Gump, Faiella & Bugalski, LLC

$6.2M

Product Liability, Wrongful Death, Boating Accident

The family of Joplin man who died from carbon monoxide poisoning sued the manufacturer of the generator. John Harris was a guest of Randolph and Lois Anderson on their 40 foot yacht at the Lake of the Ozarks on May 31, 1999. On Memorial Day, John Harris along with the owners of the boat and another passenger, Robert Stein, died of carbon monoxide inhalation. Missouri Law Enforcement initially treated the accident as a homicide but quickly determined the deaths resulted from a failed exhaust component of an onboard Kohler gas powered generator. Our investigation uncovered facts that showed the auxiliary power generator system on board the boat was defective.

$5.5M

Insurance Bad Faith, Personal Injury

A man suffered serious injury when he suffered a fall. The man pursued claims against the responsible party. The insurer for the responsible party denied coverage, and refused to protect their insured. The policyholder suffered an excess verdict and then pursued his own company for bad faith failure to settle.

$4.5M

Auto Accident, Personal Injury

Doe was injured in an automobile collision which caused his vehicle to leave the highway and resulted in his ejection from the vehicle. Doe was a highly active and productive man who was engaged in sales. As a result of the collision, he sustained serious and debilitating injuries including a closed head injury, T-12 burst fracture of his back, right side rib fractures of the first and second ribs, commuted fractures of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eight ribs with displacement near the chest cavity and fractures of the ninth and tenth ribs. He also had a dislocated acromioclavicular joint fracture as well as transverse process fractures of L1, L2 and L3. Plaintiff made a fairly good recovery from most of his traumatic injuries except had residual problems from his T12 burst fracture and the closed head injury.

$4M

Personal Injury, Sports Injury, Negligence

This case involved a collegiate athlete who suffered a serious sports injury during training as a result of institutional negligence and negligence by the coaches and trainers involved.

$3.1M

Insurance Bad Faith, Wrongful Death

A man was killed in a trench collapse while working on a sewer line. The family brought claims against the responsible parties. The insurer for the defendants refused coverage and refused to settle the claim, although the attorney initially hired by the company to defend advised the insurer that the claim was meritorious and would likely exceed the policy limits.

$2.1M

Insurance Bad Faith, Wrongful Death

This case involved a man that died in a tree trimming accident as a result of equipment failure in Missouri. The deceased’s family made a claim against the tree trimming company and the insurer for the tree trimming company that denied the claim and refused to settle for the available policy limits of $100,000. The plaintiffs obtained a verdict against the tree trimming company and then pursed a bad faith claim against the insurer (insurance company) for improper claim denial and bad faith failure to settle.