Representing victims of serious injury since 1967

This case involved the death of the driver of a vehicle which went off of SR 96 about 5 miles down the Klamath River from SR 99. The car went off of a 300 foot cliff into the Klamath River. We claimed that there was a trap here because the curve warning signs leading up to this curve were too slow. The safe speed was faster than the signs said. The curve warning sign for this curve was too slow. The sign said the safe speed was much faster than was actually safe. A driver who had gotten used to going faster than the signs would have little chance on this curve. The defense was that this was all the driver’s fault. Result: Verdict for$500,000.

This was a clear liability case (head-on) where the big fight was about damages. She suffered a knee injury which left her so she had to wear flat shoes all of the time. Otherwise, she had a pretty good recovery. The case went to trial because the defense lawyer refused to offer more than $20,000 in a case where she had nearly $15,000 in medical bills. Result: Verdict for $186,000.

42 year old body and fender man suffered a dislocated left thumb in a head-on with a vehicle driven by a high school boy. He got a dislocation of his left, minor, thumb. He did not miss significant work because he was put in charge of the shop after he injured his hand. He had $19,000 in medical expenses and got a verdict of $235,000.

In this case the plaintiff was a riding a motorcycle on a heavily traveled, high speed, rural two-lane road. Cal-Trans had installed signals at a big intersection that was surrounded by essentially vacant land. In order to keep motorists from being surprised by this signal out in the country, Cal-Trans had installed a warning signal which lit up to tell motorists that the signal ahead was red or was about to turn red. However, it had made no provision about what was to happen when the power went out, as it did on the day of the accident. Plaintiff was hit by a car at the intersection, in part because he did not realize that the signal was not working until he was very close to it. The position of the sun in the sky at the time of the accident made the signals themselves very hard to see. Plaintiff received a badly broken leg, from which he made a pretty complete recovery. We were able to argue that the advance warning sign is like a railroad crossing signal: when it is dark, it tells you it is safe to proceed - you have the green light. Failure to make some provision for a power failure resulted in a trap. Result: Verdict for the plaintiff for $365,000.

This case involved a logging truck driver who lost his leg below the knee when a log fell off of his truck and hit him. He was at the mill getting unloaded when the accident happened. The defense claimed it was all his fault because he removed the last cable holding the load in place before the operator of the unloading machine had clamped his forks around the load to keep him safe. We argued that the problem was that the mill had no clear procedure so everyone thought it was supposed to be done differently. This, we argued, created such confusion that an accident was inevitable. This case is a good example of how important it is for a badly injured person to get more than one opinion. Another lawyer had told the plaintiff his case was hopeless and he nearly let the time to file a suit expire. Fortunately, a friend talked him into getting another opinion. Result: Verdict for $500,000.

This was a Federal securities fraud case involving a man from Oklahoma who sold interests in oil wells to a number of Northern California investors, including several attorneys. The representations about the nature of the wells turned out to be false, causing serious losses to the investors. The defense claimed that since they were selling to sophisticated investors, including attorneys, there could be no fraud. We were able to show that the geological formations into which the defendant was drilling wells was known to him to be one which would produce oil just long enough to sell the wells and then would dry up. The wells would look good, but there was no way to get your money out of them because the production would not last. Result: Verdict for the investors of $1,000,000.

This was a products liability case in an accident on a lonely road on a rainy night. Plaintiff was found lying unconscious next to his Buick on the road to his home in a rainstorm. There were no witnesses, and he did not remember what happened due to a serious head injury. His car was upside down and the right rear wheel and about 6 inches of the right rear axle were lying in a ditch about 75 yards away from the car. We claimed that the axle broke and caused the wreck. GM claimed that he had been drinking, wrecked his car and broke the axle. We were able to demonstrate that the fracture originated in a tiny crack created in the manufacturing process. The car needed to bounce enough to flex the spinning axle when the crack was aimed exactly away from the direction of flex for it to break. There was a bump at the end of a bridge he had just crossed which would cause the necessary flexing of the axle. Sooner or later, this was going to happen. Result: Verdict for the driver and his family for $1,200,000.

THIS CASE INVOLVED THE WRONGFUL DEATH OF A 35-YEAR OLD HUSBAND AND FATHER WHO WAS KILLED WHILE WATER SKIING ON SHASTA LAKE WHEN HIS BOAT COLLIDED WITH A SECOND BOAT. THE DEFENSE CLAIMED THE TWO BOATS COLLIDED AS THE RESULT OF OPERATOR ERROR. WE WERE ABLE TO PROVE THAT THE BOAT HAD A MANUFACTURING DEFECT WHICH CAUSED IT TO GO HOPELESSLY OUT OF CONTROL AND VEER SUDDENLY TO THE LEFT, HITTING THE OTHER BOAT. THE JURY DECIDED THE DEFECT CAUSED THE ACCIDENT AND AWARDED HIS FAMILY $2.5.

FOR A FREE CONSULTATION ABOUT YOUR CASE, CALL BARR AND MUDFORD IN REDDING AT 243-8008.

A YOUNG BOY, RIDING HIS BICYCLE ON A STATE HIGHWAY INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS, TURNED LEFT ACROSS TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC AND WAS STRUCK BY A BUS, SUFFERING SEVERE HEAD INJURIES. THE BUS COMPANY ARGUED THAT IT WAS ALL THE BICYCLISTS FAULT BECAUSE HE VIOLATED THE BUS’ RIGHT-OF-WAY. WE PROVED THE COMPANY REQUIRED THE DRIVER SPEED TO STAY ON SCHEDULE. THE BOY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HIT IF THE BUS WAS GOING WITHIN THE SPEED LIMIT. THE JURY AWARDED $4 MILLION FOR THE BRAIN INJURY.FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS CASE AND OTHERS, GO TO: BARRANDMUDFORD.COM THAT’S B-A-R-R-AND-M-U-D-F-O-R-D DOT COM.

FOR A FREE CONSULTATION ABOUT YOUR CASE, CALL BARR AND MUDFORD IN REDDING AT 243-8008.

A YOUNG PLUMAS COUNTY WOMAN DRIVING AN UNFAMILIAR MOUNTAIN ROAD LOST CONTROL SO HER PICKUP ROLLED OVER ONE TIME THE ROOF COLLAPSED, AND SHE WAS KILLED. THE DEFENSE CLAIMED THAT “ACCIDENTS HAPPEN,” AND YOU CAN’T PREVENT ROOFS FROM CRUSHING OCCUPANTS. WE PROVED THAT AMERICAN CARS BUILT TO BE SOLD IN EUROPE ARE MADE DIFFERENTLY SO THE ROOFS DO NOT CRUSH OCCUPANTS. IN AMERICA, ROLLOVERS ARE 4% OF VEHICLE ACCIDENTS BUT RESULT IN 1/3 OF VEHICLE DEATHS. THE CASE WAS SETTLED IN FAVOR OF HER FAMILY FOR $850,000.

FOR A FREE CONSULTATION ABOUT YOUR CASE, CALL BARR AND MUDFORD IN REDDING AT 243-8008.