RESULTS - CATASTROPHIC PERSONAL INJURY
Wrongful Death: $1.225 million for estate of married father of two crushed to death in a manufacturing accident.
Motor Vehicle: $875,000 for married father of two who sustained multiple facial fractures and a mild traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident.
Clergy Abuse: Confidential settlement sum for forty year old male traumatized by clergy sexual abuse sustained as a child.
Construction Site: $250,000 settlement for elderly woman who fell into a construction trench in Boston’s South End, resulting in a leg fracture and long term hospitalization.
Amusement Park: $265,000 settlement for middle age male whose eye was injured due to a defective pitching machine at an amusement park.
Premises Liability: $275,000 settlement for middle age woman who sustained a serious leg fracture when she slipped on defective floor tiles at a clothing store.
Motor Vehicle: $475,000 for thirty year old make whose leg was amputated as the result of a motor vehicle accident.
Construction Site: $250,000 settlement for young carpenter injured on a residential construction project that was not properly supervised by the general contractor.
Premises Liability: $200,000 settlement for man who sustained traumatic amputation to two fingertips due to a defective garage door.
Bicyle Accident: $300,000 settlement for young man who sustained serious internal injuries after being hit by a car.
Construction Site: $362,500 settlement for young carpenter injured on a residential construction project that was not properly supervised by the general contractor.
Motor Vehicle: $250,000 settlement for elderly man who sustained a fractured neck requiring surgery as the result of a motor vehicle accident.
Premises Liability $120,000 settlement for a woman who fell down a set of defective steps leading to grocery store basement.
RESULTS – CONSUMER CLASS ACTIONS
Mey v. Herbalife International, Inc., Civil Action No. 01-C-263M, Circuit Court of Ohio County, West Virginia. Co-lead counsel with Attorney Edward Broderick and additional co-counsel, prosecuting telemarketing class action on behalf of nationwide class of junk fax and prerecorded telephone solicitation recipients. $7,000,000 class action settlement granted final approval on February 5, 2008. This is believed to be the largest TCPA settlement in West Virginia history.
Mulhern v. MacLeod d/b/a ABC Mortgage Company, Norfolk Superior Court, 2005-01619 (Donovan, J.). Co-lead counsel representing class of Massachusetts consumers who received unsolicited facsimile advertisements in violation of the TCPA and G.L. c. 93A. Case certified as a class action and resolved for $475,000 granted with final approval granted on July 25, 2007. This case was initially dismissed at the trial court stage on a jurisdictional question, which was subsequently reversed on appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. See Mulhern v. MaCleod, 441 Mass. 754 (2004).
Evan Fray-Witzer, v. Metropolitan Antiques, LLC, Suffolk Superior Court, NO. 02-5827 Business Session, (Van Gestel, J.). In this case, the defendant filed two Motions to Dismiss challenging the plaintiff’s right to pursue a private right of action and challenging the statute at issue as violative of the telemarketer’s First Amendment rights. Both Motions to Dismiss were denied. Class certification was then granted. Companion to this litigation, counsel successfully litigated the issue of whether commercial general liability insurance provided coverage for the alleged illegal telemarketing at issue. Issue ultimately resolved by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which issued a decision reversing the contrary decision of the trial court and finding coverage. See Terra Nova Insurance v. Fray-Witzer et al., 449 Mass. 206 (2007). This case resolved for $1,800,000.
Shonk Land Company, LLC v. SG Sales Company, Circuit Court of Kanawaha County, West Virginia, Civil Action No. 07-C-1800 (multi-state class action on behalf of recipients of faxes in violation of TCPA, settlement for $2,450,000, final approval granted in September of 2009.
Mann & Company, P.C. v. C-Tech Industries, Inc., USDC, D. Mass., C.A. 1:08CV11312-RGS (class action on behalf of recipients of faxes in violation of TCPA, settlement for $1,000,000, final approval granted in January of 2010).
Milford & Ford Associates, Inc. and D. Michael Collins vs. Cell-Tek, LLC, USDC, D. Mass. C. A. 1:09-cv-11261-DPW (class action on behalf of recipients of faxes in violation of TCPA settled for $1,800,000 and final granted August 17, 2011).
Collins v. Locks & Keys of Woburn, Inc., Suffolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 07-4207-BLS2 (December 14, 2011) (final approval granted for TCPA class settlement. This matter settled for $2,000,000, which is believed to be the largest TCPA settlement in Massachusetts history).
Brey Corp. v. Life Time Improvements, Inc., Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, Civil Action No. 34910-V (preliminary approval granted for TCPA settlement in amount of 1.575 million, believed to be the largest TCPA settlement in Maryland history).
RESULTS - NOTABLE PUBLISHED DECISIONS
Mulhern v. MaCleod, 441 Mass. 754 (2004) (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reverses trial court decision finding that telemarketing claims brought by consumers under federal law can be prosecuted in Massachusetts courts).
Terra Nova Insurance v. Fray-Witzer et al., 449 Mass. 206 (2007) (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reverses trial court decision finding that commercial general liability insurance coverage extends to alleged violations of federal telemarketing law).
Desai v. ADT Sec. Services, Inc., 2011 WL 2837345 (N.D. Ill. 2011) (in a TCPA robo-call class action, court refuses to dismiss complaint seeking to hold ADT responsible for the telemarketing practices of its dealers).
Herb Chambers of Auburn, Inc. v. Jennifer Carey, 2002 WL 207176 (Mass. Super. 2002) (court rejects claims of auto dealer against a consumer, and rules in favor of consumer on counter-claim for violations of the Massachusetts Lemon Law, and the Consumer Protection Act.)
