Spinal Cord Injury

September 19, 2010

Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Who Will Fight For You 817-900-8439

“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.”

And so it begins, twenty four hours from now, with a drop of the hammer and a cry of “Order, Court now in session,” the battle banners would have unfurled with the sounds of trumpets.

As a Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney, I would like to offer the following insights. As I mentioned in my last posting from the battlefront, we were due in court tomorrow to argue our slip and fall case which just got canceled and set for a new date.

The foul air would have been filled with the clanging of steel, the clashing of shields, the stench of panic and fear permeating the air to be supplemented with whiffs of gunpowder. My friends, this was no ordinary skirmish, but the accumulation of 3 years hard labor. But it was not to be…

My friends that is what a court room feels and sounds like, all shrouded in the fog of war and at the end of the day, one victor and the vanquished. Carnage and havoc for both.

Trials are no easy things and the plaintiffs all want their day in court. It is hard to then explain to them when you get a worse deal at trial that in settlement talks a year earlier.

In this particular battle, the decision to go to war was easy, we had no offers to settle or offers through mediation. Here, if we had failed to press our charge and we lost, what did we lose? We came with nothing and left with nothing. Then the next time the defense would know we spared no quarter, we yielded no ground, and we fought to the last man. Each man died a hero, with sword in hand, a bloody battle indeed.

In this battle dear readers, there are no prisoners.

September 18, 2010

Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney 817-900-8439

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Like the knights and warriors of old, I was preparing this week for all out pitched battle. Is there no captain of Gondor who can come to our aid? Sadly not, we were alone in our campaign for justice.There was going to be a winner and a loser; a victor and vanquished.

A steady drum beat of war filled the air as each night I was hunched over the computer, being warmed by the pallid sickly glow of the screen, while I plotted and schemed our strategy. I reviewed the battle plans with my trusty squire (read associate) and we played out all the competing scenarios. We had been planning our siege and attack for the past 3 months. The defense was well funded, well armed and had countless minions to throw into battle.

Our slip and fall personal injury law suit was filed 3 years ago, and after all the twists and turns had finally come to trial. My 68 year old client had tripped and fallen while crossing a construction site that the company had done when they tore up her drive way. Her house and yard was surrounded by a chain link fence, which was not taken down. The construction site was not barricaded in, taped down or any caution cones placed around the site.

The defense resisted hard, denied all liability and offered no settlement, nothing at mediation and were trying to make us go the long distance. My client had incurred $450,000 in medical bills and had to undergo lumbar sacral surgery and extensive rehab.

My client had a doctor’s appointment go to that morning when she fell. She had no alternative entrance or exit from her place. She had to cross the construction site, which was a drop off of 4-6 inches surrounded by wooden forms getting ready for concrete pouring. She tripped and she went down like a lead balloon, or a tree in the forest, depending on your penchant for metaphors.

We had survived 3 knock out/death sentence motions for summary judgment and countless other motions.

This week, we were poring over the trial exhibits, photographs, reading all the depositions and reviewed all the evidence. Earlier in the week we met the plaintiff and key witnesses for the final time, going over the trial and trial strategy. We had gathered and reviewed the multiple medical records and medical billing business affidavits.

The defense launched a fiercesome attack on our encampments, starting on the dawn of Monday morning. A lengthy volley of 3 motions by defense trebuchets came crashing down to instill fear and panic among the camp. We scrambled during the week to our return volley of opposing motions. We had 7 pre-trial motions to argue about on this Monday morning prior to choosing and seating the jury.

Then Thursday afternoon, a call from the court coordinator, our case was going to be canceled and rescheduled for February 2011, because the judge had a conference to go to…

So now, the pitch battle and storming of the castle will have to wait, but we shall persist and continue in the siege. We now will address and set up the 7 motions and force the defense to skirmishes.

September 4, 2010

Dallas Fort Worth Slip and Fall Attorney 817-900-8439

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Folks I am a man of simple tastes. When I woke up this morning I sat down with a steaming cup of java and opened up my lap top. I looked out over the back yard, the temperature was cool for Texas (70 F) and the sky was a deep blue…

Is it great to have a contemplative 3 days with the Labor Day Weekend? A great weekend for shopping and getting out and about and then as a result, more slip and falls.

As Dallas Fort Worth Slip and Fall attorney, I review and screen many slip and fall and trip and fall accident/personal injury claims. That reminds me, we have a case currently against a large and well known grocery store. My client is a 75 year old sprightly woman in otherwise good health. She went to the store to do her shopping but did not get very far. She tripped up on the entrance on the floor mats which were not taped down as per the store’s policy and procedures.

Instead the mats were allowed to get buckled and frayed and my client tripped up, falling, breaking her hip and shoulder.

You know the rest of the story…the store will not do right by her, she had to retain an attorney and we are in litigation. She had a long hospital stay and extensive rehab and is now finally back on her feet.

We will keep you posted, dear readers of the progress in this case. The defendants have stated that they want to settle and mediate this case…

September 2, 2010

Dallas Fort Worth Construction Sites Can Lead to Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries

by Dr. Shezad Malik

According to OSHA, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009.

“With every one of these fatalities, the lives of a worker’s family members were shattered and forever changed. We can’t forget that fact.”

-Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor
Poorly Managed Construction Sites Are Dangerous.

Construction site injuries include:

* Falls
* Struck by falling object
* Struck by laterally moving object or equipment
* Impalement or penetrating injury
* Truck or other motor vehicle accident
* Electrocution
* Explosions
* Burns

September 2, 2010

We are the Dallas Fort Worth Texas Personal Injury Lawyers

by Dr. Shezad Malik

I am proud of our work this week. We just settled another car accident injury claim. My client was minding his own business, one night in Dallas. Somebody plowed into him and rear ended him. The folks who hit him were drunk and tried to run. They were caught by an off duty apartment security guard.

Come to find out they were high as a kite and ready to fly.

Luckily for my client he had minor soft tissue injuries, but he had pre-existing neck problems including cervical neck fusion. Obviously we were concerned that he may have had neck injuries. But after medical evaluation he was cleared of major injuries.

August 31, 2010

Two Settle in Personal Injury Accident at Dallas Cowboys Complex

by Dr. Shezad Malik

Companies controlled by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have paid out about $10 million to the two employees seriously injured in the 2009 collapse of the team’s practice facility, according to their attorney.

The payments settle lawsuits the two brought against Cowboys Center Ltd. and Blue Star Development Co.; Cowboys Center owned the steel and fabric facility as well as the land on which it stood.

One victim was paralyzed from the waist down and the second suffered a broken vertebrae when the building collapsed in a wind storm on May 2, 2009. DANNY ROBBINS, AP, Houston Chronicle 08/31/2010
Read Article: Houston Chronicle

March 10, 2010

L.A. Settles Accident Lawsuit for $7 M

by Dr. Shezad Malik

The city of Los Angeles paid $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a volunteer for the Los Angeles Triathlon, who was left a paraplegic by an accident during the event in 2007, according to his attorney.

Steve Albala, who was 60 at the time of the accident, was on his motorcycle helping to officiate the bicycle portion of the triathlon. A traffic officer motioned for a vehicle to enter an intersection into the volunteer’s path, causing the accident, Albala’s attorney contended in the lawsuit.

Read the full story here at the LA Times.

March 3, 2010

$14.7 M Settlement in Trampoline Lawsuit Against Chicago Board of Education

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A Chicago man injured on a mini-trampoline when he was an eighth-grade student at a South Side elementary school 18 years ago has settled a lawsuit with the Chicago Board of Education and a private youth center for almost $14.7 million, his attorneys said Thursday.

Ryan Murray, who was 13 at the time, was injured in a tumbling class on Dec. 14, 1992, at what was then Bryn Mawr Elementary School, the attorneys said. Murray, now 30, became a quadriplegic after he hit his head as he did a flip off a mini-trampoline onto a mat in the school’s gymnasium, the attorneys said.

Read full story here at the Chicago Tribune

February 25, 2010

Woman Gets $23.4M for Personal Injury Ford Crash

by Dr. Shezad Malik

A jury has awarded a woman $23.4 million in a civil judgment against Ford Motor Co. for a 2007 freeway accident that left her a quadriplegic.

Cynthia Castillo lost control of her 1997 Ford Explorer when the tread separated from her left-rear tire as she drove on the freeway.

Her attorney, Brian Brandt, said the SUV veered off the freeway and rolled three times down an embankment, leaving her legs and most of her body paralyzed. Flaws in the vehicle’s design caused it to lose control when the tire tread separates, Brandt said.

Read full story here.

February 24, 2010

Idaho Springs Man Awarded $18.5 M in DUI Case

by Dr. Shezad Malik

An Idaho Springs man was awarded $18.5 million for catastrophic injuries he suffered when a driver drunk on alcohol and high on marijuana left a mountain road and slammed into him as he was changing the oil on his wife’s car in their driveway.

Clear Creek District Court Judge Granger assessed the award against the driver, Kevin Ruszkowski, 24; the owner of the Jeep, Randall Guy; and Guy’s son, Justin Guy, 20, who had allowed Ruszkowski to drive the vehicle.

Paul Savage, 46, who was injured, was head waiter at the Alpenglow Stube at Keystone at the time.

Ruszkowski had no license because his driving privileges had either been suspended or revoked for prior driving misconduct.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14419648#ixzz0gN2hsQw2