WRSMH attorney Bill Hepner settled this case at mediation for $3 million. Plaintiff, who was 54 at the time of his accident, was injured when he was struck by a beam which fell from a height at a construction site. The plaintiff claimed he lost consciousness, which was disputed by the defense since records indicated that this was not the case. The defense totally discounted his traumatic brain injury since a workers’ compensation judge disallowed treatment for it, deciding he wasn’t injured cognitively. Plaintiff also injured his neck, resulting in cervical fusion surgery. And although he was recommended for a lumbar fusion, he had not yet had it at the time of the mediation. Bill made a motion for summary judgment on liability, which had been argued, but had not yet been decided. Bill was able to convince the defendants that we would win liability by motion before trial, and that even though his low back surgery had not taken place, it would occur before trial and would increase the likelihood of a large verdict. As a result, he was able to settle the case for full value and a waiver of the workers’ comp lien.
