Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

A teenager badly injured when he was shocked by a fallen power line near a state beach in late June has filed a lawsuit against the utility company that operates the wires.

Jacob Kirkendall, a 17-year-old Aptos High student with strong family ties in Los Gatos, names Pacific Gas & Electric Co., as well as the county of Santa Cruz and State Parks, as defendants in the suit.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Santa Cruz Family Sues Over Burns From Downed Powerlines" »

A Darlington County SC jury returned a verdict of $9 million after finding Progress Energy responsible in the wrongful death of 21-year-old Allen Toney of Hartsville.

According to a press release, the jury awarded Mary Washington, the victim’s mother, $3.5 million in actual damages and $5.5 million in punitive damages. Toney died as the result of being electrocuted by a downed power line.

According to testimony, on May 2, 2003, a storm in the Hartsville area caused a utility pole, owned and maintained by Progress Energy, to fail. The pole, fell at approximately 6:30 p.m., leaving a live power line carrying 13200 volts hanging chest high across the driveway. According to witnesses, at around 9:20 p.m. Toney arrived at the home where he came into contact with the energized power line.

Continue reading "SC Jury Awards $9M Settlement Wrongful Death Case" »

Nearly four years after 23 Bellaire nursing home residents died in a fiery bus while evacuating from Hurricane Rita, their families have reached a settlement awarding them $80 million.

In the chaotic week leading up to Hurricane Rita, Brighton Gardens, a Bellaire nursing home owned by Sunrise Senior Living Services of McLean, Va., quickly ordered buses for its residents and staff so they could evacuate to a sister facility in Dallas. As Rita churned through the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 23, 2005, nursing home residents and staff boarded two buses provided by Global Limo Inc. of Pharr, Texas.

Continue reading "Texas Hurricane Rita Bus Fire Settlement " »

A Missouri jury recommended that AmerenUE electric company pay the families of three teenagers involved in an electrical accident three years ago for a combined $2.3 million.

On March 18, 2006, Nic Harbison, then 16, Morgan Milfeld and Tim Fitzpatrick, both then 15, and Joshua McClure, then 18, jumped into Spring Lake. Shortly after hitting the water, the teens became immoblized by an electric current.

Nic Harbison drowned, the others were resucitated.

Harbison's father, Jerry Harbison, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against AmerenUE the electric company.

Continue reading "Missouri Jury Orders Electric Company to Pay $2.3 M " »

A Cleburne family, the Pawliks, whose house exploded after odorless natural gas seeped into their home through a leaking gas main and a faulty air conditioning condensation line, has reached a settlement with Atmos Energy. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

The lawsuit alleged that Atmos did not inspect or maintain the gas lines.

Officials from Atmos Energy also declined to discuss the terms of the settlement. The man’s wife, Hazel, 64, and daughter, Hazel Sanderson, 44, died after being severely burned.

Continue reading "Cleburne Texas Family and Atmos Settle in Gas Explosion" »

A federal court has ordered Taser International to pay $1.4 million to lawyers for the family of a California man who died after police officers repeatedly shocked him with stun guns.

Continue reading "Court Awards $1.4M in Taser Lawsuit" »

An Army investigation called the electrocution death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq a "negligent homicide" caused by military contractor KBR Inc. and two of its supervisors.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, died as a result of negligent homicide because the contractor failed to ensure that "qualified electricians and plumbers" worked on the barracks where the soldier died.

Continue reading "Report: KBR Negligent in Soldier Electrocution" »

GALVESTON, Texas — Massive Hurricane Ike ravaged southeast Texas early Saturday September 13, 2008, battering the coast with driving rain and ferocious wind gusts.

When daylight had arrived, damage was already considered extensive. Thousands of homes and government buildings had flooded, roads were washed out, 2.9 million people lost power and several fires burned unabated as crews could not reach them.

Continue reading "Texas Hurricane Ike Hits" »