We settled a case involving a mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) for a client for $450,000 within 8 months of filing the complaint against a public entity and its public transportation vendor. The client was struck in a crosswalk when the bus, while the drivers was distracted, was making a left turn at about 10 miles per hour. The client was knocked to the ground, taken to the hospital, but released the next day to recuperate. He has made a good recovery and will soon be back to work.
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We settled an insurance bad faith case for $700,000 against a commercial general liability carrier which refused to provide liability insurance coverage for a cab company which picked up our client after a night partying and, over objection at 2 a.m. stopped for gas at a filing station in a marginal area of San Francisco with a high crime rate. Our client was stabbed by a random man who was fighting with someone else at a nearby pump and decided to challenge our client. The client suffered internal injuries and was hospitalized for a week. His then attorney (the referring attorney to our office), sued the cab company and driver and eventually got a judgment against them in San Francisco Superior Court. Their insurance company refused to defend them taking the position that the case arose out of the "use of an auto" and thus was excluded. The cab company and driver then assigned their claims against the insurance company that refused to defend them in return for our client's agreement to enforce any judgment only against their insurer. After the judgment our firm was hired to sue the insurance company and enforce our client's claims as a judgment creditor against it. After rulings in the Superior Court that improved our case against the insurance company, its lawyers called and requested mediation. Again, the case settled within 5 months of filing suit because we were able to get the leverage against the insurer that brought them to the table and forced it to bargain. A mediation in the underlying injury case had valued our client's claims in the low five figures. Our settlement was a multiple of that sum
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Guy Kornblum & Associates obtained a settlement in cash and annuity payments totaling $1,825,000 for the widow of a man who was fatally injured in a cross-over accident in South San Francisco. A lawsuit was filed against the negligent minor driver, his parents and two governmental entities in December 2007, and the case settled at mediation a mere ten months later.
The County of San Mateo finally constructs barrier on dangerous roadway after Guy Kornblum & Associates sues the County for wrongful death of client's husband in crossover collision.
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A $110,000 cash settlement was obtained on behalf of a 62-year old man whose long term disability benefits were wrongfully terminated by his long term disability insurer. The case was mediated and settled within five months of filing suit against our client’s insurance company. Our client only had 3 years remaining on his policy but Guy Kornblum & Associates made the insurer pay in advance to fulfill the insurer’s promises of coverage.
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Guy Kornblum & Associates prevailed at arbitration for our client, a quadriplegic, who suffered severe brain damage in a near-drowning while swimming at the Jewish Community Center (“JCC”) in San Francisco in 1974. While under the care of JCC personnel, he was permitted to remain underwater for over 20 minutes, became paralyzed from the neck down, lost of all bodily functions and all ability to speak. He has lived in a life care facility since.
The case was settled with the insurer of the JCC, the Insurance Company of North America (INA), who agreed to a life care contract, which essentially was to pay all of our client’s expenses for his medical and personal care for his lifetime.
After paying for many years, INA started to balk. They attempted to inspect our client’s medical records at the facility where he was living, without any notice, and were also attempting to dictate his medical care, which the settlement expressly prohibited. There were other instances of attempting to intrude into our Client’s medical care. INA commenced arbitration, challenging a number of expenses, and seeking a ruling that they had a right to dictate our client’s care, as well as obtain records and information about him.
The Arbitrator agreed with our position that INA had no right to dictate our client’s care, and awarded attorney’s fees and costs of over $60,000.
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Guy Kornblum & Associates obtained a settlement in cash and annuity payments totaling $1.2 million with the State of California for the parents of an adult daughter who was fatally injured in a cross-over accident on Highway 12 in Solano County.
We were able to obtain this settlement by using our team of experts to show the dangerous condition of the Highway created a “trap” for our clients’ daughter.
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Guy Kornblum & Associates obtained a settlement on behalf of a couple against a multi-national insurance company that had engaged in dilatory claims handling. Our attorneys used case law that had come down just days prior to the mediation to show that the insurance company had failed to properly investigate our clients’ claims.
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Guy Kornblum & Associates filed a lawsuit based on fraudulent misrepresentations by a life insurance company and its agent claiming that contributions to a trust for purposes of purchasing life insurance were tax deductible under IRS rules permitting such when the contributions are made for the benefit of employees. The plaintiffs were owners of an oral surgery practice; there we no employees other than themselves. The deductions were clearly improper, and depositions revealed the chicanery by the insurance company and its agent. The case was settled for a substantial amount which is confidential at the defendants’ request. Our clients got their money back.
