Serious Injury Litigation Serving California Families Since 1974
If you wonder why we do what we do, please read on.
The cases are real...
The people are real...*
When catastrophe strikes and their lives are turned upside down, who do they turn to? Who can they trust?
The answer is Attorney Stephen Heller.
*Please note that names and faces have been changed to protect our clients' privacy.
Bobbie Thompson is eight months old and has a high fever. His parents take him to the Emergency Room at a nearby hospital. In an effort to secure the baby's airway, the ER doctor decides he needs to place a tube into the baby's trachea (his windpipe). Instead, it is placed into the baby's esophagus so that air to the baby's lungs goes instead into his stomach. The little boy is deprived of oxygen for more than 10 minutes before the doctor and the ER nurses realize the error. By that time, it's too late and the baby suffers massive, irreversible brain damage and spastic quadriplegia. He is partially blind and hearing- impaired but can respond a bit to his mom and dad. Bobbie needs extensive therapy and life-long 24-hour care. Who pays for this? How do you compensate him and his family?
Beverly Mapleton is driving her 1984 Volvo in the slow lane of a 3-lane highway at 60 mph her car is clipped by a 17-year old boy driving his dad's car at more than 110 mph. Beverly loses control of her car and it veers up an embankment and rolls over onto its roof. As it rolls over, her left arm extends outside the car and is crushed. Her medical bills exceed $35,000 and she is left with severe range of motion losses in the left wrist. She can no longer lift up her 3-year old daughter, much less hold a 2-gallon of milk. Her life-long dream of becoming a respiratory therapist is shattered. How is she compensated for all of this?
Jack Franklin, age 78, suffers major brain trauma when a spring-loaded headboard slams down on his head in the middle of the night. It costs $185,000 to save his life. He requires 24-hour care seven days a week for the rest of his life at a cost exceeding $915,000. How can he be compensated for this injury?
Kelly Simpson, age 18, slips and falls at a Jack-in-the Box restaurant when two store employees play a prank on her. The fall causes her to rupture two disks in her back. She needs multiple surgical procedures at a cost of more than $95,000. How can she be compensated for this injury?
Joe Jacobson, age 39, is a truck driver whose right knee was destroyed when he slips and falls on a greasy floor at a large warehouse. He undergoes numerous surgeries and finally a total-knee replacement. When he is finally able to return to work three years later, he loses his seniority and his pay is reduced. He will walk with a limp for the rest of his life. How can you compensate him for these losses?
Casey Johnston, age three, has difficult breathing. His doctors use an instrument to look down his throat and his airway becomes compromised. The doctors perform an emergency tracheotomy. Unfortunately, the doctor is inexperienced and makes the incision too low. A few days later, the tracheotomy tube dislodges while the baby is in the hospital and he suffers irreversible brain damage. He is deprived of oxygen for 14 minutes. It cost $140,000 to save his life. It will cost more than $18 million to care for him 24-hours a day for the rest of his life. How can a value be placed on this devastating injury? Who will pay for this?
Robert Mindella, age 27, is driving his car at 55 mph on a highway when a trash truck going the opposite direction turns left in front him. He suffers multiple pelvic fractures. At the time of the accident, he earned $8.50 an hour managing a pizza restaurant. He can't work for two years. He has a wife and three small children to support. How do you calculate the loss this young man and his family sustained?
Maria Clanman, age 72, an apartment manager, trips on unsecured electrical cables at a hotel fashion show. She has three major operations to restore function to her fractured hip and is confined to a wheelchair. Who pays her $85,000 medical bill? Who takes care of her needs in the future?
Jillian Wilkerson, age 42, is run down by a drunk driver in a marked crosswalk and pinned under the car. She fractures her right knee. She is unable to work for more than a year and runs up more than $35,000 for surgery and related medical expenses. How can you calculate her losses for the damage to her quality of life? Who pays for her wage losses?
Melinda Thompson, age 64, is shot in the arm and chest by a gang member who gains access to an unlocked gun cabinet at his friend's house. She watches helplessly as he pumps two bullets at point-blank range into her adult daughter's chest. Her daughter dies in her arms. Is the homeowner who forgot to lock the gun cabinet responsible? Who pays for the medical and funeral bills? Who pays for Melinda's injuries and mental anguish?
Olivia Martin, age 48, sustains a moderate but not life-threatening head injury in an auto accident. She is rushed to the hospital and begins to shows signs of improvement. A technician then commits malpractice causing her major irreversible brain damage. The cost of 24-hour care for the rest of her life is more than $5 million. Who will pay for this?
Bob Stanton, age 23, is driving his 1990 Acura at 65 mph on the freeway at 9:30 p.m. A moving van is stalled in his lane of travel without lights. The van's emergency flashers are not on because the moving company skimped on making repairs and didn't fix the lights. The trucker does not place any flares or other signs to warn motorists that he's stopped. Bob crashes into the rear end of the van under-riding it and is killed instantly. His survivors include his parents and a 16-month old son. How do you compensate the baby and his grandparents for their terrible losses? Who pays the costs of raising the little boy?
Maria Martinez, age 69, is at a convalescent hospital recovering from surgery to her left leg. She develops a sore on her right heel, which her doctor thinks is just a pressure sore. In fact, it's gangrene due to a blocked artery in Maria's leg. The doctor fails to respond adequately to the nurses' daily reports of the rapid increase in size of the gangrenous sore. Ten days pass when the doctor finally decides to refer his patient to a vascular surgeon. By that time, it's too late to save the leg and Maria's right leg is amputated below the knee. Three months later, she dies. Is the doctor responsible for her death? How are her husband of 45 years and her four adult children compensated for what happened?
