Bronx Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements
Over the course of my career, I have
recorded personal injury verdicts or settlements on dozens of cases
in Bronx. My Bronx cases have included million dollar settlements
and settlements that totaled only a few thousand dollars, but which we very
important to my clients. What follows is a sample of
the verdicts, settlements and personal injury cases that I have had
in the Bronx.
$975,000 Settlement for Passenger in a
Car Accident in
the Bronx (Bronx Car Accident Case)
Ms. Schlitt served as trial counsel for
this case. The client was a passenger in a car travelling east on
Randall Avenue in the Bronx. When the driver made a left turn on Zerega, the car crashed into a dumpster left in the street. Ms.
Schlitt's client suffered a fracture of his both fibulas, his left
ankle and his left
humerus, each of which required surgery. The driver of the
car admitted liability for his role in the accident, though the
dumpster owner denied all responsibility. That defendant filed for
summary judgment and appealed that matter to the
New York
State Court of Appeals, an
appeal that Ms. Schlitt argued and won.
At the trial, the attorney for the
dumpster company tried to place all the blame on the driver of the
car, but Ms. Schlitt used a combination of testimony, evidence,
research into New York City Highway and Transportation regulations
and a strong opening and closing argument to prove the dumpster
company liable. A jury agreed with Ms. Schlitt and held the dumpster
company responsible for 75 percent of the liability, making them
primarily responsible for the accident. With the verdict on
liability made by the jury, Ms. Schlitt separately negotiated a
settlement for damages of $975,000.
$800,000 Verdict for Car Accident Victim in the Bronx
(Bronx Motor Vehicle Accident Case)
On a bright sunny day, a Ford van heading
south on the
Bronx River Parkway collided with a construction truck, careened
across three lanes and struck a passenger van in the right hand
lane. Ms. Schlitt’s client – a passenger in the second van –
suffered significant injuries to his back and neck. Ms. Schlitt
proved that both the driver of the Ford Van that struck the
passenger van and the construction company bore responsibility for
the accident. The jury verdict awarded the client $800,000.
$560,000 Verdict for Slip and Fall on Staircase in the
Bronx (Bronx Slip and Fall Case/Stairway Case)
A 13 year-old girl tripped and fell on
the staircase of her Bronx apartment building because of a
long-standing broken step. She fractured her tibia and
fifth metatarsal. The jury deliberated for one hour before
returning a verdict holding the defendant solely responsible for the
incident and awarding the now 19 year-old girl a total of $560,000
for past and future pain and suffering.
$350,000 Settlement for Fractured Hip from Nursing Home
fall in Bronx
(Bronx Medical Malpractice Case)
An elderly resident of a Bronx nursing
home was supposed to be supervised whenever she was out of bed.
Despite the doctor’s orders, the nursing staff failed to respond to
the patient’s calls for assistance in going to the restroom.
When the patient attempted to get to the restroom on her own, she
slipped and fell, fracturing her hip. Her injury required
surgery. The lawsuit asserted that the nursing home staff
negligently failed to respond to the patient’s calls and that
negligence caused the injury when the patient tried to get to the
restroom alone. Immediately prior to trial, the nursing home opted
to pay a settlement of $350,000.
$350,000 Settlement
for Trip and Fall on a Stairway in the Bronx
In August 2008, the residents in a Bronx
apartment building complained to the landlord about repair debris
left in the hallways and the stairwells of their building. The
landlord failed to respond to their complaints. A woman who worked
as a home health aide awoke and left for her job one morning and
slipped on a grease-like substance on the stairs and fell several
steps with her right foot bent backwards.
An ambulance came and took her to St.
Barnabas Hospital. Diagnosed with a broken ankle, the woman spent
six days in the hospital until doctors could perform surgery (open
reduction, internal fixation or ORIF), which involved placing one
plate with eight screws on one side of her ankle and two screws on
the other side of her ankle. The damage to her ankle ha made
it impossible for her to return to work as a home health aide. In
September 2010, Ms. Schlitt negotiated a settlement of $350,000
settlement for the woman.
$225,000 Settlement for Torn Earlobe in Motorcycle Accident Caused by a Police Car in the Bronx (Bronx Motorcycle Accident Case)
A police car in the Bronx made a sudden
left turn in front of a 19 year-old motorcyclist and crashed into
his motorcycle. The impact of the crash threw the driver of the
motorcycle over the roof of the police car, ripping his ear on the
lights situated on the top of the police car. Attorney Schlitt
assembled a team of experts to help prove the case. The City of New
York pressed ahead to trial, but after hearing Attorney Schlitt's
case and her summation to the jury, the City agreed to settle the
case while the jury was deliberating. The City of New York paid
$225,000 for the torn earlobe.
$165,000 Settlement for Fracture of Small Finger in
Office Accident in the Bronx (Office Injury Case/Ladder Injury)
An attorney fell from a defective
stepladder provided by his landlord and fractured the small finger
on his non-dominant hand. Despite surgical repair, the finger had a
permanent deformity. Instead of trying the case himself, the
attorney hired the best trial lawyer he knew - Carol L. Schlitt.
Attorney Schlitt has extensive experience with construction cases
and has tried many
ladder
cases, which was important because a set of unique laws apply to
ladder injuries. The defendants agreed to settle the matter during
trial for $165,000.
$150,000 Settlement for Negligent Removal of Tattoo in
Bronx
(Bronx Medical Malpractice Case)
Shortly after getting a tattoo on her
forearm and her calf, a young woman had remorse and sought treatment
from a plastic surgeon for removal of the tattoos. The doctor
advised her that he would easily cut them from the surface of her
skin with little or no scar. Instead, the doctor removed muscle and
skin leaving a noticeable depression on both her forearm and her
calf. The victim claimed that the physician had not adequately
informed her of the cosmetic risks of the procedure and the doctor
claimed that he had advised her, before surgery, that it may be
necessary to remove more tissue if the tattoo ink had penetrated
more deeply than expected. During trial, the physician opted
to settle for the plaintiff’s demand of $150,000.
$150,000 Settlement for Slip and Fall on an Uncleared
Sidewalk in the Bronx (Bronx Slip and Fall Case)
On President’s Weekend in 2003, a 26
year-old man visited his friend in the Woodlawn section of the
Bronx. Leaving the apartment building, he slipped and fell on an
uncleared walkway, suffering a
bimalleolar fracture of his right ankle. An ambulance
transported him to
North Central Bronx Hospital, where he was treated and released.
He ultimately underwent surgery on his ankle at
Jacobi Hospital. Attorney Schlitt employed eyewitness testimony
and physical evidence to build a strong argument on liability and
she constructed a clear and compelling case on damages. The landlord
settled the case on the eve of trial for $150,000.
$70,000 Settlement for Passenger in Livery Car Crash in
Bronx County
(Bronx Car Accident/Livery Car Accident Case)
A 45 year-old man slid into the back seat
of a livery car expecting a smooth ride. Instead, the livery car
crashed into another car at a Bronx intersection damaging his knee
so badly that it required arthroscopic surgery. The second
vehicle ran the stop sign but that car had no insurance coverage.
Therefore, Attorney Schlitt had to prove that the livery car also
bore some responsibility for the accident. That way the insurance
coverage for the livery car would compensate her client for his knee
injury. On the eve of trial, the livery car settled the case
for $70,000.
$70,000 Settlement for Ankle Injury Resulting from Poor
Maintenance by Bronx Landlord (Bronx Landlord Negligence/Premises
Liability Case)
A woman repeatedly complained about a
leak in her bathroom, yet the landlord refused to fix the problem.
While cleaning her shower, the woman stepped from the tub and her
foot fell through a water damaged floor that resulted from the
landlord’s negligence. As a result of this accident, the woman tore
a ligament in her ankle and required outpatient surgery. The
defendants agreed to settle the case before going to trial for
$70,000.
$60,000 Settlement for Man Hurt Riding Bicycle in the Bronx (Bronx Bicycle
Accident)
A retired Bronx resident went for a
morning bicycle ride. He stopped his bicycle at a stop sign at an
intersection in a residential Bronx community. He waited there to
allow traffic to clear so that he could cross the street. The
driver of a pickup truck ignored a stop sign and struck the man on
his bicycle, throwing him to the ground. The incident left the man
bruised and battered. He suffered a
torn rotator cuff that required
arthroscopic surgery. Very early in the case, the defense settled
for $60,000 before the case was put in suit.
$45,000 Settlement for Man with Nose
Broken by City Bus after a Yankee Game (Bronx Bus Accident Case)
A 50 year-old man had just left Yankee
Stadium after a Yankee win and walked to corner of 161st Street in
the Bronx. While waiting to cross the street, a passing New
York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) bus brushed him and knocked him
down to ground fracturing his nose. The bus driver claimed
that the man walked into the side of the bus while he was driving
slowly to avoid all of the pedestrian traffic in the area after the
Yankee game. On the eve of trial, the NYCTA settled the case
for $45,000.
$40,000 Settlement for Utility Worker Injured Reading Meters in the
Bronx (Bronx Work-Related Injury Case/Stairway Case)
A
Con Ed
utility worker entered a property in the Bronx to read the electric
meter. While walking down a set of outdoor steps, squirrels leaped
out of a hole in the wall, knocking the man down. He fell to the
bottom of the steps and tore his leg on the handrail, which had a
jagged edge. The lacerations from the defective handrail caused a
hematoma on his thigh that required
debriding and the man missed a month of
work. While Worker’s Compensation shielded his employer form paying
additional damages, Ms. Schlitt pursued a case against the property
owner on two counts: failing to rid the location of the squirrel
infestation (the squirrels had built a nest in a hole in the wall)
and failing to maintain the handrail. Ms. Schlitt assembled a team
that included a civil engineer with expertise on stairway design and
building codes and an exterminator with expertise on animal removal.
Seeing the witness list and understanding the strength of the Ms.
Schlitt’s case, the defense settled on the eve of trial paying
$40,000.
$25,000 Settlement for Car Accident in
the Bronx (Bronx Car Accident Case)
A Bronx man drove his car across the
Macomb’s Dam Bridge during a night time rain storm. He struck a car
that was stopped on the bridge and left without any flashers, flares
or other warning signs. As a result, the driver of the car fractured
two small bones in his right hand. Ms. Schlitt built a case to prove
the owner of the abandoned car negligent. She negotiated a $25,000
settlement, the maximum amount of coverage.
$20,000 Settlement
for Man Falsely Arrested in the Bronx
In November 2009, the New York City
Police improperly and illegally arrested a young man and held him
for nearly a day before releasing him. The police never filed
charges against the man. Upset, he contacted Carol L. Schlitt to
investigate the matter and to pursue damages against the City of New
York. Ms. Schlitt conducted a rigorous investigation that proved
that police misconduct occurred. In September 2010, Ms. Schlitt
negotiated a $20,000 settlement with the City of New York to
compensate the man for the wrongful arrest and imprisonment.
$20,000 Settlement for a Trip and Fall
on Defective Steps in the Bronx (Bronx Stairway Case)
On the afternoon of the incident, a young
mother arrived to pick up her son from a day care center that was
housed in a large building with multiple tenants. While walking up
the four steps that lead from the sidewalk to the entrance of the
building, the woman tripped and fell on the damaged fourth step. Her
fall resulted from a riser that was of an uneven height and out of
compliance with
New York City Building
Code. That particular step
was damaged and the landlord had not maintained it properly. The
poorly maintained step caused the woman to fall backward and injure
her back and right wrist. While she broke no bones, the soft tissue
injuries required her to wear a splint and receive physical therapy.
The owner of the building settled the case for $20,000.
$15,000 Settlement for Car Accident in the Bronx on the Major Deegan (Bronx Car Accident Case)
A 25 year-old woman drove her car north on the
Major Deegan
Expressway when traffic developed. She slowed her car, yet the
livery car (one of New York’s infamous “Black Cars”) failed to slow
and struck her from behind. The woman suffered soft tissue injuries
to her back and shoulder. The challenge in the case came in meeting
the New York State threshold requirements, which often precludes
people who suffer soft tissue injuries from collecting for damages.
Ms. Schlitt gathered enough evidence and found sufficient legal
cases to force a $15,000 settlement for this car accident.
Carol L. Schlitt - Bronx Personal Injury Attorney
If you have suffered a personal injury, you may be entitled to compensation. If you live in the Bronx and think you have a case or if you have questions, you should consult a Bronx personal injury lawyer. I will be glad to discuss your rights, answer your questions and help you with a potential case. You can call me at 1-718-220-0099 or send me an e-mail at Carol@SchlittLaw.com. The consultation is free and I will be glad to help you.
I hope you have found this information
helpful.
Carol L. Schlitt
Bronx Personal Injury Attorney
1-718-220-0099
Bronx, NY 10458
Carol@SchlittLaw.com.