Verdicts + Settlements
In Doe, The Duffy Firm negotiated a record-setting settlement, of which $54,350,000 was not confidential, for a young teenager who was helping in a food truck owned by her aunt when an explosion in the truck left her with disfiguring burns on over 65% of her body. It was determined that the cause of the explosion was a propane tank, and further discovered that a U-Haul outlet where the food truck’s tanks were taken regularly to be replenished was filling defective tanks illegally and with uncertified personnel. This settlement is reported to be the largest Pennsylvania state court pre-verdict settlement in history for a minor. It is also reported to be the second largest pre-verdict settlement in Pennsylvania state court history. It was negotiated as part of a larger settlement, of which $160,000,000 was not confidential, for four victims of the explosion.
In Hernandez, The Duffy Firm won a verdict and delay damages of $52,000,000 against Temple University Hospital on behalf of a 19-year-old who was prematurely discharged from treatment with incomplete care instructions and then choked on mashed potatoes. He suffered hypoxic respiratory failure and neurologic injury and now requires a lifetime of 24-hour care.
A young mother took her 18-month-old child into a Philadelphia hospital emergency room on a Saturday night with a fever. After being admitted, the child developed sepsis and gangrene. After the lawsuit was filed and a demand letter sent, without taking a single deposition, Tom Duffy secured a $44,000,000 settlement for the family, the largest medical malpractice settlement in Pennsylvania history.
A young man, traveling with his school on a field trip, suffered a paralyzing injury. The Duffy Firm filed a lawsuit against the school on his behalf and obtained a confidential settlement of $36,000,000.
In NCO Group, The Duffy Firm obtained a $28,200,000 verdict for property owners who suffered catastrophic losses due to failures in construction sequencing. The errors ultimately resulted in the virtual destruction of several businesses from flooding. While defendants argued that they were either not negligent or that their mistakes did not cause the damages suffered by the plaintiffs, the jury clearly found otherwise.
In Rice, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a $12,400,000 verdict (obtained in addition to a $3,500,000 settlement previously received) which, combined with interest and delay damages, totaled over $22,500,000. This affirmation was for the retrial of a 2006 case, where The Duffy Firm client Leroy Rice, a forklift operator, was crushed and partially paralyzed by pallets of frozen food when the warehouse racking he was working near collapsed upon him.
In Campbell, The Duffy Firm won a $21,400,000 verdict on behalf of a diabetic man for treatment he received in the emergency room of Temple University Hospital. When Ronald Campbell was taken to the hospital in October of 2007, he was administered glucagons and glucopaste by emergency medical technicians, then discharged to family members, who found him unresponsive in bed the next morning. The defense argued that the treatment and discharge was proper, as Mr. Campbell had been brought to the hospital 11 times for high or low blood sugar levels in the five years prior (including one visit two days earlier), and that he failed to properly manage his diabetes by not complying with medical advice. However, the firm successfully argued that diabetics who suffer from repeated episodes of hypoglycemia develop a condition termed 'hypoglycemic unawareness' in which the brain becomes less sensitive to lower and lower glucose levels.
The Duffy Firm obtained a confidential settlement against a bar for negligent security and overserving a patron who eventually shot a young man in the parking lot of the bar, rendering the man a paraplegic, as well as a judgment against the patron who shot the plaintiff.
The Duffy Firm obtained a confidential settlement from a major Philadelphia hospital and its doctors based on proof that the doctors failed to appreciate distress on a fetal monitoring strip. The doctors delayed performing a cesarean section which resulted in anoxic injury to the child and severe cerebral palsy.
In Lewis, The Duffy Firm represented a Philadelphia doctor in a five-week trial where a jury awarded $15,700,000 to the doctor and occupants of a car she had rented after an accident stripped her of the use of her left arm and her medical practice. Attorneys for a Toyota dealer under contract to provide maintenance on the vehicle argued that the client had been speeding and the car hydroplaned, but the firm prevailed in persuading jurors that it was mechanical failure due to faulty maintenance and service. The verdict was later affirmed by the PA Superior Court, then challenged and upheld in PA Supreme Court resulting in a recovery of over $19,500,000 with interest.
A $19,250,000 confidential settlement was obtained for a construction worker who became paralyzed due to inadequate safety precautions on a job site, which resulted in the worker being struck in the back by a beam during crane operations. The case focused on the negligent operations of the site in general.
A $15,000,000 confidential medical malpractice settlement was obtained against a hospital for a 33-year-old woman who suffered a stroke weeks after being discharged from the emergency room despite similar complaints. She now has a condition known as locked-in syndrome; much of her body and face is paralyzed, although she can communicate by performing certain eye movements (up and down) and slightly squeezing her right hand. Despite her care occurring in Montgomery County, The Duffy Firm was successful in establishing and keeping the action in Philadelphia County.
The Duffy Firm obtained a $13,500,000 confidential settlement from a major Philadelphia hospital and its doctors based on our proof that an attending maternal fetal medicine physician and residents who were asked to monitor a mother's labor failed to see that an increase in her glucose level was caused by a failure to properly administer insulin. The doctors delayed initiating delivery for the child, resulting in an anoxic injury, causing severe cerebral palsy.
The Duffy Firm obtained a $12,000,000 settlement for client Terry Whittlesey, a young man who, while a passenger in a car on his way to a vacation, was rear-ended by a commercial truck. The trucking company denied all fault associated with the accident and only agreed to the settlement after jury selection was completed and the trial was about to begin. The settlement, which was reported as one of the largest in Pennsylvania that year, enabled Mr. Whittlesey to move into a home specially constructed to accommodate his ongoing physical needs.
Luong Nguyen, a 53-year-old farmer, husband, and father of five suffered second and third degree burns on 25% of his body following a portable stove malfunction. The Duffy Firm, along with our product experts, cited issues with packaging, labeling, and a lack of instructions, both in the package and from the seller. The seller tendered its full $1,000,000 insurance policy, and a $9,300,000 verdict was obtained against the manufacturer.