This is a list of our firm's case results in Virginia (VA) and beyond. We can't guarantee you'll receive the same results, but we can guarantee we'll work tirelessly on your behalf and try to obtain the jury verdict or settlement you deserve.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Heavy lifting injury - ticket agent-clerk

COURT/DATE: Wash. D.C. (Superior Court 2003) HS STAFF: Firm Attorney; Charles Cunningham, Investigator WHAT HAPPENED: WG was a ticket agent-clerk working with a major railroad in Mississippi. He suffered a back injury handling a heavy piece of baggage. The particular article weighed in excess of 75 pounds, the maximum weight of articles handled on regular stations such as the Mississippi station where WG worked. Fortunately, another employee wrote the weights of this and other packages on the waybill which proved to be important evidence. WG continued to work for almost two years, struggling with significant back pain and requesting that his employer "accommodate" him in the workplace. His employer refused to do so and placed him on inactive status with medical restrictions. KEY LEGAL STRATEGY: HSCL first strategic move was to file the law suit in Washington, D.C., rather than in Mississippi. The railroad tried three times to convince the court to transfer the case to Mississippi where many factual witnesses were located. HSCL argued that the railroad in question had many supervisory personnel in Washington, DC, and nearby in Philadelphia and that many of the lifting and handling policies were set in these cities, not in Mississippi. The court wrote a well-reasoned opinion keeping the case in Washington. The next key HSCL strategy was to retain an ergonomics expert who used a highly sophisticated computer program to estimate the force on WG's spine while he engaged in the specific lifting of this particular size article. The computer program showed that the lifting maneuver would have a very high probability of creating injury to the spine. Based on the complete package put together by HSCL, around the date of the final pre-trial conference with the court, the case was successfully settled.

Awarded: $450,000 settlement (Settlement monies will be used by WG and his family to allow him to retrain for a lighter type of job outside the railroad industry)