Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Case Results
Langdon & Emison has dedicated 30 years of practice to helping individuals who have experienced a life-altering injury because of the negligence of another party. Our passion is helping injured people obtain the financial compensation to which they are entitled so they have the resources required to meet their daily and long-term needs.
Featured Cases
The Featured Cases below demonstrate our success as trial attorneys and the multi-million and million-dollar verdicts we have obtained for our clients in courtrooms across the country. The list also illustrates our deep experience and expertise across an array of personal injury litigation.
Verdicts
$43.1 million, Spinal Cord Injury/Defective Seat Back, Heco v. Midstate Dodge LLC et al.
Langdon & Emison represented a woman who became quadriplegic after the seat back in her car failed when she was rear-ended while waiting at a stop light. A Vermont jury awarded our client the largest verdict in Vermont history at the time.
$23.4 million, Spinal Cord Injury/Ford Explorer Rollover, Castillo v. Ford
A Ford Explorer rolled over several times when the left tire detreaded, causing the vehicle to tramp and skate, run off the highway and roll down a steep embankment where it came to rest after hitting a tree. The accident caused the driver to suffer catastrophic injuries and quadriplegia.
$16.9 million. Spinal Cord Injury/Seat Belt Case, Martin v. Ford
Langdon & Emison represented a Florida woman who was involved in a Windstar minivan collision that rendered her paraplegic. The legal team successfully argued that Ford failed to warn our client about the dangers of riding with a reclined seat, among other claims.
$8 million, Brain Injury, George v. Johnson Controls, Inc.
The firm successfully filed suit against a large auto seat manufacturer, on behalf of the family of a 2 year-old girl who suffered a brain injury in a rear-end auto accident. During the accident, the back of the driver’s seat broke, causing the driver’ head to hit the young girl’s head and injure her.
$4.5 million, Brain Injury, Eckerberg v. Inter-State Studio, Inc.
A Missouri federal jury awarded $4.5 million to Langdon & Emison client and U.S. Marine Aaron Eckerberg over a commercial truck accident that caused our client to suffer life-altering injuries, including a fractured thoracic vertebrate and a mild traumatic brain injury. During the week-long trial, Langdon & Emison successfully argued that Eckerberg’s injuries were career-ending and had a significant impact on his future earnings.
Settlements
Spinal Cord Injury/Pavement Edge Drop-off, Rittel v. Confidential Defendant
Langdon & Emison resolved a complex personal injury case involving an auto accident in Missouri that was caused by unsafe highway construction practices. In this case, the driver’s right front tire dropped off a 4-inch asphalt ledge, which had been left by the defendant during the process of resurfacing the highway.
As a result, our client lost control of her vehicle and swerved into the opposite lane of traffic, which was still under construction and was about 1-inch lower in height than our client’s original travel lane. When our client tried to correct the vehicle to return to her lane of traffic, she lost control and the vehicle overturned two times before coming to a rest on its right side in the grass. Our client sustained severe and permanent injuries that ultimately rendered her quadriplegic.
Spinal Cord Injury/Inadequate Construction Zone Signage, Quint v. C. S. & W. Contractors, Inc. et al.
Langdon & Emison obtained a confidential settlement on behalf of Kevin Quint, an Arizona man who was severely injured in an accident due to inadequate signage in a highway construction zone. Kevin was driving to work one morning when he came upon construction on a two-way divided road that was barricaded. Traffic was being funneled to the inside lane at the point in the roadway where a 6-inch raised median jetted out into the travel lane; however, there were no markings, lighting or signage to alert traffic of the raised median.
Kevin’s left front tire made contact with the raised median, causing him to lose control of his vehicle, flip and cross the opposite lanes of traffic. Despite wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, Kevin suffered severe and permanent injuries, rendering him paraplegic.
Spinal Cord Injury/Improper Signage Installation Case: Taff v. Confidential Defendant, Confidential Settlement
Langdon & Emison successfully recovered a substantial settlement for Jacob Taff, a teenager who was catastrophically injured when his vehicle went into a grass median and struck a highway sign post that did not break away from his vehicle as intended. Because the sign was installed backwards – in the opposite direction of highway traffic – the sign post snapped down toward his vehicle, crushing the roof of Jacob’s truck and paralyzing him.
Langdon & Emison’s legal team successfully argued that, had the signpost been properly installed, it would have broken away as intended. The case was settled with the highway design consultant that selected the type and location of the sign post; the general contractor for the highway project; and the signing subcontractor involved in the installation.
Spinal Cord Injury/Seat Belt System and Seat Design, Williams v. Ford
A young man fell asleep in his car, lost control and went off the road. During the accident, he bottomed out in his seat, allowing his shoulder belt to come up around his neck. He was rendered quadriplegic as a result of the accident.
Spinal Cord Injury/Seat Belt and Tire Defects, Demas v. Nissan/Michelin
Our client Chad Demas was the front seat passenger in a 1994 Nissan Sentra when the rear passenger tire suffered a detread, causing the vehicle to overturn one-and-a-half times before coming to rest on its roof. Despite being fully restrained, Chad lost all seat belt protection when the front passenger door opened and the automatic shoulder belt moved up and forward, out of its locked position, allowing the crash forces to eject Chad from the vehicle. Chad was paralyzed as a result of the accident.
Spinal Cord Injury/Lap Only Belt, Batts v. Ford
After a six-week jury trial in North Carolina, Langdon & Emison reached a confidential settlement with Ford Motor Co. on behalf of a 11 year-old boy who suffered life-altering injuries from the two-point lap belt he was wearing in a car accident that rendered him paraplegic. The child, who was in the middle seating position, “jackknifed” over the lap belt and suffered severe spinal cord and abdominal injuries.
Spinal Cord Injury/Center Lap Belt Only, Blankenship v. GM
Jessica Blankenship was riding in the middle row center seat of a Pontiac Transport minivan. The driver of the minivan lost control going around a curve and hit a tree. The two front seat passengers were wearing three-point lap/shoulder seat belts and were uninjured in the collision. Jessica was wearing the lap belt, only the seat belt provided for the middle row center seating position. The lap belt caused severe internal injuries and caused Jessica to become paralyzed from the waist down.
Spinal Cord Injury/Automatic Seat Belt, Kircher v. Nissan
Mrs. Kircher was involved in a head-on collision which rendered her a paraplegic as a result of the passive, automatic seat belt she was wearing.
Spinal Cord Injury/Rear Seat Lap Belt Only, Schouten v. Ford
This Ford vehicle was equipped with a rear center seat lap belt-only restraint system. A child sitting in the rear of the car was paralyzed as a result of an accident. The child’s mother and father, front seat occupants, were not seriously injured. This case resulted in a confidential settlement while the jury was being brought into the courtroom.
Spinal Cord Injury/Four-Wheeler Accident, James v. Kawasaki
The front wheel structure on a 4-wheeler failed, resulting in the ejection of our client and rendering him paraplegic.
Brain Injury/Mismatched Tire and Wheel, Matthews v. Budd and Michelin
Sammy Matthews was helping a friend by inflating a tire to determine if the tire was leaking and if he could repair it. However, what Sammy did not know, was that the tire mounted on the rim was designed for a wheel rim of a different size. After Sammy had inflated the tire, the tire bead broke and caused the tire to explode. Sammy was struck in the head and suffered severe injuries, including a brain injury.
Brain Injury/Child Car Seat, Lawson v. Century Child Seats and GM
A young child was riding in a car seat when this vehicle was in a head-on collision. The child suffered serious brain damage.
Brain Injury/Seat Back Failure, Bruce v. Ford
Donna Bruce was driving a Ford Explorer when a Jeep Cherokee struck her after the Cherokees driver had fallen asleep. During the collision, Donna’s seat back failed and she was thrown into the back seat where she struck her son, Nathan Bruce. Nathan suffered severe injuries, including brain injury. This case resulted in a confidential settlement.
Brain Injury/Pavement Edge Drop-off, Kozak v. Civil Constructors, Inc.
Our client Ira Kozak was traveling on his motorcycle with a Chicago-area Harley Owners Group on U.S. Route 20, a four-lane highway in Stephenson County, Ill, that was under construction. Mr. Kozak unknowingly approached a pavement edge drop-off of 2-3 inches, but no work was being done; no workers or machinery were in the area; and no edge lines or signage delineated the location of the drop-off.
When Mr. Kozak hit the drop-off, he initially wobbled and then left the roadway, flipping end-over-end several times. He suffered severeand permanent orthopedic injuries to his entire body as well as a traumatic brain injury. Langdon & Emison’s legal team reached a significant confidential settlement with the construction company hired by the Illinois Department of Transportation to make the highway repairs.
