When an accident results in the death of a loved one, surviving family members need emotional support and guidance through a maze of uniquely complex legal issues. Proving who is responsible for the accident is only the first challenge. Other obstacles include the intricate rules about what damages the family and estate may seek, where the suit should be filed, how income and estate taxes may apply, and a host of other special legal hurdles.
At Raynes McCarty we are fortunate that one of our attorneys literally wrote the Pennsylvania law that preserves the rights of surviving families to pursue a legal claim.
We have represented the surviving families and estates of those killed by others, including:
- "Largest Wrongful Death Recovery Ever From a Private Person" Nancy Schultz turned to her family lawyer for guidance after her husband, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz, was murdered by John du Pont. Her lawyer knew that she needed strong representation in the claim against the resources of a wealthy man, and chose a team led by Arthur Raynes and Gerald McHugh, along with Mr. McHugh's former colleague and mentor, S. Gerald Litvin. The case was reported in the press to have resolved for $35,000,000, and was described as the largest wrongful death recovery from a private person in United States history. The team of Arthur Raynes and Jerry McHugh is now in place at Raynes McCarty. Click here to read more about the case.
- "Largest Pre-Trial Recovery in Delaware History" Auto racing fans were directed by the race track owner to set up their RV's directly under an unlit, unmarked, uninsulated 69,000 volt high power line. Following the track's suggestion to fly the flag of their favorite race team, a family put up a tall flagpole. When the wind shifted, the pole contacted the power line, causing an electrical arc that killed two and catastrophically injured three others. Martin K. Brigham was lead trial counsel for all of the families in the case that was described by defense counsel as the largest pre-trial personal injury recovery in the state's history.
- Confidential Civil Rights Recovery by Parents for Death of Their Disabled Child. While being bussed to her special education school, a disabled five-year-old girl was strangled by a safety harness that the staff had put on her backwards. We advised the family that, in state court, the recovery for the death of a child was limited and some of the defendants were immune from being sued. So, we filed a civil rights action in federal court in addition to the state court proceeding. The federal court recognized the parents' constitutional right to seek damages for the loss of the companionship of their child, which would not have been allowed in state court. Arthur Raynes, Stephen Raynes, Mike McGuckin and Lois De Antonio secured a precedent setting settlement. This case received national attention in the student transportation industry, prompting greater concerns for student safety. Members of the Raynes McCarty team have been repeatedly called upon to speak about this important issue at national conferences. Click here to read more about the case.
- $8,125,000 Recovery for Estate of Anchorwoman Jessica Savitch When anchorwoman Jessica Savitch drowned in the Delaware River canal, the family turned to Arthur Raynes. One of the offensive positions taken by the responsible parties was that Ms. Savitch's future earnings were limited because Ms. Savitch was a woman who would lose her position as an anchor as she aged and lost her youthful looks. With supporting testimony from her peers in the news industry, Raynes McCarty was able to demonstrate that Ms. Savitch earned her anchor role because of her skill. When the case resolved, Arthur Raynes and the family established scholarship funds for women in journalism at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Ithaca College, Ms. Savitch's alma mater. Click here to read the ABA Journal article.
- Confidential Multimillion Dollar Recovery for Kenyan Air Crash Four Pennsylvanians were on a trip to Kenya, Africa, when the aircraft they were traveling in failed to climb over a mountain range and crashed, killing all on board. To secure a needed financial recovery for the families, jurisdiction over the foreign travel companies needed to be established in the United States. When American law did not appear to provide a remedy for the families, the applicable Kenyan law was researched in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Once U.S. jurisdiction was established, Gerald A. McHugh, Jr. set about proving the clients' case in a Philadelphia courtroom under the principles of Kenyan law. A confidential multi-million dollar settlement was then reached.
- $7,400,000.00 to Mothers of Murdered Children A troubled veteran was thrown out of a VA Medical Center, where he had been receiving counseling, support and a job. Feeling that he had lost everything, the veteran went to the home of his estranged wife and murdered his two children and two of their friends before killing himself. The family turned to Jerry McHugh and Regina Foley, who learned that the VA had been warned by its own staff that the patient's expulsion could provoke an act of domestic violence. The VA refused to acknowledge its culpability, forcing trial before a federal judge who found the VA guilty of gross negligence and awarded damages in excess of $7,400,000.00.
- $7,000,000.00 Recovery for Death Caused by Hospital's Failure to Prevent Blood Clots Rushing to help respond to an emergency, a young man received minor injuries in a car accident, for which he was briefly hospitalized. Unfortunately, because he was bedridden, blood clots formed in his legs which went unrecognized by hospital staff. Shortly after the hospital discharged him, he died when the clots moved into his lungs. Tim Lawn and Jerry McHugh achieved this confidential $7,000,000.00 settlement for his family, which included an agreement to change the way in which the hospital trained its new residents.
- $7,000,000 wrongful death recovery for loss of guidance, tutelage, and companionship A young mother died of a treatable heart condition because her doctors did not tell her or her family about the condition. Because the mother did not work outside of the home, a claim for economic damages was not made. Instead, the Raynes McCarty trial team of Arthur Raynes, Jim Mundy and Mike McGuckin focused on the family's loss of her guidance and companionship. We were able to achieve a $7 million settlement for the family during the third week of trial.
- $6,000,000 for Young Father Killed in Fiery Crash. Roy DeCaro led the Raynes McCarty team called upon to represent in federal court the family of a young husband and father who was burned to death when his car was struck by a tractor trailer in Delaware County.
- Confidential Settlement for Families of Helicopter Pilots Killed in Midair Collision with Sen. Heinz's Plane Jim Mundy, Roy DeCaro and Nathan Ploener represented the families of the two helicopter pilots killed when the plane ferrying Sen. John Heinz banked into and struck the helicopter. The helicopter pilots were trying to assist the plane's pilot in determining whether its landing gear had deployed. Aided by expert analysis and reconstruction, the Raynes McCarty team secured a confidential recovery approved by the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
- $5,700,000 Verdict in Fatal Car Crash Florence was killed in a car crash when a van driven by a Choice Courier employee skidded into her. Roy DeCaro convinced a federal court jury to award $1.8 million in compensatory damages for this homemaker, even though she had never worked outside of her home. The jury also awarded $3.7 million in punitive damages because the company's vans had bald tires, which it had neither inspected not corrected. Click here to read more about the case.
- $5,000,000.00 Settlement for Death of Teenager Unlawfully Served Alcohol An 18-year-old attended a sporting event, where he was illegally served multiple beers by vendors who did not check his identification and who failed to follow the arena's limits on the volume of alcohol that could be sold to a patron. As he drove home, the young man could not navigate a turn and was killed in a one-car crash. The team of Jerry McHugh, Steve Raynes, and Tina McLaughlin successfully refuted a defense that the young man was to blame for his own death and established that the responsibility rested with the vendor. A videotape settlement brochure – assembled by Marty Brigham – allowed the family to express their painful loss without the need for their formal testimony. The Raynes McCarty team secured for the family a $5 million dollar pre-trial settlement from the vendors' parent company.
- $4,500,000 Settlement for Death Due to Medical Errors When a mother of two went to the emergency room on a Friday evening with symptoms of upper respiratory infection, her chest x-ray was read as negative by a moonlighting doctor. When told that no treatment could be provided to her over the weekend and that her x-ray was negative, the mother went home to help care for her two small children. To do so, she signed a "discharged against doctor's order" note. On Saturday, the hospital radiologist saw that the x-ray was positive for pneumonia, but no one contacted the woman. Feeling worse, she returned on Monday with full-blown pneumonia. When a breathing tube was inserted, it pierced her esophagus, causing oxygen deprivation and brain damage. She went into a coma and died. Raynes McCarty secured a $4.5 million settlement for the family.
- $4,250,000 for Death of a New Mother A single mother who was expecting twins went into labor at a major teaching hospital, where errors in anesthesia caused anoxic brain injury, leading to her death. At the time, the victim was unemployed and receiving public assistance. One of our attorneys argued that the children's loss of their mother, particularly at the inception of life, had a substantial value. Despite the lack of an earnings history—an important item of damage in a wrongful death case—he succeeded in achieving a settlement of $4.25 million to provide for the children's future.
- $2,950,000 Verdict for Death of Eight-Year-Old In what was described as the largest award in Maryland history for the death of a child, Roy DeCaro persuaded a federal jury in Baltimore, Maryland, to award a total of $2.95 million to the family of an eight-year-old child. He had died as the result of medical negligence; the doctors treating him failed to adequately treat complications of the young boy's "Dandy Walker Syndrome." The jury awarded $500,000 for four hours of suffering that the child endured. The father was awarded $1.15 million and the mother $1.3 million for their suffering and grief.