SCI Law

Representative Settlements

Previous SCI Settlements

Below is a small sampling of the cases and the settlements that Ron Gilbert has achieved for his SCI clients.

Case #1

Plaintiff went off a diving board into a residential backyard pool. Because of the defective condition of the NSPI Standards as it relates to backyard pools and diving boards, Plaintiff hit the "quad wall." The "quad wall" is the slope where the pool goes from the deep end to the shallow end. Unfortunately, the distance from the end of the diving board to the beginning of the "quad wall" is inadequate. As a result, Plaintiff was a C-2 quadriplegic and on a ventilator. Unfortunately, Plaintiff died exactly six months after the date of his accident due to problems secondary to his spinal cord injury. A claim was made by his estate against both the organization that wrote the standards for residential backyard pools as well as the pool liner company. Unfortunately, the diving board manufacturer went bankrupt a long time ago. A seven-figure recovery was made on behalf of Plaintiff's estate which included his widow and children. This case was handled by Attorney Ronald R. Gilbert in the State of New Jersey.

Case #2

Plaintiff was 16 years old at the time. Plaintiff was bouncing on a backyard trampoline. Due to the defective design of the trampoline, Plaintiff lost his balance and went off the trampoline and came down on his head hitting the ground. As a result, Plaintiff was a C-4 quadriplegic. Although the product itself was destroyed, Plaintiff was able to trace the manufacturer of the product through the purchase at the retail outlet which sold the Defendant's trampolines exclusively. A lawsuit was brought in Federal District Court in South Carolina. A seven-figure settlement was made on behalf of Plaintiff by Attorney Ronald R. Gilbert. A special needs trust was set up to provide Plaintiff adequate medical care for the rest of his life.

Case #3

Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by her sister. The vehicle was a Ford Explorer. Another vehicle swerved causing the driver of Plaintiff's vehicle to swerve to the left and then back to the right. This is a typical "over-steering" that occurs with Ford Explorer products and has been long known by the Ford Motor Company. As a result, Plaintiff was a C-4 quadriplegic. A claim was made against Ford Motor Company in the Federal District Court in Texas. Ronald R. Gilbert was able to obtain a seven-figure settlement for Plaintiff.

Case #4

Plaintiff was 17 years old, and on the day before his first day of his senior year at high school started, he was bouncing on a backyard trampoline which had a "Safety Enclosure" around it. Because the product had an enclosure around it which was named by the manufacturer as a "Safety Enclosure," both Plaintiff and his parents felt that the trampoline was "safe." Unfortunately, due to the defective design of the trampoline, as well as the misleading information that the trampoline had a "Safety Enclosure," Plaintiff believed that it was safe to do flips and somersaults on the trampoline. This was a backyard 14 foot round trampoline. Hundreds of thousands of these products are sold each year. Unfortunately, Plaintiff came down on his head when he tried to execute a back flip which he had executed hundreds of times before. As a result, he was a C-4 quadriplegic. A middle six-figure settlement was obtained by Ronald R. Gilbert on behalf of Plaintiff against the manufacturer of the trampoline and the manufacturer of the "Safety Enclosure." The case was litigated in State Court in the State of Maryland.

Case #5

A 17 year old Plaintiff and several of his friends, some of whom were also 17, met at a shopping mall. Plaintiff and his friends had obtained liquor from a source. They planned to go to a motel room and just hang out and have a good time. Plaintiff and his friends went to one motel room which refused to rent to them because they were obviously underage and there was adequate evidence that they either were drinking or intended to have a party, including drinking of liquor. Plaintiff and his friends went to Defendant motel which readily rented a room to Plaintiff and his friends. Although the person registering for the room was 18, Plaintiff's claim was that the motel should also have met the "industry standards" and refuse to rent the room due to the obvious age and what should have been obvious drinking on the part of the person that registered for the room. This case is presently pending in State Court in the State of New Jersey. One of the people that came to the motel room for the party had a hand gun with him. That individual claimed that the hand gun accidentally went off. As a result, Plaintiff was shot and is a T-10 paraplegic permanently paralyzed. Claim is made against the premises liability Defendant, the motel that did the renting and their insurance carrier. The case is currently being handled by Attorney Ronald R. Gilbert.

Case #6

Plaintiff and a number of her friends rented a 14 person van from a car rental company in the State of California. The driver of the vehicle lost control of the vehicle when going through mountains and curves in the State of California. As a result, the vehicle rolled. Unfortunately, Plaintiff became a C-4 quadriplegic as a result. Claim was made against the manufacturer of the vehicle for defective design on the vehicle and also against the rental agency who should have known better than to rent this type of vehicle. The vehicle had a history of control easily being lost by the driver. Other catastrophic injuries had occurred with the same type of vehicle. The claim was made in California State Court, and a seven-figure settlement resulted. Plaintiff, a C-4 quadriplegic, was able to set up a special needs trust to provide adequate medical care for her for the rest of her life.

Case #7

Plaintiff and her friend were 14 years old. Two young men who were 20 and 21 enticed Plaintiff and her friend to go to Defendant's grandmother's house. One of the Defendants then enticed Plaintiff and her friend to drive their vehicle while they drove Defendant's grandmother's vehicle which was a Jaguar. The Defendant driver was driving at high rates of speed in an area which had hills and curves. After the vehicle, which Plaintiff and her friend were in, disappeared from their view, Defendants went back to the scene. Plaintiff and her friend had lost control of the vehicle and incurred a serious accident. Defendant's friend died at the scene. Plaintiff was rendered a C-4 quadriplegic. Claim was made against the driver's insurance company as well as the insurance company for his grandmother. The insurance company refused to offer the nominal policy limits of $50,000. Plaintiff then filed suit against the driver, the driver's grandmother, and against the insurance company which refused to offer their policy limits immediately. This is called a "bad faith claim" against an insurance company which is allowed in the State of California. A settlement was reached in the high six-figure number. A special needs trust was set up for Plaintiff to provide her future medical care. The case was handled by Attorney Ronald R. Gilbert.

Case #8

Plaintiff was two years old. Plaintiff's parents had a backyard pool and purchased a solar cover. Plaintiff wandered into the backyard and was enticed into the pool. It is well known by the manufacturers of solar covers that they not only attract children, but that the children believe they can walk on the solar cover. The Plaintiff's parents noticed that Plaintiff was missing. They immediately went to the backyard pool and got into the pool and rescued Plaintiff. Unfortunately, because he was under water for several minutes, Plaintiff suffered permanent and profound brain injury. Plaintiff needed constant medical care for the rest of his life. A lawsuit was filed against the manufacturer of the solar cover in State Court in Oregon. The case was handled by Attorney Ronald R. Gilbert who obtained a significant seven-figure settlement for Plaintiff. A special needs trust was set up for Plaintiff so that he could have adequate medical care for the rest of his life, even after his parents were deceased.

Case #9

Plaintiff was a junior in high school. Plaintiff was on the swim team. In the early morning when the swim team was practicing, Plaintiff was practicing going off the starting block and swimming laps. Plaintiff went off the starting block which was located in three and a half feet of water. Unfortunately, Plaintiff contacted the bottom of the pool and was rendered a C-4 quadriplegic. It was well known by both high schools throughout the United States as well as the manufacturer of the starting block that these types of injuries had resulted, especially to high school swimmers. Over 25 cases resulting in quadriplegia were documented in discovery in the case. Plaintiff made claim against the school district, the manufacturer of the starting block, and the local state and federal high school athletic association. The National High School Athletic Association had long known that three and a half feet of water was not an adequate depth for high school swimmers to dive into off a starting block. Ronald R. Gilbert obtained a high six-figure settlement against Defendants and set up both a structured settlement and a special needs trust for Plaintiff to provide adequate future medical care.

Case #10

Plaintiff in this case was a deaf mute before he suffered a spinal cord injury. He was swimming in the pool at the apartment complex where he lived with a number of other deaf mute persons. He did a back flip into the pool and ended up striking his head on the bottom and became a C-4 quadriplegic. In addition to being paralyzed, Plaintiff was unable to do sign language because of the loss of the use of his upper extremities. The only way he could communicate is through lip reading. A claim was made against the apartment complex for lack of adequate supervision and lack of adequate warnings. Fortunately, the apartment complex had adequate insurance coverage. Ronald R. Gilbert made a seven-figure recovery for this unfortunate spinal cord injured person who was also a deaf mute before his accident. A special needs trust was set up to insure his future adequate medical care. The case was filed in State Court in Florida.

Ron Gilbert is an attorney that specializes in spinal cord injury cases, having helped victims in 35 states. Because many of his clients cannot easily travel, Ron Gilbert visits each personally, providing support, information and referrals to help his clients in all aspects of their lives. If you have questions regarding your legal options or the selection of an attorney, Ron Gilbert will provide you with free professional counsel based on his nearly 20 years of experience with these types of cases. He can be reached toll free at 1-800-342-0330 or by email at ron@sci-law.net

� 2006 - 2011, Spinal Cord Injury Law. Last Edit 8/26/2011
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