East Baton Rouge Product Injury Law

Case Results 

Unsafe Product Injury:  Paraplegia - $7,650,000.00

Our client was visiting another family when she was paralyzed from the waist down (paraplegia) when her long hair, in a braided ponytail reaching down to her waist, became caught in the rear axle of a go-cart she was invited to ride.

Liability was denied by the manufacturer of the go-cart on the basis that our client had not attended to her long hair.  The defense was simply that the accident was entirely our client’s fault.

By proving that an effective and cheap protective cover for the axle would have prevented axle rotation from presenting a risk of injury, whether by long scarf, trailing clothes or, as in this case, long hair, a settlement was reached as a pre-trial conference approached.

The settlement was $1,750,000.00 in cash, and monthly payments guaranteed for 25 years by an A+ rated life insurance company and payable to our client for the rest of her life thereafter.  $7,650,000 is the amount that will be paid if our client lives her normal expected lifespan.

Motivating the go-cart manufacturer’s insurance company to pay the amount paid, besides the strong proof that was developed on legal liability, was the work of a life care planner engaged to coordinate and present our client’s needs, and the lifetime costs for those needs.  His testimony included the reconstruction of an accommodating home environment, rehabilitation, and a lifetime of medical care and support.