McCutcheon & Hamner

$3.5M

Products Liability

This case occurred in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Our client was driving her 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt home after delivering cupcakes to her daughter’s school. While driving the car, the ignition switch failed resulting in a complete loss of power. Our client’s car became uncontrollable and collided with an 18 wheeler. Tragically, our client lost her life. At the time of the wreck, General Motors the manufacturer of the Chevrolet Cobalt, knew that the ignition switch was defective and allowed the key to unintentionally slip from the “run” to “off” position while the car was being driven. The ignition switch defect would cause the sudden loss of engine power, braking and steering. GM knew about the ignition switch problem as early as 2001 but rejected several design changes and solutions that were recommended by its own engineers because of the cost and time it would take to make the changes. Upon being contacted by our client’s family and realizing that time was of the essence, we immediately filed suit and began investigating the crash. Although the damage to our client’s car was severe, we were able to determine through the use of crash experts that the ignition switch had indeed failed causing the wreck. In addition, due to having been able to begin our investigation so close to the time of the wreck, we found that another tractor trailer truck driving behind our client’s car had a dashcam which clearly showed the sudden loss of steering and loss of control of our client’s car.

$3.5M

Truck Accident

This case occurred in Texas. Our client was on the job when the truck in which he was a passenger was hit head on by another driver. Our client suffered devastating injuries including a traumatic brain injury. After undergoing numerous surgeries in Texas to stabilize his condition, he was med-flighted to The Sheperd’s Center in Atlanta, Georgia for treatment and rehabilitation of his traumatic brain injury. I was contacted by the family after the client arrived in Atlanta and flew to Atlanta the next day to meet with the client’s parents. Our client spent 6 months at Sheperd Center. The traumatic brain injury has left our client unable to live unable to live by or care for himself. After meeting with the family, we immediately filed suit. Due to our client being on the job, there were two different cases that had to be filed. First, was the case against the defendant driver who caused the wreck. The second was the case against our client’s worker’s compensation insurance carrier as the wreck happened while the client was on the job. The automobile accident case was resolved through mediation. The worker’s compensation insurance company, however, would not agree that our client was permanently and totally disabled even though each of his treating physicians testified that our client no longer had the mental capacity to work, would never be able to live on his on much less operate a vehicle and that he would be a danger to others. After an intense trial, the Court found that our client was permanently and totally disabled as defined by Alabama’s Worker’s Compensation Act. The worker’s compensation carrier did not agree with the decision of the trial Court and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Alabama. After filing written briefs in support of our client, the Supreme Court of Alabama agreed that our client was permanently and totally disabled and upheld the trial court’s award of benefits.

$3.5M

Products Liability

This case occurred in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Our client was driving her 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt home after delivering cupcakes to her daughter’s school. While driving the car, the ignition switch failed resulting in a complete loss of power. Our client’s car became uncontrollable and collided with an 18 wheeler. Tragically, our client lost her life. At the time of the wreck, General Motors the manufacturer of the Chevrolet Cobalt, knew that the ignition switch was defective and allowed the key to unintentionally slip from the “run” to “off” position while the car was being driven. The ignition switch defect would cause the sudden loss of engine power, braking and steering. GM knew about the ignition switch problem as early as 2001 but rejected several design changes and solutions that were recommended by its own engineers because of the cost and time it would take to make the changes. Upon being contacted by our client’s family and realizing that time was of the essence, we immediately filed suit and began investigating the crash. Although the damage to our client’s car was severe, we were able to determine through the use of crash experts that the ignition switch had indeed failed causing the wreck. In addition, due to having been able to begin our investigation so close to the time of the wreck, we found that another tractor trailer truck driving behind our client’s car had a dashcam which clearly showed the sudden loss of steering and loss of control of our client’s car.

$3.5M

Truck Accident

This case occurred in Texas. Our client was on the job when the truck in which he was a passenger was hit head on by another driver. Our client suffered devastating injuries including a traumatic brain injury. After undergoing numerous surgeries in Texas to stabilize his condition, he was med-flighted to The Sheperd’s Center in Atlanta, Georgia for treatment and rehabilitation of his traumatic brain injury. I was contacted by the family after the client arrived in Atlanta and flew to Atlanta the next day to meet with the client’s parents. Our client spent 6 months at Sheperd Center. The traumatic brain injury has left our client unable to live unable to live by or care for himself. After meeting with the family, we immediately filed suit. Due to our client being on the job, there were two different cases that had to be filed. First, was the case against the defendant driver who caused the wreck. The second was the case against our client’s worker’s compensation insurance carrier as the wreck happened while the client was on the job. The automobile accident case was resolved through mediation. The worker’s compensation insurance company, however, would not agree that our client was permanently and totally disabled even though each of his treating physicians testified that our client no longer had the mental capacity to work, would never be able to live on his on much less operate a vehicle and that he would be a danger to others. After an intense trial, the Court found that our client was permanently and totally disabled as defined by Alabama’s Worker’s Compensation Act. The worker’s compensation carrier did not agree with the decision of the trial Court and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Alabama. After filing written briefs in support of our client, the Supreme Court of Alabama agreed that our client was permanently and totally disabled and upheld the trial court’s award of benefits.

$3.5M

Truck Accident

This case occurred in Texas. Our client was on the job when the truck in which he was a passenger was hit head on by another driver. Our client suffered devastating injuries including a traumatic brain injury. After undergoing numerous surgeries in Texas to stabilize his condition, he was med-flighted to The Sheperd’s Center in Atlanta, Georgia for treatment and rehabilitation of his traumatic brain injury. I was contacted by the family after the client arrived in Atlanta and flew to Atlanta the next day to meet with the client’s parents. Our client spent 6 months at Sheperd Center. The traumatic brain injury has left our client unable to live unable to live by or care for himself. After meeting with the family, we immediately filed suit. Due to our client being on the job, there were two different cases that had to be filed. First, was the case against the defendant driver who caused the wreck. The second was the case against our client’s worker’s compensation insurance carrier as the wreck happened while the client was on the job. The automobile accident case was resolved through mediation. The worker’s compensation insurance company, however, would not agree that our client was permanently and totally disabled even though each of his treating physicians testified that our client no longer had the mental capacity to work, would never be able to live on his on much less operate a vehicle and that he would be a danger to others. After an intense trial, the Court found that our client was permanently and totally disabled as defined by Alabama’s Worker’s Compensation Act. The worker’s compensation carrier did not agree with the decision of the trial Court and filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Alabama. After filing written briefs in support of our client, the Supreme Court of Alabama agreed that our client was permanently and totally disabled and upheld the trial court’s award of benefits.

$3.5M

Products Liability

This case occurred in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Our client was driving her 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt home after delivering cupcakes to her daughter’s school. While driving the car, the ignition switch failed resulting in a complete loss of power. Our client’s car became uncontrollable and collided with an 18 wheeler. Tragically, our client lost her life. At the time of the wreck, General Motors the manufacturer of the Chevrolet Cobalt, knew that the ignition switch was defective and allowed the key to unintentionally slip from the “run” to “off” position while the car was being driven. The ignition switch defect would cause the sudden loss of engine power, braking and steering. GM knew about the ignition switch problem as early as 2001 but rejected several design changes and solutions that were recommended by its own engineers because of the cost and time it would take to make the changes. Upon being contacted by our client’s family and realizing that time was of the essence, we immediately filed suit and began investigating the crash. Although the damage to our client’s car was severe, we were able to determine through the use of crash experts that the ignition switch had indeed failed causing the wreck. In addition, due to having been able to begin our investigation so close to the time of the wreck, we found that another tractor trailer truck driving behind our client’s car had a dashcam which clearly showed the sudden loss of steering and loss of control of our client’s car.