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Supreme Court Victory Leads to Arbitration Award

It certainly seemed like a long-time coming, but our firm was successful in taking our client’s case all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and finally securing a substantial award on her behalf.

In 2012, our client, Omar F., was employed by Metra Industries.  Metra Industries was hired by the Chester Water Authority (“CWA”) to perform rehabilitation work on its water system in the City of Chester.  On the date of the accident, a worker employed by CWA illegally parked his truck in front of a ditch where Omar was working.  A third party struck the illegally parked truck, pushing it into the ditch, and sticking Omar and literally cutting Omar in half and killing him.

Defendants filed Motions for Summary Judgment based upon Sovereign Immunity, asserting that the accident did not “arise from the operation of a motor vehicle” as required by Pennsylvania Sovereign Immunity Statue since CWA was a governmental agency.  The Trial Court originally granted Summary Judgment and the Commonwealth Court affirmed the Lower Court’s decision.

Shaffer & Gaier took this matter up to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and we were successful in overturning 40 years of confusing and conflicting law on the issue.  We changed the law in Pennsylvania because any person injured by a governmental vehicle may now bring a claim.  This is a major victory for all citizens across the Commonwealth.

After the matter was finally remanded back to Trial Court, the parties agreed to submit the matter to binding Arbitration.  We are happy to report that we are able to successfully achieve a confidential Arbitration Award on behalf of our client’s family.  Although it took almost 7 years – justice certainly did prevail not just for our clients but we changed the law for all injured people in Pennsylvania.

Michael Shaffer honored by the United States Supreme Court

Michael Shaffer, Immediate Past President of the Temple American Inn of Court, was honored at the United States Supreme Court Award of Excellence Dinner in Washington, DC.  The American Inn of Court is a national organization designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the Bench and Bar.  Shaffer was the President of the American Inn of Court last year and the Temple American Inn of Court was awarded Platinum Status.  Shaffer went to the United States Supreme Court for their annual Dinner where the Temple Inn was recognized for the its outstanding work.

Fall Off Rooftop Results in Settlement Pre-Suit

Shaffer & Gaier represented Jesse G. who was renting an art studio/apartment in Olde City Philadelphia.  Jesse rented the 4^th and 5^th floors of a rowhouse located in that area.  Jesse had access to the rooftop deck via a ladder that was located in the apartment that led right to the rooftop.  The roof was pitched and it had no railings or guards.  Jesse, an aspiring artist and college student, went to the top of the roof deck one night, lost his balance and fell off the roof, five stories to the street.  Miraculously, Jesse survived the fall from this extraordinary height.  However, Jesse sustained catastrophic injuries.  He shattered his hip, broke both ankles and fractured several vertebrae.

Shaffer & Gaier was able to establish that the premises were unsafe, due to lack of railings or guards because the tenants had access to the roof deck.  Shaffer & Gaier was able to prove before even filing suit that the roof deck should have either been inaccessible to tenants or should have had railings or guards that would prevent an individual from falling.  We were happy to have such a satisfactory result on behalf of our client.

One Time in Court… Did He Really Say That?

We represented a young man who had no health insurance and he went to the Emergency Room at a suburban hospital with a blinding headache and soaring blood pressure which developed into a stroke.  He was admitted for treatment and observation.  Unfortunately, his blood pressure remained exceedingly high and he continued to be at risk for a second stroke.  With these symptoms, the young attending doctor should have been ordering daily CT scans to see if another stroke was developing, but he did not, and our client suffered a second stroke that was fatal.

At his deposition, we asked the young doctor why he had not ordered the daily CT scans. The frustrated witness said he “was tired of getting yelled at by my bosses for ordering tests for people that don’t have insurance.”  Sometimes we lawyers have to listen more than we talk – this case settled soon after this deposition.

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VALENTINE’S DAY ISSUE

Jilted Bride

We represented the family of a bride whose husband-to-be called off the ceremony the night before the wedding. When the groom was a no-show at the rehearsal dinner, his friends and family
hunted him down, and he admitted that he didn’t want to go through with the wedding, which was then cancelled. The bride’s family had spent over $85,000 up to that point (gown, country club banquet room, food, flowers, photographer, etc.) and were able to only recover a portion of that amount. We filed suit alleging that the bride’s family paid for the wedding in exchange for the event to take place as planned. The lawsuit alleged that the groom’s refusal amounted to his breaching that agreement and gave rise to his responsibility to pay for all of their losses. A claim for punitive damages was included in the suit. Initially, the groom asserted that the bride’s family paid for the wedding simply because they wanted their daughter to be married, and there was no responsibility to pay the family back. The matter was confidentially settled 3 days after the lawsuit was filed.

Doctor’s Negligence Leads to Impotence

We represented a married Philadelphia couple (Mike and Mary) in their late 40’s in a lawsuit against their family physician. Mike was a machinist in relatively good health and Mary worked at home taking care of their 3 children. At Mike’s routine physical when he was 45, the doctor did a PSA blood test to test for prostate cancer (a standard test for men of his age). The doctor told Mike that “if anything comes back positive, we’ll let you know.” The results did, in fact, come back positive, but the doctor misplaced the paperwork and never notified Mike or Mary. Five years later, the mistake was discovered. By that time, the cancer had progressed so that the tumor was interfering with the nerves around the prostate; this required the surgical removal of the nerves necessary for an erection, along with the removal of the prostate. The effect of this 5 year delay was twofold: 1) the cancer metastasized and could spread to other organs, and 2) the removal of the nerves caused impotence that was only remedied through expensive procedures that Mike’s insurance would not pay for. We filed a medical malpractice action and our oncologist and urologist experts stated that the nerve bundles would not have been removed had the cancer been detected five years earlier. The case settled during jury selection for a confidential amount that enabled Mike and Mary to afford the procedures and renew their intimacy.

Arbitrator Awards 50% of Verdict to Spouse

Our client was 60 when he visited an outpatient surgery center for a procedure to correct snoring. Due to the doctors’ failure to properly monitor the patient during and after surgery, he suffered brain damage from a lack of oxygen, something that was corroborated by the many experts we brought in on the case. Our client was an first generation Italian immigrant who ran his own
barber shop. After the surgery, he was unable to feed himself, bathe or even go to the bathroom. His wife, also an Italian immigrant, took it upon herself to provide round-the-clock care for her husband. The arbitrator recognized the devastating toll the injury had on her and awarded her 50% of the verdict.

Loss of Consortium
Under Pennsylvania law, Loss of Consortium is an actionable injury for the loss of love, sexual relations, and services of a spouse due to injury for which money damages may be awarded. These types of claims arise out of  personal injury cases such as medical malpractice, negligence, and wrongful death. This is a legal claim that is made by the spouse who did not suffer the actual physical injury or death.

The Return of Love!

Did you know that the world-famous “Love” statue was on the move this week? It’s returning to its home in – where else? – Love Park, Philadelphia. It will be a welcome sight downtown.

Did you also know… we LOVE working with referrals? Call us and let’s make a date… to talk about that injury case we can handle for you.