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Paul L. Stritmatter's Case Archive ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Product Liability Homewood v. Zyblut, Toyota $2.5 million total settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L. Kessler A driver unexpectedly changed lanes on the freeway, causing a nearby Toyota pickup to swerve, spin into the median and roll several times. The pickup driver died and his seat belted passenger was thrown from the vehicle. She is now a quadriplegic. Our legal team secured a settlement with the lane-changing driver and pursued a claim against Toyota for the defective seat belt system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Fraser v. Beutel $6.1 million verdict Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter A young mother suffered a severe head injury in an auto collision. When the jury made its decision in 1987, the case became the largest personal injury award in Kittitas County history. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Bartel v. Burlington Northern Railroad $2.9 million verdict Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L. Kessler A cosmetologist and her husband were injured when a train struck their van in a railroad crossing. About a week before the collision, railroad signal supervisors had been notified about malfunctioning crossing signal lights in the area. Train crews were told to stop and watch for cars before crossing the highway. Records show the train was going 40 mph in a 25 mph zone and did not stop at the highway crossing. The female in the van had some head injuries and broken bones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Robert & Luann Whitmer v. Chin S. Yuk, City of Lakewood, Pierce County, City of Tacoma $6.35 million settlement Plaintiff’s counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Ray W. Kahler, Garth L. Jones, Paul L. Stritmatter Complicated liability issues were factors in this automobile collision case. Two young women suffered serious brain injuries when their vehicle was struck in an intersection, spun and hit a utility pole. The legal team handled a number of liability factors: the intersection had no traffic signal, road widening had brought lanes too close to the utility pole, and county/city jurisdiction had changed. The settlement will help the sisters – one of them a young mother – live as “normal” as possible. Additionally, the legal team took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court to overcome a federal law that would have kept secret the government records needed to get justice for the Whitmer sisters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Lawless v. Agricultural Hydraulic Supply, Inc. $3.25 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L. Kessler An electrician was working in a scissor lift to string wire across the elevated ceiling of a loading dock. Slowly the lift crept down a slope and went over the edge of the loading dock, throwing the electrician to the concrete slab below. He suffered traumatic brain injury and other injuries. Our legal team showed negligence on the part of the scissor lift manufacturer and the company that rented the lift to the electrical contracting firm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Dussault/Gray v. City of Shelton, et al. $2.5 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L. Stritmatter A new city road also created a new entrance to Shelton Middle School. A painted crosswalk and school crossing signs were added. The city refused to install a pedestrian-activated traffic signal, leaving students to dodge cars while trying to cross. When the 14-year-old plaintiff approached the crosswalk, a passing driver saw her and stopped. The next two cars moved over to the outside lane and didn’t see the plaintiff in the crosswalk. Both cars struck the student, leaving her with closed-head injuries, broken bones and internal injuries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brain Injury Neil Virnig v. Safeco Insured $1.5 million settlement Plaintiff’s counsel: Kevin Coluccio, Paul L. Stritmatter Washington State University student Neil Virnig was the passenger in a vehicle rollover accident around a blind curve. Neil spent 10 days in the hospital for a number of injuries, including some brain injury trauma. In the case against the defendant driver’s insurance company, Kevin helped Neil win a settlement for the full policy limit. In addition, Kevin was able to obtain payment of Neil's underinsured motorist policy limits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Lummi Nation v. Engineering Firm Highway Design Legier v. Mason County $1.75 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L. Stritmatter Suzanne Legier was driving with her two sons when her Jeep Cherokee skidded in water near plowed snow. The Jeep hit an oncoming truck, and Suzanne’s 5- and 12-year-old sons died of multiple, severe head injuries. The settlement with Mason County required changes in the county’s snow and ice removal policy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Highway Design Hipps v. Grays Harbor County $1.15 million settlement Co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L. Kessler Grays Harbor County had failed to maintain a tree that grew and covered a stop sign at an intersection. A driver unfamiliar with the intersection didn’t see the stop sign and struck the Hipps’ van, rendering Arnold Hipps paraplegic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Highway Design Reed v. City of Spokane $1 million settlement Co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L. Stritmatter A boy was forced to walk home in the street because a landowner and the City of Spokane had allowed the sidewalk to become overgrown with grass and rendered dangerous by glass and other debris. The boy was hit by a car and sustained a brain injury and multiple abrasions. Although the city and the landowner initially blamed the driver who struck the boy, they later acknowledged fault for the impassable sidewalk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Highway Design Wingo v. State of Washington $1.4 million settlement Plaintiff’s counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L. Stritmatter This case, which involved water build-up on a low point in the roadway that caused a head-on collision due to hydroplaning, was at the time reportedly the largest highway design settlement ever entered into by the State of Washington. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Insurance Bad Faith Dussault v. Midcentury Insurance Co. $2.825 million settlement Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter In one of the largest insurance bad faith cases in Washington state, our legal team facilitated a settlement arising from an auto collision that resulted in a severe closed-head injury. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ L&I Third Party Tkachev
v. Ledcor L&I Third Party Halasz v. Turner Construction $1.75 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Michael E. Withey A carpenter at a job site was using a portable toilet when he was struck by a counterweight on a crane. He suffered traumatic brain injury, including axonal sheering. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard &
Pamela Glubrecht v. Insurance Auto Auctions & CB Equipment L&I Third Party Gonzales v. Farmers Electric, Inc. $790,000 settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L. Stritmatter We represented an onion plant worker who lost his arm when a defective conveyor pulled him into the machine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Collision Jackson v. Washington State University $2.5 million settlement Plaintiff counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter A student lost the use of his arm and his legs were temporarily paralyzed in an auto rollover. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Collision Soto v. John Doe $1.6 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Kevin Coluccio, Paul L. Stritmatter An Easter Sunday drive ended in a head-on collision for the Soto family. The mother suffered partial loss of kidney function and closed-head injuries. Her husband and their two children had serious scrapes and bruises. The other driver was intoxicated and driving a company vehicle. Our legal team worked with the man’s personal insurance company and his employer’s insurance company for the Soto family’s settlement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Collision Morales v. Yellow Cab $1.25 million settlement Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L. Kessler A female pedestrian suffered a closed-head injury when she was hit by a taxi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Collision Gould v. Westgate $1.2 million settlement Plaintiff counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter Plaintiff suffered partial loss of colon and back fractures in an auto collision. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Auto Collision Yielding v. Klinger $1.15 million (policy limits) settlement Plaintiff counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter An auto collision left the plaintiff with significant lower leg circulation problems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Motorcycle Collision Chris Peck v.
King County Auto Collision Huntington v. Atkinson $1 million (policy limits) settlement Plaintiff counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter The plaintiff was paralyzed in a vehicle rollover incident. We were able to obtain the maximum amount allowed by the insurance company. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Premises Liability Carpenter v. North Thurston School District $2 million settlement Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Kevin Coluccio A student doing chin ups on a soccer goal received a significant brain injury when the goal fell on him. Our legal team represented the student athlete against the soccer goal manufacturer and the school district for defects in the goal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Product Liability Mazzei
v. Industrial Seating, Inc. and Custom Stamping & Manufacturing |
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