Case Results

An electrical lineman was electrocuted while replacing electrical catenary lines. He suffered multiple injuries including the amputation of both arms at the shoulder and his left leg above the knee. Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., filed suit against multiple defendants in a highly technical and complex case involving many expert witnesses and teams of attorneys representing the various defendants. The case was settled on the first day of the trial.

After experiencing respiratory problems, a 10-week-old boy was taken by his mother to a local emergency room. The physicians failed to diagnose his illness and improperly discharged him. After his release, the baby experienced seizures which caused severe, permanent brain damage. When the boy was 4 years of age, Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., filed a claim on his behalf. After just one week of trial, the firm recovered a large settlement, which is to be placed into trust for the child’s future care.

Labor and delivery nurses failed to recognize and react in a timely way to fetal heart rate abnormalities that can often precede uterine rupture. After several weeks of trial where liability was aggressively contested, Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., proved that the nursing staff, undergoing a shift change, decided to wait before notifying the attending physician to evaluate the patient. As a result, Cesarean delivery was delayed until after the rupture had occurred and tragically the newborn suffered permanent and severe neurologic injuries.

The plaintiff, then 27 years old, sustained severe brain injuries as a passenger in a pick-up truck that ran a stoplight and collided with a tractor-trailer. The driver of the pick-up had auto insurance with a $300,000 policy limit. In an all-day session of negotiation before the judge scheduled to preside over trial in the case, Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., was able to show that the tractor-trailer driver had been negligent by speeding down the exit ramp and could not stop in time to avoid the collision. The City of Philadelphia agreed to pay $50,000 for poor maintenance in the area of the accident, and the company owning the tractor-trailer agreed to pay $3.75 million in the case. The settlement is essential to care for the needs of the victim, who today is ambulatory in a wheelchair, has hearing difficulties and double vision, loss of hand-eye coordination and impaired use of her hands, as well as short-term memory loss and urinary dysfunction.

A 55-year-old city worker underwent surgery to remove a tumor on his esophagus and received pain medication through an epidural catheter inserted in his back after surgery. A few days later, when the nurse removed the catheter, she notified the surgeon of pus at the site and the doctor ordered an antibiotic to fight infection. Over the following days, the patient developed fever, elevated white blood cell count and redness at the site of the epidural—common signs of infection. Finally, after four days, the doctor scheduled the patient for an MRI. Tragically, due to the untreated MRSA infection, the patient had already become paralyzed from his chest down before the MRI could be performed. After one day of trial, Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., reached a settlement by arguing that the negligence of the surgeon and hospital caused a tragedy, which clearly should have been avoided.

A motorist suffered massive facial fractures, the loss of an eye and psychological problems when her car ran into a tractor-trailer that was blocking the highway. As the 40-foot-long tractor-trailer was backing into a parking lot, it blocked the westbound lane. The evening was dark and there were no streetlights. While Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., believed they had a strong case, uncertainty regarding the jurors’ potential view of the case facilitated the decision to go to arbitration. Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., argued that the truck driver chose the least safe option for entering the parking lot. In addition, there were no spotters to warn oncoming traffic and no reflective tape on the sides of the vehicle. The lack of skid marks at the scene and other evidence suggested that the injured driver didn’t see the tractor-trailer. The arbitrator’s final judgment took into account the degree of responsibility held by each of the parties involved for the accident.

A 41-year-old man with Down’s syndrome died while being restrained by employees of the facility where he resided. Employees alleged that he was being aggressive with other residents and needed to be physically restrained. Despite signs of distress, the defendants continued to restrain the man until he died of asphyxiation. Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C., argued at trial that the facility and its employees were negligent in failing to follow their own policies, and were directly responsible for the death of the law firm’s client. After one week at trial, the defendants elected to settle the case.