Current Cases at Eckman Strandness & Egan

Success Stories

We take pride in the results we've achieved for our clients throughout our 26-year history. The following are some of our recent cases and the resolutions we were able to achieve.

Please keep in mind that the cases referenced are illustrative examples only. They are not necessarily representative of what your case could be worth. We cannot guarantee specific results in any situation, and the value of your case depends on the given facts and legal claims involved.

Contact us for an evaluation of your case at no cost to you.

PRESCRIPTION ERROR - DEATH

Our clients were the family of an elderly woman who was prescribed Liquibid, a common decongestant, for cold symptoms she was experiencing. The pharmacy mistakenly filled the prescription with Lithobid, a lithium-based anti-psychotic medication, which resulted in the woman's death from lithium poisoning. After a jury verdict in our favor and multiple battles at the appellate court and Minnesota Supreme Court levels, we collected almost $300,000.00 for the family of the deceased. Click here for the text of the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in this matter.

RAILROAD NEGLIGENCE - BACK INJURY

Our client is a spiker machine operator on the operating line and system of tracks for the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. In the use of the on-track spiker machine, she was required to work repeatedly and for long periods of time in a bent-over, awkward position in order to reach down and manually turn spikes as they were improperly feeding into the spiker machine. She suffered cumulative traumatic injuries to her lower back, and we negotiated a settlement of $215,000 for her injuries.

AUTOMOBILE COLLISION - DEATH

The driver of a car carrying three of his friends lost control and slid into the path of an oncoming truck. Our client, the passenger in the front seat and a college student, was killed instantly by the force of the oncoming truck. We recovered a total settlement of $400,000 for his family, which settlement consisted of the $250,000 liability limits for the negligent driver and $150,000 from the family's underinsured motorist insurance carrier.

PRESCRIPTION ERROR - DEATH

As a 91-year-old woman living in an assisted living apartment, our client led an active lifestyle. A series of falls required her to seek assistance from a nursing home. The pharmacy at the nursing home mistakenly gave our client Tylenol rather than enteric-coated aspirin, which mistake led to the formation of 18" of blood clots in our client's groin, amputation of her leg, and, after a rapid deterioration in the hospital, led to her unfortunate death. We recovered a $130,000 settlement for her family through a medical malpractice, wrongful death action.

RAILROAD NEGLIGENCE - RIGHT ARM INJURY

After working more than 15 hours at the site of a coal train derailment, our client, an employee of the Union Pacific Railroad in Nebraska, injured his right arm while trying to control the discharge flow of ballast from a ballast car. In an attempt to fill an "empty spot," our client attempted to pull the ballast door's ratchet handle to open the door further and allow more ballast to flow, but the door would not move. In attempting to move the door, our client suffered a right biceps rupture in which his right bicep was at least 80-90% torn. His injuries required surgical reattachment of the biceps and additional repair surgery to his elbow. We recovered $480,000 for our client through a negotiated settlement while in litigation.

PRODUCT DEFECT - KNUCKLE-BOOM MAN LIFT

Our client, a truck driver with 20 years experience, was loading a rented Skyjack SJKB
40-C knuckle-boom man lift onto his truck for delivery to a customer. As he loaded the Skyjack SJKB 40-C knuckle-boom down the ramp to his truck, the brakes on the unit failed and caused the machine to go out of control and crash onto the pavement below. Our investigation and our experts revealed numerous fractures in the braking mechanism (a series of compressed washers), as well as the fact that the manufacturer knew the brakes on its machines were fracturing, failing, and causing injury to people and property. As trial approached, we negotiated a $1,000,000.00 settlement.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - PREMATURE BABY INJURY

Our client was born prematurely at 26 weeks gestation. In the neo-natal intensive care unit, she was scheduled to receive nutrients (formula) through a gastric feeding tube inserted into her stomach. In the first few weeks and days after she was born, she was thriving and stable. However, a nurse then mispositioned the feeding tube and placed it into the baby's lung. Milk continued to pump into her lung for hours before the error was discovered. We recovered a $1,250,000.00 settlement and established a specials needs trust to care for our client.

NEGLIGENCE - FINGER INJURIES

Our client is a professional woman who received acrylic fingernail maintenance at a nail salon. During the sanding procedure to "fill" the acrylics, the nail technician used the sander inappropriately and permanently damaged the nail matrix (the organ that produces new nail growth). We negotiated a settlement of $37,000.

RAILROAD NEGLIGENCE - TRAUMATIC AMPUTATIONS

Our client was a railroad employee with 17 years' experience who was sent out to install a device on the end of a string of railroad cars in New Jersey. To cross the tracks and get to the end of the train, he climbed a ladder on a parked train in the railyard. As he descended the ladder, an engine slammed into the parked cars from behind, and our client was thrown from the ladder and dragged more than 35 feet. He lost both his legs and an arm as a result of the incident. We brought suit under the federal FELA statute and received a $6.5 million verdict.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - DEATH

Our client was a 59-year-old retiree who had aortal femoral bypass surgery in his leg. Although the surgery appeared to go well initially, a few weeks later our client began to bleed profusely from the wound site. The ER repeatedly misdiagnosed the cause of the bleeding and repeatedly discharged our client, despite his continued complaints of bleeding. Hours after he was last discharged from the ER, he went into cardiorespiratory failure as a result of massive blood loss and died of exsanguination. We achieved a $200,000 settlement for our client's remaining family.

DOG BITE - FACIAL SCARRING

Our client is a frozen foods deliveryman who was calling upon regular customers and was invited into their home. While our client was seated on a couch, the customers' dog jumped at our client's face and bit him on the nose. Our client received five stitches in his nose and suffered permanent damage to a nerve in his face. He is now more sensitive to the cold weather and the cold temperatures he faces at work. We received a $34,000 award from an arbitrator for our client.

AUTOMOBILE/MOPED COLLISION - KNEE AND LEG INJURIES

Our client was a passenger on a moped when it was struck broadside by an inattentive teenage driver. Our client suffered numerous knee and leg fractures, requiring multiple surgeries and the permanent installation of hardware in her leg. Through the liability insurance and underinsured motorist insurance, we recovered the full $400,000 insurance policy limits.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - CHEMICAL BURN INJURY

Our client went to a ear, nose, and throat specialists to have a wax build-up removed from her ear. The doctor's assistant, rather than using the wax softener the doctor instructed her to use, accidentally poured phenol into our client's ear. Phenol is a caustic chemical used to sterilize medical instruments, and is not intended to be used on humans in the dose administered to our client. Our client suffered chemical burns in her ear, down her neck, and onto her shoulder. We we able to settle the case without litigation for $47,500.

PRODUCT DEFECT - FARM EQUIPMENT

Our client, a lifelong farm, bought a used hay bale basket for his farm. The first time he used the basket fully loaded, the release lever on the basket malfunctioned and snapped directly into his face. We discovered manufacturing and design defects in the latching mechanism of the hay bale basket that would not allow for safe use or operation of the basket. Our client suffered numerous facial fractures, permanent brain damage, permanent nerve damage, and permanent damage to his senses of taste and smell. On the eve of trial, we negotiated a $380,000.00 settlement.

AUTOMOBILE COLLISION - NECK INJURY

Our client was stopped in traffic, attempting to make a left turn, when she was rear-ended at highway speeds by an inattentive driver behind her. She suffered a cervical disc herniation at the C6-7 level with additional injury to her neck tissues. The left ulnar nerve in her arm was also injured, causing numbness and pain into her hand and thumb. We recovered a $62,500 settlement.

PRODUCT DEFECT - ICE AUGER

Our client is an avid fisherman who bought a new Strikemaster ice auger from a local retailer. He took the auger to his ice house, and as he lifted the auger out of the water to drill a second hole, the blade on the auger failed to disengage. The spinning blade cut our client's leg, requiring numerous stitches. When the wound became infected, our client missed significant sales calls and lost income. We recovered over $171,000 for our client from the manufacturer of the ice auger (Strikemaster).

AUTOMOBILE COLLISION - SPINAL INJURY

Our clients were an elderly couple driving to their nephew's wake. As they entered an intersection and continued traveling on their through-street, a teenage driver inattentively pulled out directly into our client's car. Collectively, our clients suffered a spinal burst fracture, numerous rib fractures, shoulder injuries, and a fractured sternum. We negotiated a $250,000.00 settlement.

PRODUCT DEFECT - COFFEE MAKER

Our client received a new Toastmaster coffee maker as a gift. The first time she made a pot of coffee, the machine and pot worked fine. Two days later, she made a second pot of coffee and lifted the pot from the machine. As she removed the pot, the entire glass bottom fell out in one piece. Our client suffered first-degree burns over her arm and hand from the scalding coffee. After their engineer examined the product and its defective glass, we recovered $10,000.00 from Toastmaster.

Eckman, Strandness & Egan P.A.
319 Barry Ave. South Suite 100, Wayzata, MN 55391-0597
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 597, Wayzata, MN 55391-0597
(952) 594-3600 | (800) 328-1096 Fax (952) 594-3601
Copyright © 2004 Eckman Strandness & Egan
Last modified: Monday, April 17, 2006