLC should be deemed a citizen of Pennsylvania.

We argued successfully before the Pennsylvania Superior Court on behalf of a commercial real estate developer. The case involved a probation officer who fell and badly injured himself during a blizzard. The demand was in excess of $4 million. In its decision that reaffirms the “Hills and Ridges Doctrine,” the court reiterated our argument that, in essence, our client had no duty to remove snow and ice while it was still snowing.