New York’s appellate courts issued decisions in 10 cases in 2011 that approved pain and suffering damages in the sum of $3,500,000 or more.

The largest was $12,000,000 for a 24 year old woman who was paralyzed when a weight-lifting machine fell on top of her.

The courts affirmed the jury verdict in five of

On August 30, 2001 Kenzie Godfrey was an honors physics student about to begin her senior year at Hunter College in Manhattan. She was headed towards a NASA research position and then a PhD upon graduation. Her dreams turned into nightmares that day when the 21 year old was a rear seat passenger in a

On August 13, 2006, George Nunez was working as part of a New York City Transit Authority crew replacing subway tracks in Brooklyn. A walkway suddenly collapsed and he fell 30 feet to the street below, causing him to sustain numerous life-altering injuries.

 

Nunez, 48 years old at the time of the accident, sued

On November 29, 2004 at about 3:15 p.m., Rashawana Belt was on the sidewalk that abutted the eastbound side of 110th Avenue, near its intersection at Merrick Boulevard, in the Jamaica section of Queens. In a split second, her life would change unalterably when a drunk driver mounted the sidewalk, struck Rashawana and drove her

Theresa Capwell was 33 years old and in good health when she started experiencing abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with pancreatitis (an inflammation of the pancreas) and admitted to Westchester Medical Center on September 18, 2000.

Within five days of her hospital admission, Theresa suffered acute respiratory distress and she was placed on a ventilator.

On September 27, 2003, Claude Williams, a 66 year old retiree, stepped off the curb on Madison Avenue near its intersection with 125th Street in Manhattan and was struck by a New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) bus. His injuries, described below, were severe.

In the lawsuit that followed, Williams v. Hooper (Supreme Court, New

He was known as the "Dentist to the Stars" but at about 9 p.m. on August 8, 2002 then 50 year old Larry Ashkinazy’s moped accident changed his whole life. He landed head first on the street, lost consciousness and was rushed by ambulance and admitted to a local hospital.

Driving a moped like this

On October 10, 2003, Mary Swanson, then 41 years old, delivered her fourth child, Michael, at a hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. During delivery, shoulder dystocia was encountered (a condition at delivery in which the baby’s shoulder gets hung up on the mother’s pubic bone after delivery of the baby’s head).

Here is what

On February 5, 2002, Diane Garrison, a 44 year old housewife, was involved in a high speed motor vehicle accident in Ulster County, New York. The other driver admitted his liability for the crash in which Ms. Garrison’s head struck the window of her car’s door.

Only a huge impact can smash a car window:

Destiny Avila was born at Harlem Hospital on January 5, 2001. It was a difficult delivery – Destiny was 10 pounds and her clavicle had to be forcibly fractured to get her out. Then, she was intubated and sent to the neonatal ICU for two days. Apparently all was well and baby and mother