Legal Victories
Recent Verdicts & Settlements
April 2017
Attorney McManus negotiated a $235,000 settlement on behalf of the family of a man who had committed suicide one day after he was evaluated for a mental health crisis at an emergency room. Attorney McManus argued that the man’s behavior and state of mind should have led the crisis evaluator to recommend an involuntary admission.
January 2017
Attorney McManus recovered $214,000 at arbitration for a woman who was injured when she was struck by the rearview mirror of a pickup truck during trick-or-treating hours on Halloween. The Defendant and his insurance company argued that the injured woman was at fault because she was wearing dark clothing and standing on the edge of the roadway.
July, 2016
Attorney McManus obtained a one million dollar settlement on behalf of a man who was suffered a serious foot injury when a driver fell asleep at the wheel and struck his vehicle head on. This settlement reflected the full amount of the Driver’s insurance coverage and the balance of the client’s Umbrella Insurance Policy. The client’s insurance company initially attempted to deny coverage because the client had not specifically selected that his umbrella policy would apply to underinsured motorist cases. Attorney McManus was able to convince the company to change their position and offer the full amount of coverage under the umbrella policy.
April, 2016
Attorney McManus obtained a jury verdict of nearly 7.8 million dollars for the estate of one of two men ejected from a van during a single vehicle rollover collision and killed. The estates of both men sued each other claiming that the other man was the driver. Attorney McManus’ client was listed as the driver of the van on the official police report because of a statement to the investigating officer by the men’s employer. The two lawsuits were consolidated, and a lengthy trial was conducted on the issue of the identity of the driver. At trial Attorney McManus was able to discredit the statement by the employer as well as multiple expert witnesses who testified that Attorney McManus’ client was likely the driver based on a model designed to calculate the trajectories of people ejected during rollovers. Attorney McManus hired the expert who designed the ejection model. He testified that the adverse experts had made fundamental mistakes in applying his model and that a correct application of his model was inconclusive as to the identity of the driver. Trial attorney McManus then convinced the jury that the facts and witness testimony demonstrated that his client was the passenger. The responsible insurance company refused to offer any money to settle the case before the verdict.
After the verdict, the insurance company refused to offer more than 1.5 million dollars to settle the case, so a second trial on the issue of damages was conducted. The second jury returned a verdict of nearly 7.8 million dollars after trial.
January, 2016
Attorney McManus obtained a substantial confidential settlement for the estate of a 60-year-old woman who died as a result of multiple drug toxicity. Experts on both sides agreed that the main drug that contributed to the woman’s death was a narcotic cough medication. The toxicology report indicated that the woman had taken far more of the cough medicine than had been prescribed. Attorney McManus sued the doctor who prescribed the narcotic cough medicine to the woman after a reported adverse reaction. The defense lawyer argued that the woman had a long standing history of COPD and that the narcotic cough medicine was necessary to control her cough. The defense argued that the reported reaction was sleepiness, which is a common side-effect of the medication. Attorney McManus was able to overcome these arguments and demonstrate that it was dangerous to have prescribed the narcotic cough medication to the woman after a reported adverse reaction and in the absence of any active complaints of cough. The confidential settlement prohibits the disclosure of the settlement amount.
February, 2015
$300,000 was awarded to the estate of a 22-year-old man who drowned after he jumped off of a party boat at night while intoxicated. Attorney McManus sued the man who encouraged the decedent to jump off the boat despite knowing that he could not swim and promised to rescue him. The defendant denied that he encouraged the decedent to jump off the boat and denied that he promised to rescue him. The defense lawyers argued that the man’s death was the result of his own recklessness in deciding to jump into the water, while intoxicated, when he could not swim. The defense lawyers argued that the defendant had no legal duty to rescue the man. Trial attorney McManus was able to overcome these arguments and attain a substantial recovery for the man’s estate.
September, 2013
Over 2.5 million dollars was awarded to the estate of a 74-year-old woman who died unexpectedly while a patient in an emergency room. The woman had a long history of internal bleeding and presented to the emergency room because of internal bleeding, shortness of breath and abdominal pain. Three and a half hour later, she arrested. Resuscitation was unsuccessful, and the woman died. Attorney McManus sued the emergency medicine physician in charge of the woman’s care and the hospital because the doctor and nurses failed to ask the woman the appropriate questions about her internal bleeding and failed to administer IV fluids. As a result, she became unstable and went into cardiac arrest. When the woman arrested, the doctor and nurses did not respond until the woman’s husband repeatedly requested that they help his wife. The defendants failed to offer a single penny to settle the lawsuit, and chose to take the case to trial. At trial the defendants argued that it was reasonable not to give the woman IV fluids because there were no signs that she was significantly dehydrated. They also argued that the woman’s death had nothing to do with blood loss or dehydration. The defendants each called multiple expert witnesses in support of their defense. The trial lasted nine days. At trial Attorney McManus was able to persuade the jury that both the doctor and the hospital were negligent and that their negligence caused the woman’s death. He was also able to persuade the jury to award 2.5 million dollars in damages for the loss of life despite the fact that the woman only had a remaining life expectancy of 13 years.
October, 2012
Over 1.1 million dollars was awarded to a paramedic who injured his shoulder when his ambulance was struck by an uninsured driver. The defendant was the paramedic’s own insurance company. Under the insurance contact, the defendant was required to pay their customer for all of his harms and losses that were caused by the negligence of an uninsured driver. The insurance company refused to offer any money to settle the case and claimed that the accident was the ambulance driver’s own fault because he went through a red light at a blind intersection. Attorney McManus was able to persuade the jury that the crash was caused by the negligence of the uninsured driver because he should have heard the ambulance siren and pulled over to the side of the road. Instead the uninsured driver sped into the intersection. Trial attorney McManus was further able to persuade the jury to award the paramedic over a million dollars in compensation for lost earning capacity because the shoulder injury disqualified the man from continued employment as a firefighter.
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January, 2012
1.7 million dollars was awarded to the passenger of a motorcycle operator involved in a motor vehicle vs motorcycle accident. The client sustained serious personal injuries as a result of the crash including a shattered pelvis and damaged urethra. Thankfully, the client made a miraculous recovery and was able to return to work as a mail handler just months after the collision. Attorney McManus successfully argued that the residual effects of his client’s injuries had effectively destroyed her earning capacity.
August, 2011
$750,000 was awarded to the estate of an iron-worker who sustained fatal injuries after falling over twenty feet from open iron. Trial attorney McManus successfully argued that the general contractor on the site was responsible for ensuring that the subcontractors were utilizing proper safety procedures, including fall protection.
July, 2011
$250,000 was awarded to a dentist who suffered a neck injury in a motor vehicle collision. Attorney McManus successfully argued that the neck injury prevented the dentist from realizing the full extent of her earning capacity.