Personal Injury Cases
That Bring Change

Results, Verdicts & Settlements

When Don Corson was a young attorney in the 1980s, one of the first major product liability cases he worked on involved a recreational vehicle that had a “fuel geysering” defect.  After the driver pulled up to the gas pump, he got out of his RV, walked back, and started to unscrew the fuel tank cap.  Gasoline suddenly gushed out, covering him and the surrounding area, caught fire, and burned the man so severely that he died a day and a half later.  After notifying the RV company, the manufacturer promptly sent out replacement gas caps.  But the real problem was in the engineering of the fuel system, which took more litigation and analysis to figure out, but later led to safer recreational vehicles.  The experience made a strong impression on the young attorney: lawsuits help make us all safer.

It took much longer for him to more fully appreciate that the almost invisible web of safety rules that protect our communities work only when rules are enforced.  Safety rules and principles don’t do much good if they just gather dust.  Cases are not just about compensation, but about making sure that substandard policies are changed, good policies and practices are followed, and defective products are made safe.  The fact that Oregon’s legal system can enforce those rules at any time results in a society where most of the safety rules are followed most of the time.  As a result, we and our families are safer.

These principles are expressly recognized in Oregon law, as described by the Oregon Supreme Court.  “[N]egligence law itself like all law is a part of a state’s public policy.” Donaca v. Curry County, 303 Or. 30, 35, 734 P.2d 1339 (1987).  “It is axiomatic that public policy favors the deterrence of negligent conduct.”  Bagley v. Mt. Bachelor, Inc., 356 Or. 543, 572, 340 P.3d 27 (2014).  “[T]he ‘prophylactic’ factor of preventing future harm has been quite important in the field of torts. The courts are concerned not only with compensation of the victim, but with admonition of the wrongdoer.” Bagley v. Mt. Bachelor, Inc., 356 Or. at 551.

What the courts call the “prophylactic factor” is simply the effect that the court system has in discouraging unsafe behavior that violates society’s safety rules.  Every case has this helpful effect.

But some cases go further, to create positive safety change.  Sometimes a company continues to do it “the way we always have done it,” even when times and standards have changed.  Sometimes an industry writes standards to benefit itself, not the safety of the public.  Sometimes a corporation’s cost-benefit analysis favors its benefits over the cost to others.  Sometimes laws or regulations need to be changed to keep up, but the need for that is not recognized until the facts come to light in a lawsuit.  In a lawsuit, people can be required to testify under oath, subpoenas can be issued to find hidden documents, and light can be shined on dark corners that need a good cleaning.

Examples of Cases That Bring Change Can Be Seen Below

Hospital System Failure

Causes Father’s Severe Brain Damage, $12 million jury verdict.

ASSAULT BY BAR STAFF

$1 Million Recovery; Bar Later Loses its License

DISCOURAGING “MURDER BY THE BOOK”

What to do about co-conspirators to murder for hire?

See More Personal Injury Cases Below

Brain Injury Cases

Defective Farm Equipment Causes Brain Damage

Workplace Brain Injury, $4 million jury verdict.

Brain Injury Survivor Fights Insurance Company

Brain Surgery After Rear-end Collision: $1 million jury verdict.

School Bus Crash

Causes Brain Damage

Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Cases

Nursing Home Resident Dies From Improper Care

Patient’s family wins arbitration hearing.

Multiple Nursing Home Residents Abused

Numerous nursing home residents were subjected to neglectful and abusive care.

Improper Care Leads Death of Young Alzheimer’s Resident

Family loses otherwise healthy man: Confidential settlement.

Car Accident Injury Cases

Road Rage Crash

ODOT pickup truck nearly kills Eugene man; $1.5 million.

Elderly Driver Causes Highway Crash

$917,423 resolution during trial

Wrongful Death Caused by Exhausted Tow Truck Driver

$800,000 to Help the Surviving Children.

Spinal Cord Injury Cases

Partial Paraplegia: Record Josephine County Trial Result

Workplace Injury Leads to Partial Paraplegia: $2.285 Million Verdict.

Lower Spinal Cord Injury

VA System Failures Injures Marine Corps Veteran: $3.25 million.

Motorcycle Accident Cases

Motorcyclist’s Trial Against Log Truck

Trial proves log truck fault for motorcyclist’s injuries: $561,467 jury verdict.

Truck Accident Injury Cases

Larry's Case

Truck Crash Causes Total Blindness.

Professional Trucker Injured in Truck Crash

Trucker Injured by Negligent Trucking Companies, $766,000.

18-Wheeler Improper Loading

Results in the Death of Commercial Truck Driver, $869,000.

Drunk & Impaired Driver Caused Injury Cases

Janos' Case: Paraplegia

Impaired Driver causes permanent paralysis from chest to toe.

Tavern Over Serves Intoxicated Customer

Resulting in death of local woman.

Bar Over Serves Drunk

Wrongful Death, Confidential Settlement.

Pedestrian Injury Cases

Child Killed

Pickup Truck and Dangerous Parking Lot combined to cause death.

SUV Illegally Backs Up

SUV backs into mother with young children: $1.3 million.

BLM driver hits pedestrian in crosswalk

Federal Court  case settled.

Bicycle Injury Cases

Drunk Kills Bicyclist

Drunk SUV driver kills UO student bicyclist; policy limits settlement.

Negligent Driver Injures Bicyclist

$264,650 Settlement in Federal Court Case

Unsafe Product Cases

Defective Automobile Tire: Wrongful Death

Oregon widow and her four children win $1.4 million federal wrongful death trial.

Hospital Negligence Cases

Shelly's Case

Multiple hospital errors cause loss of limb.

Hospital’s Staffing Company Nurse Switches Tubes

Hospital errors kill patient: Confidential Settlement.

Hospital Fails to Follow Physician Orders

Confidential settlement for causing man’s death. 

How can we help you?

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