Settlements

Below are a few examples of the types of cases where we have negotiated settlements for our clients. We have also included the names of some of the defendants we have challenged and either obtained settlements or judgments against. Contact us so we can get started on your case.

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Plaintiff was broken down on HWY 101 heading toward SFO from San Francisco. He was on the shoulder with his hazard lights on when he was rear ended at highway speed. His amazingly restored Citroen was crushed. The driver of the van that hit plaintiff fled the scene. Defendant driver's license plate was later found by mechanics embedded in the engine wall. Plaintiff suffered serious injury to his back and upper body. Plaintiff settled for policy limits and personal contribution from defendant. SFPD is seeking prosecution of the defendant on felony hit and run charges.

Personal Injury, (Slip and Fall) Plaintiff suffered severe life threatening injuries following a fall on a freshly mopped concrete sub-floor in a commercial establishment. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/cyclist was riding his bike home from work at 4 a.m. on Airport Blvd. in Austin, Texas when he was run over from behind by a Yellow Cab. Plaintiff suffered critical injuries to his head, neck and back. After five weeks in the ICU and CCU he suffered pulmonary infections from the prior intubation and was rehospitalized. Plaintiff settled for policy limits.

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Plaintiff/passenger, prior service woman in the US Navy suffering from PTSD on medical discharge injured when car she was a passenger in was hit from rear, flipped over, plaintiff passenger upper limb fell out of vehicle window causing serious injury and burns to upper body and exacerbation of PTSD. Settlement for policy limits.

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Plaintiff, hit by car on 16th and South Van Ness by tourist running red light. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/avid commuter cyclist, suffered broken olecranon and clavicle when riding down California Street on his way to work at the Real Food Company. Cyclist underwent open reduction internal fixation surgery to repair broken bone. Surgeons broke screw from a prior surgery to the same bone while attempting to remove the prior surgical hardware. Settlement for plaintiff and substantial lien reduction.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/commuter cyclist, hit by car on Division and Brannan. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident)Cyclist she was travelling North on her bicycle on Chicon about to make a left turn on to East Fifth Street. She reached the intersection and stopped. She utilized her left arm to signal her intent to make a left turn. She waited for oncoming traffic to pass, just as a vehicle passed in the oncoming lane of traffic, the pick-up truck, identified by several witnesses as a 2001 Black Chevy Silverado, Extended Cab, license plate 90NKJ9, sped around her from behind, came up on the left, barely avoided a collision with the car passing, and hit the cyclist.

The driver was prosecuted for hit and run and failure to stop and render aid to the cyclist.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/avid cyclist, hit by a giant SUV in Austin on Amesbury as the cyclist was attempting to continue through the intersection on Guadalupe in a marked bike lane. The SUV ignored the cyclists right-of-way. Cyclist suffered a broken tibia. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/avid cyclist, and board member for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, suffered a broken wrist and deep transverse laceration to the quadricep/VMO muscle when the driver of a BMW attempting to short-cut traffic, made an illegal right-hand turn onto the Octavia, Market Street, US HWY 101 on-ramp. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident) Plaintiff/cyclist was riding his bike in Berkeley when he was struck by a car driver who did not see him. Cyclist suffered knee injury and collar-bone injury. Settlement for cyclist.

Personal Injury, (Motorcycle Accident) Plaintiff was riding a motorcycle down a residential street when a car did an illegal u-turn in the roadway colliding into the motorcyclist. Plaintiff suffered severe injury to his arm, leg and serious road burn. Settled for the policy limits of the car driver.

Personal Injury, (Bike Accident) Cyclist in Berkeley CA hit by motorist's rear view mirror while vehicle was passing the bicyclist. There was no bike lane. Settlment for cyclist

Personal Injury, (Motorcycle Accident) Motorcyclist injured by Cafe Madeleine Delivery Truck failing to provide right of way. Cyclist required shoulder surgery following the incident. Settlement for cyclist.

Personal Injury, (Bicycle Accident)Three cyclists leaving UC Berkeley campus in the early evening, suddenly one cyclist catches rim on pot hole that measured approximately 30 inches in length and nearly 2 inches deep. "The Crescent" (street leaving West Campus near West Circle) had zero street lights. Although cyclist had a mounted headlight due to the angle, the edge of the pothole was not apparent without overhead lighting. Cyclist was thrown from her bike and suffered a broken olecranon (elbow) Cyclist sued the University and recieved settlement satisfying all medical costs, wage loss, and pain and suffering.

Personal Injury, (Motorcycle Accident) Motorcyclist was hit by drunk driver and suffered a broken clavicle. Drunk driver had no insurance. Settled for uninsured policy limits and restitution in criminal court

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Plaintiff was driving on SR-4 in Pittsburg in rush hour traffic when a car in the neighboring lane began moving into her lane. In order to avoid impact plaintiff swerved and ended up running into the death wall, her car flipped and the jaws of life were used to cut her from inside of the vehicle. Plaintiff had open reduction internal fixation surgery on her ankle and suffered minor internal injuries. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Uninsured plaintiff was driving a pick-up truck on the 24 when rear-ended at 110 mph by a drunk driver. Settlement for Plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Premises Liability) Plaintiff was attacked and beaten inside the mall by a group of men. Settlement for plaintiff pre-trial.

Personal Injury, (Slip and Fall) Plaintiff suffered a knee injury after slipping and falling when coming out of the restroom at the restaurant. Accident reconstruction experts found a building code violation in the slope of the floor causing a dangerous condition in the floor and the cause of plaintiff’s injury. KFC agreed to settle plaintiff’s case at mediation. Confidential settlement for plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Escalator Injury) involving an elderly woman whose shirt was stuck in an escalator railing at a casino in Reno, Nevada. Case was litigated in United States District Court and settled prior to trial. Confidential Settlement for plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Slip and Fall) Plaintiff, a homeless woman, was walking down a street in San Francisco. Plaintiff’s shoe heel was caught in a 1 inch depression in the sidewalk causing her to slip and fall and injur her heel. Plaintiff was awarded compensatory damages.

Personal Injury, (Trucking Accident) Plaintiffs, an elderly mother and daughter, were driving onto the highway when an 18-wheeler truck collided into their car slamming them into the highway rail. Substantial settlement for plaintiffs.

Personal Injury, (Slip and Fall) Plaintiff slipped and fell on a slippery substance on the tile floor of a Longs Drug Store. She suffered severe injury to her back and spinal cord. Following several surgeries her case settled for plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Slip and Fall) Plaintiff was viewing a model home in a new subdivision when he fell in an uncovered hole on the property. Plaintiff underwent spinal fusion surgery as a result of his injuries. Settlement for plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Auto Accident) Three plaintiffs were at a complete stop at a stop light on South Van Ness in San Francisco. McMillan Electric driver, while looking under the passenger seat of the F250 pick-up truck he was driving and answering a call on his cell phone, rear ended plaintiffs at 35 miles per hour. Settlement pre-filing of lawsuit.

Personal Injury, (Dog Bite) U.S. Postal worker was delivering mail to a residence in Lafayette, California. The mailbox to the home was kept inside a white picket fence with no warning signs of a dog. The owners had left their German Shepherd dog loose in the yard. When the mailman went to put the mail inside the box, the dog ran from around the side of the house and attacked the mail carrier, biting his elbow and left a one inch mark on the postal carrier’s arm and puncture wound mark on his leg. Settlement for plaintiff.

Personal Injury, (Dog Bite) A Federal Express delivery driver was delivering a package to a physicians home in Modesto, California. When the owner answered the door she failed to restrain the German Shepherd. The dog attacked the driver leaving permanent injury and scarring on her breast and wrist. Settlement for plaintiff.

Construction Defect, (Remodel) Calistoga weekend homeowners with mineral well on property undertook to remodel a very large swimming pool. Breeze Pools of California was hired to do the entire remodel. The contract called for the swimming pool to be replaced with a swim in place infinity pool and a hexagon shaped spa. Plaintiffs/homeowners brought the claim in Napa County alleging that the contractor materially breached the terms of the contract by building an octagon shaped spa, failing to map the plumbing or acquire permits for use of the mineral well in accordance with federal law, incorrectly installed both pool and spa equalizer causing the pool temperature to be at the consistent temperature of the spa, made cosmetic errors in installing the tile mosaics, incorrectly installed the pool cover creating a slip and fall hazard on the pool deck, and committed fraud by misinforming the homeowners about price and cost items that were unnecessary or beyond the scope of their expertise including solar panel installation and concrete. The morning the matter was set for trial, the defendants settled for twenty thousand over plaintiff's demand.

Construction Defect, (Concrete and Soils Prep) A case involving Pool Contractor and concrete sub-contractor. At trial, plaintiff proved negligent construction and fraud against both defendants. Defense counsel asked for a mistrial that was granted. After proving fraud defense counsel admitted having a conflict of interest in representing both defendants in the case, thus the reason for mistrial. Jury was asked for their verdict despite the mistrial. The jury found for the plaintiffs. The jury was prepared to award in excess of $500,000 in damages and a punitive award for the fraud perpetrated against them by the contractors. Defendant’s refused to settle despite several opportunities. There was only $25,000 worth of actual property damage to plaintiff’s property. After the mistrial, the parties agreed to settle.

Construction Defect. (Pool Defect) One of the largest pool manufacturers in America failed to get a proper soils engineer before building a swimming pool for a house on a hill in Martinez, CA. The swimming pool began cracking and moving towards the home. Homeowners brought suit and won at arbitration.

Construction Defect, (Commercial Residential Mixed Use Building) Alpha Construction (plainitff), was hired to construct a mixed use building for a property owner (our client). Hipolito Espinoza, owner of Alpha Construction perpetrated a fraud on the owner of the property by fraudulently using the license of Giovanni Construction Company to sign the contracts for the construction project. During mid-construction, contractor became licensed with the California State Licensing Board. Contractor then attempted to extort money from the property owner. Property owner refused to pay, the contractor filed a mechanic's lien. Property owner, defendant and cross-complainant, moved to expunge the lis pendens and litigation ensued. Plaintiff eventually dropped all claims. Lien was removed and the surety company for the contractor paid on all bonds to our client, property owner.

Breach of Contract, (Storage unit) Apartment complex that offered on site storage facilities for their tenants inadvertently threw away the contents of a storage unit. Settlement for plaintiff.

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Settlements From These Defendants and Insurance Companies: Sun Valley Mall & International Protection Company (IPC), Swan Pools, Bud’s Concrete, Anthony Sylvan Pools, Kentucky Fried Chicken/Yum Foods, Schindler Elevators, Otis Elevators, The City of San Francisco, Tesoro Transport Trucking Company, Kaiser Permanente, Yellow Freight, Petaluma Building Maintenance, Beazer Homes, The State of California, Thrifty Rent-A-Car, Atlantis Casino and Resort Hotel, McMillan Electric, Richmond Hilltop Apartments, Federal Express, Longs Drug Stores * The Shefman Law Group DOES NOT represent the interests of ANY insurance companies.