Results

A Selection of Case Results: 

Passenger Vehicle v. Work Truck
Practice Area: Wrongful Death; Motor Vehicle Collision; Employer Vicarious Liability
Outcome: Multi-Million Policy-Limits Settlement (All Available Insurance)

Description: Our clients lost their only child in a head-on collision on State Route 299 in Humboldt County when a construction company’s Ford F-550 crossed the double-yellow centerline into our clients’ daughter’s lane of traffic, causing the fatal crash. The driver was operating within the course and scope of his employment.

The Zwerdling Law Firm litigated the matter against a total of three different defense firms. When the defense was not forthcoming in their discovery obligations, Nate Zwerdling prevailed on a motion to compel discovery, and the Court awarded discovery sanctions against the defense law firm. Through their tireless advocacy, the Zwerdling Law Firm eventually secured a multi-million policy limits settlement in this matter – helping the family achieve justice and honoring their daughter’s memory.

Vehicle v. Motorcycle Crash
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Loss of Consortium
Outcome: Significant Confidential Settlement
Description: Our client was hit by a large passenger van while riding his motorcycle home from work. Through the use of personal photos and family testimonials, the attorneys at The Zwerdling Law Firm created a “settlement documentary” showing the insidious ways the serious orthopedic injury to his knee affected the entire family. Damages were paid for the ongoing pain, suffering, and physical limitations of the injured client, as well as for the loss of the love, care, affection, and society that the spouse experienced.

Catastrophic Dog Attack
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Dog Bites/Mauling; Liens 
Outcome: Significant Policy Limits Settlement
Description: Our client was mauled by pit bills, causing life-altering injuries. While the owner of the dogs was insolvent, The Zwerdling Law Firm explored every avenue of potential liability. Through the course of litigation, it was discovered that the insured owner of the property where the dogs were living was aware of their presence, and our client was able to recover the entirety of the homeowner’s insurance policy.

In any case where a person has incurred significant medical bills in relation to their injury, liens can consume a large portion of a client’s settlement money. In this case, liens of over $600,000 were reduced by over 73%, making a dramatic difference to the client.  

SUV v. Pedestrian
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Government Tort Claim
Outcome: Significant Settlement
Description: Our client was walking within a marked crosswalk when a government employee crashed into them, propelling them across the intersection and causing severe orthopedic injuries. Special attention must be paid to cases where any government agency is a defendant. Attorneys at The Zwerdling Law Firm vigorously pursued recovery for our injured client, settling prior to trial.

Traumatic Brain Injury
Practice Area: Personal Injury with Workers’ Compensation Component
Outcome: Significant Policy Limits Settlement
Description: In this case, our client was hit from the side while driving a work truck when another driver failed to stop at a red light. Despite a relatively low impact crash, our client suffered a traumatic brain injury with symptoms that persisted for years.

When a person is on the job and is injured by a third party, they still receive treatment through the workers’ compensation system. In this case, attorneys at The Zwerdling Law Firm worked closely with a local worker’s compensation specialist to maximize the client’s recovery and get the medical lien waived.

M.R. v. Ted Martin
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Motor Vehicle Collision; Major Orthopedic Injuries
Outcome: Significant Confidential Settlement
Description: Our client sustained serious injuries in a motor vehicle incident on a remote portion of Highway 199 in Del Norte County. The Defendant, who was driving a delivery truck at an unsafe speed in stormy conditions, lost control of his vehicle, entered Plaintiff’s lane of traffic, and collided with Plaintiff’s vehicle head on. The force of the impact caused major injuries to his left shoulder, including retracted tears of the supraspinatus, subscapularis, and infraspinatus tendons of his left rotator cuff. Ultimately, Plaintiff underwent three surgeries to address his shoulder injuries. The first surgery involved the arthroscopic repair of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff tear; the second surgery involved the arthroscopic repair of the subscapularis tendon of the rotator cuff and excision of the distal clavicle; and the third surgery involved repair of the detachment of the superior two-thirds of the subscapularis tendon.  After prolonged litigation and two mediations, we were able to achieve a favorable result.  Our client is very pleased with the outcome.

Hart V. Grimes, Berryman Products, C.P. Hunt
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Products Liability; Quadriplegic
Outcome: $9.2 million jury verdict for the plaintiff – Humboldt County Superior Court. (Adjusted for inflation, this verdict would total $21 million in today’s dollars). 
Description: Plaintiff was rendered a quadriplegic in a vehicle rollover caused by a defective brake cleaning product. Zachary Zwerdling tried this case to a jury that resulted in one of the highest personal injury awards in Humboldt County History. As a result of this case, Zachary Zwerdling was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, which limits membership to the top 1% of trial lawyers in the United States. The pre-trial offer from the defense was $10,000. 

Sund v. Stayner; Cedar Lodge
Practice Area: Wrongful Death; Vicarious Liability of Employer.
Outcome: Substantial Confidential Settlement
Description:  Zachary Zwerdling represented Jens Sund and his family in a civil suit for damages against Cary Stayner and his part-time employer, the Cedar Lodge at Yosemite for the murders of Mr. Sund’s wife Carol and his daughter Juli Sund. Mr. Stayner was convicted of committing these murders. Zachary Zwerdling was able to secure a significant financial settlement from the Cedar Lodge. Zachary Zwerdling was interviewed on the Today Show by Matt Lauer about this case.

A.H. v. John Doe
Practice Area: Child Molestation
Outcome: Substantial Confidential Settlement
Description:  “Several years ago I was devastated to learn that my nine year old daughter was sexually violated by someone that was wealthy, successful, and respected by local religious and business communities. Therefore the criminal aspect of the case was hindered by politics and a overworked and shortstaffed district attorney office. Adding insult to injury the result was a hung jury. Determined to get compensation for my daughter I needed help. Zach not only assured me that it was possible but without hesitation he took on the burden of my civil suit. His selfless determination was instrumental in not only our successful out of court settlement but also in my daughters vindication. Zach guided us through the courts with careful and kind consideration for my daughters wellbeing. He is so much more to us than her attorney, he was an answer to my prayers. For that and much more I will be forever grateful.”

Carmesin v. Boak
Practice Area: Personal injury; Negligence; Negligent Discharge of a Firearm;
Outcome: $2.9 million jury verdict Humboldt County Superior Court
Description: Plaintiff was injured when an antique firearm discharged while being handled by another individual. The wound caused serious orthopedic injury. Mr. Carmesin was awarded $2.9 million. His wife was  awarded $100,000 for loss of consortium. Zachary Zwerdling tried this case to a jury.

J.P. v. Ingomar Club of Eureka
Practice Area: Workplace Sexual Harassment
Outcome: Substantial Confidential Settlement
Description:  Female employee of the Ingomar Club suffered repeated sexual harassment from an assistant manager.  The Ingomar Club failed to take appropriate measures to protect the employee and discipline the offending employee.  

Tsurai Ancestral Society v. City of Trinidad
Practice Area: Native American Rights; Pro Bono; California Municipal Entity Property Rights; Trespassing on Native American Sacred Ground
Description: The Tsurai, a small group of Native Americans, has fought the City of Trinidad for over a hundred years to obtain control of their sacred village and burial sites on the bluffs above Trinidad. After seven years of litigation, negotiations are continuing between the interested parties to finally return the property to the Tsurai.  Zachary Zwerdling and the Zwerdling Law Firm, LLP, donated hundreds of hours of pro bono time to this case.

John Doe v. State of California; California Highway Patrol
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Governmental Entity; Liability of Law Enforcement for Causing Personal Injury; PTSD
Outcome: $1.95 million settlement
Description:  The case involved our client, a 44-year-old male, who sustained major orthopedic injuries and PTSD when he was struck by a California Highway Patrol vehicle that had lost control and crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 101.  The officer had been texting prior to losing control of his vehicle.

Jane Doe v. Direct 2 U Furniture, Inc. 
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Traumatic Brain Injury
Outcome: $1.2 million settlement
Description: Our Client, a 19 year old woman, suffered injuries when a vehicle in which she was a passenger was struck from the rear. The defendant was driving a larger commercial delivery truck. We contended that our client suffered a traumatic brain injury. The defense argued against this claim based on the fact there was no evidence of a blow to our client’s head nor did she lose consciousness in the MVA. The Zwerdling Law Firm retained a neuroradiologist who recommended a state of the art 3 Tesla MRI of her brain. After viewing the highly sensitive MRI results, the neuroradiologist concluded that our client had a lesion in her brain. Our client’s other specialized experts concluded that this was the cause of cognitive impairment as well as psychological injury. There were nine experts on the case. Hundreds of hours of work went into proving our client’s damages, and attacking the opinions of the defense experts. To our knowledge, no other personal injury case on the North Coast, where there was no objective evidence of a head strikes or loss of consciousness, has resulted in a settlement of this size. The case settled on the eve of trial for $1.2 million. 

Rear End Collision
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Underinsured Motorist Claim; Aggravation of Pre-Existing Condition
Outcome: Significant Policy Limits Settlement
Description: Our client was rear-ended in Eureka, causing neck and back injuries that eventually required surgery. Despite having pre-collision pain complaints in these areas, The Zwerdling Law Firm was able to show serious exacerbation of his pre-existing conditions warranting payment of the entire available policy.

It is very common for a third party to not have enough insurance coverage to fully compensate a client. Fortunately, in this case, our client had substantial underinsured motorist coverage, which is a policy of insurance that increases the amount someone can recover if they are injured in a crash.

Pedestrian v. Motorized Train
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Governmental Entity; Premises Liability
Outcome: Significant Confidential settlement
Description: Our client, an 87-year-old children’s book author, was struck from behind by a motorized train while walking at a State Owned property in Humboldt County. The impact threw her to the ground, causing her to lose consciousness before the vehicle rolled onto her legs and came to rest on top of her body.

 Our client sustained multiple severe injuries, which resulted in a 11 day hospitalization, followed by a week of inpatient rehabilitation. As a result of her injuries, she was left with significant functional limitations. After obtaining settlements from both the Train Company and the State of California, our client was able to return to her daily activities including volunteering at her church, cooking food for the houseless, and writing her children’s book series.

Dog Bite/Mauling
Practice Area: Personal Injury; Premises Liability (Landlord/Property Manager)
Outcome: Significant Confidential Settlement
Description:Our client was mauled by a tenant’s Pit Bull in the shared walkway between two Arcata apartment buildings. The attack left seven puncture wounds to her right thigh and she developed an infected hematoma that required surgical intervention and hospitalization.  Our client was left with considerable scarring and other injuries.Through discovery, the Zwerdling Law Firm uncovered that the property management company had actual notice of the dog’s dangerous propensities from prior bite/attack complaints and did nothing to remove or control the animal. Ultimately, the property management company offered a significant confidential settlement to resolve the case pre-trial.

ZWERDLING LAW FIRM, LLP

804 3rd Street
Eureka, CA 95501