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The following is a list of our most recent events. Click on the links for more information or contact us at events@raynesmccarty.com
01/28/2009
Jim Mundy and Gerald McHugh Make "Report 100" List for Third Year in a Row
The Pennsylvania Report, a premier news source on Pennsylvania politics, for the third year in a row listed Jim Mundy and Gerald McHugh among the Top 100 Most Influential People in State Public Affairs....Details >>
12/01/2008
Pennsylvania Superior Court Rules in Favor of Raynes McCarty Client
Mother, who during her pregnancy, was misled by doctors as to the health of her baby, may hold the doctors responsible for the distress caused her by not being emotionally prepared for a child with severe disabilities....Details >>
11/12/2008
Martin Brigham selected as one of the World’s Leading Product Liability Lawyers.
Marty was nominated by a survey of other prominent attorneys to appear in the 2009 Guide to the World’s Leading Product Liability Lawyers....Details >>
10/29/2008
Raynes McCarty paralegal Donna M. Colarulo, R.P. serving on the Board of Advisors for Widener University’s paralegal training program.
As a member of the Board of Advisors Legal Education Program, Ms. Colarulo participates in panel discussions regarding decisions affecting the curriculum for Widener University’s paralegal training programs....Details >>
10/20/2008
Five Raynes McCarty lawyers recognized by Best Lawyers in America
Best Lawyers in America selected Marty Brigham, Roy DeCaro, Harold Goodman, Jerry McHugh and Stephen Raynes for inclusion in its 2009 edition....Details >>
10/20/2008
Jerry McHugh featured speaker at Pennsylvania Association for Justice Masters Series
Raynes McCarty lawyer Gerald A. McHugh, Jr. was the featured speaker at a PaAJ Masters Series continuing legal education program titled Perspectives on the Critical Components of a Trial....Details >>
10/20/2008
Tim Lawn featured speaker at Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association’s Luncheon Lecture Series
Raynes McCarty lawyer Timothy Lawn will speak at the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association’s November 3, 2008 continuing legal education program titled Proving Difficult Medical Malpractice Issues. ...Details >>
09/01/2008
Philadelphia jury awards Raynes McCarty client $950,000.00 for eye injuries caused by defective plastic flying disc.
After a two-day trial, a jury awarded the Raynes McCarty client $950,000.00 for a laceration to his eye caused by a shard of plastic that splintered from a broken flying disc....Details >>
09/01/2008
Philadelphia jury awards Raynes McCarty client $950,000.00 for eye injuries caused by defective plastic flying disc.
After a two-day trial, a jury awarded the Raynes McCarty client $950,000.00 for a laceration to his eye caused by a shard of plastic that splintered from a broken flying disc....Details >>
04/16/2008
Gerald McHugh and wife Maureen Tate were honored by Friends for Effective Education (FFEE) at the Tribute Medallion Award Dinner on April 16, 2008
The Award recognizes McHugh and Tate’s lifelong dedication to community service, while at the same time raising funds for the St. Francis de Sales Elementary School, in keeping with FFEE’s purpose of providing monetary support to schools that exhibit educational leadership....Details >>
03/31/2008
Regina M. Foley appointed to Philadelphia Bar Association Board of Governors.
Regina M. Foley was appointed to serve a one year term on the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association by Chancellor Michael A. Pratt....Details >>
03/21/2008
Regina M. Foley spoke April 9, 2008 at Continuing Legal Education seminar.
Ms. Foley updated plaintiffs’ and defense attorneys alike on recent developments in products liability law at The Dispute Resolution Institute’s Personal Injury Potpourri....Details >>
03/20/2008
Jenimae Almquist named co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Advancing Civics Education (A.C.E.) program.
Raynes McCarty’s Jenimae Almquist and co-chair Barbara Potts, are leading members of the Bar Association in a program to provide supplemental civics education to Philadelphia area public school students starting in the Fall of 2008.
...Details >>
02/08/2008
Jim Mundy and Gerald McHugh Make Pennsylvania Report 100
The Pennsylvania Report, a premier news source on Pennsylvania politics, for the second year in a row listed Jim Mundy and Gerald McHugh among the Top 100 Most Influential People in State Public Affairs....Details >>
01/29/2008
Jenimae Almquist serves on Philadelphia Bar Association panel on work-family balance.
Raynes McCarty attorney Jenimae Almquist spoke at the program titled “How to Have It All - The Career and the Family,” organized by the bar association’s Women in the Profession Committee.
...Details >>
01/24/2008
Roy DeCaro Speaks at Philadelphia Trial Lawyers
On January 24, 2008, Roy DeCaro spoke to fellow trial attorneys about the steps he took to help secure the $5,000,000.00 verdict his client received in a recent product liability trial. ...Details >>
11/28/2007
Jury Awards $2.9 Mil. for Death Stemming from Blood Clot
A Philadelphia jury awarded $2.9 million to the wife of a bariatric surgery patient who died from a blood clot that traveled to his lungs after his post-surgical leg blood clots allegedly went untreated for 10 days. The verdict was in the Legal Intelligencer’s list of the Top 50 Verdicts and Settlements of 2007....Details >>
11/06/2007
$5 Million Verdict Upheld in Phila. Infant Tylenol Case
A Philadelphia judge has upheld a $5 million verdict rendered over a 1-year-old’s death allegedly due to liver failure from an overdose of Infants’ Tylenol....Details >>
09/12/2007
Raynes McCarty Distinguished Lecture in Health Law scheduled for October 9, 2007
Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, visiting professor of Law at the University of Chicago, will be the featured speaker at the Raynes McCarty Distinguished Lecture in Health Law which is jointly sponsored with Widener University School of Law.
...Details >>
09/10/2007
Best Lawyers ranks Raynes McCarty #1 In Philadelphia Personal Injury Litigation Firms
Best Lawyers in America is the oldest and most widely respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. It has announced its results for 2008, ranking Raynes McCarty as the Number 0ne personal injury litigation firm in Philadelphia, PA. Recognized for individual inclusion in Best Lawyers were: Marty Brigham, Roy DeCaro, Harold Goodman, Jerry McHugh and Stephen Raynes....Details >>
09/09/2007
Marty Brigham presenting at Visual Legal Advocacy Roundtable at Penn Law on October 19, 2007
Marty Brigham will be a featured speaker at the "Visual Legal Advocacy Roundtable" being held at Penn Law School. Marty will discuss his pioneering work on videotape settlement presentations....Details >>
05/04/2007
Federal Judge Lauds Firm’s Donation to Support Center for Child Advocates
Describing it as “an example of our Bar at its best”, United States District Court Judge, Stewart Dalzell commends Raynes McCarty’s $10,000.00 donation to the Support Center for Child Advocates....Details >>
05/01/2007
Marty Brigham honored in world-wide survey
The Legal Media Group ("LMG"), based in London, England, has just announced the selection of Raynes McCarty's Marty Brigham for inclusion in its "2007 Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers." ...Details >>
03/15/2007
3rd Circuit Affirms $7.4 Mil. Verdict in Suit Against VA
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a $7.4 million verdict obtained by Raynes McCarty's Jerry McHugh and Regina Foley against the Department of Veterans Affairs stemming from its decision to expel a Delaware County man who suffered from “rage disorder” and just one day later murdered two of his children and two of their friends.
...Details >>
02/16/2007
Top 100 Most Influential People in State Public Affairs
Two Raynes McCarty Attorneys Identified as Top 100 Most Influential People in State Public Affairs...Details >>
02/07/2007
$1,750,000.00 Civil Rights Settlement for Widow of Undercover Officer Killed by Fellow Policeman
On February 2, 2007, Judge Stewart Dalzell approved a settlement by the City of Reading in a civil rights law suit filed by Gerald McHugh on behalf of the widow of a Reading police officer. The undercover officer - Michael H. Wise, II - died on June 4, 2004, when he was struck by a bullet fired by a fellow member of the Reading police force. ...Details >>
01/08/2007
Roy DeCaro and Stephen Raynes selected to be among 500 Best Plaintiff Lawyers
Roy DeCaro and Stephen Raynes were named as being among the 500 Best Plaintiff Lawyers in the United States by the Publication "Lawdragon."...Details >>
12/01/2006
$5 million verdict for child who died from liver damage caused by Tylenol
Roy DeCaro was the lead trial attorney for the family of a one year old child who died from liver failure caused by Tylenol. Mr. DeCaro convinced the jury that the drug company provided misleading and inadequate warnings about the concentration and toxicity of Infants’ Tylenol. The jury awarded the family $5,000,000.00 for the loss of their child. Recently, the trial court rejected the drug company’s request to overturn the verdict. ...Details >>
10/17/2006
Martin Brigham Honored
Martin Brigham received a lifetime achievement award from the Philadelphia area Occupational Safety and Health Project...Details >>
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ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL
Parties Settle School Bus Strangulation Case
Disabled Quakertown Girl’s Death Led Districts to Change Policies
August 19, 2003
By Elliot Grossman
Of The Morning Call
Abstract (Document Summary)
[James Giles] faulted the school district, intermediate unit and bus company for not properly training the driver. The bus driver had done several things wrong in the way he put the harness on the girl, including putting it on backward with the zipper against her throat.
In court papers, the intermediate unit tried to put the blame entirely on the bus company. But Giles blamed the intermediate unit as well because it should have known that the bus company was not qualified to use the harness. A reasonable jury could conclude that it was obvious-- the bus company needed special training, he wrote.
According to [Lawyer Peggy Burns], a key point of the case is that when school districts delegate responsibilities to contractors, the districts retain significant legal responsibility, she said. They need to provide effective training to all individuals involved in special education programs, including bus contractors, bus drivers and bus aides, she said.
Full Text
Copyright Morning Call Aug 19, 2003
A Quakertown family has agreed to a $3.6 million lawsuit settlement after their daughter died from injuries sustained on a school bus, ending a case that has caused schools across the nation to review the way they transport students.
Cynthia Susavage, who had a rare disease that caused her to be frail and uncoordinated, died in 1999 after she choked on a harness meant to keep her sitting upright.
Lawyer Peggy Burns, a school transportation expert based in Colorado, cites the case at national and regional seminars for educators. When she does, she often hears gasps from the audience and sees tears in people’s eyes.
Cynthia’s disability hampered her ability to communicate, preventing her from alerting the driver that she couldn’t breathe. “Nobody could notice that Cynthia was strangling,” Burns said, “That’s what is so hideous about this case. No one could save her.”
In the deal disclosed last week, the Susavage family agreed to a $3.15 million settlement with the Levy School Bus Co., the Trumbauersville company that was transporting the girl. The Quakertown Community School District and the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, which work together to educate students with special needs, agreed to pay a combined $475,000.
Before the settlement, U.S. District Judge James Giles had ruled that if the case went to trial, a jury could find that the school districts and bus company were “deliberately indifferent” to the girl.
Giles faulted the school district, intermediate unit and bus company for not properly training the driver. The bus driver had done several things wrong in the way he put the harness on the girl, including putting it on backward with the zipper against her throat.
His ruling has heightened the awareness of bus companies and school districts about the level of care they must maintain in transporting students.
The girl’s death also has prompted a Pennsylvania state senator to fight for a law requiring better supervision on school buses for children with disabilities.
Cynthia Susavage was born in 1993 with Batten syndrome, a fatal neurologic condition marked by mental impairment and a loss of vision and coordination. Her condition continued to worsen as she grew older.
As she prepared to attend a preschool program, her parents, Scott and Stephanie Susavage, the school district and intermediate unit discussed how to transport her.
Some school officials concluded that she needed a one-on-one assistant on the bus or a special car seat. A wheelchair also was considered.
So Quakertown decided on a harness, which was provided by the intermediate unit.
On Dec. 11, 1998, the first day the harness was used, the driver attached it to the girl and drove away. It was a four-point harness which, unlike a five-point harness, lacks a strap restraint that goes between the legs to prevent someone from sliding downward.
She traveled to school unsupervised for 20 minutes. During that time, she was strangled by the harness and later found unconscious.
She died nine months later after being in a coma part of that time.
Giles, the chief federal judge for eastern Pennsylvania, concluded that the likelihood of injuries to the girl was “foreseeable.” The intermediate unit had “specific knowledge” of the potential danger, he wrote in a January 2002 decision.
He blamed the intermediate unit for not testing the harness before it was used and not providing an assistant to ride with the girl until a long-term solution was found.
In court papers, the intermediate unit tried to put the blame entirely on the bus company. ButGilesblamedtheintermediateunit as well because t should have known that the bus company was not qualified to use the harness. A reasonable jury could conclude that it was “obvious” the bus company needed special training, he wrote.
New Hampshire lawyer Dean Eggert called the ruling a ‘benchmark.” School transportation managers have been looking at Giles’ ruling, deciding whether their policies and practices are up to its standards, Eggert said.
Attorney Burns talks about the case at seminars not only because of the strong ruling but also because she knows people will remember it. It’s one of the most shocking school transportation cases she’s seen.
The school officials had enough time to make the right decision, she said. “This was preventable -- that’s the point.”
In March, at a national conference on transporting students with disabilities, Burns was the moderator of a session called “Lessons from the Susavage Fatality.”
According to Burns, a key point of the case is that when school districts delegate responsibilities to contractors, the districts retain significant legal responsibility, she said. They need to provide effective training to all individuals involved in special education programs, including bus contractors, bus drivers and bus aides, she said.
She emphasized that what she knows about the case came from Giles’ ruling. And because the case didn’t go to trial, Giles had to rely on pretrial depositions to make his decision. As required by law, he said he viewed the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs.
James Newcomer, an assistant superintendent for the Quakertown Community School District, said Cynthia’s death prompted the intermediate unit and school district to do more training for personnel involved in transporting students.
“Schools are facing the challenge of transporting an increasing number of students with fragile health or complicated disabilities and, of course, we need to do it safely,” he said.
Pauline Gervais, director of transportation for a large suburban Denver school district, said the case has had a similar impact in her district.
Listening to drivers was one lesson, she said. “If they have a concern, we need to investigate it immediately and not wait.”
Another lesson is making sure drivers working for the district’s private contractors have the same training as drivers employed by district, she said. That’s going beyond what Colorado law requires.
“I just hope we would all learn from that case,” she said, “to do everything in our power to not let it happen again.”
Since Cynthia’s death, state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R- Montgomery, has twice introduced a bill to make trips to school safer for children with disabilities.
The bill, which is pending in the Senate Education Committee, would require that aides be on school buses to monitor children with disabilities. It also would require the aides and drivers be trained in using seating devices. Some school buses in Pennsylvania already have aides on them but on a voluntary basis.
Greenleaf said it’ll take some work to educate fellow legislators about the need for the law. “We’re going to demonstrate that the money is worth it because lives are at stake,” he said. He did not have an estimate of how much it would cost districts.
The settlement will be paid for only partly with local tax money.
The insurance company for the Quakertown district agreed to pay $225,000, with an additional $25,000 -- the deductible --coming from the district. The intermediate unit’s insurance company agreed to pay $200,000, with the intermediate unit also paying a $25,000 deductible.
The defendants denied any wrongdoing in the settlement.
The parties finalized the settlement in December 2002. But the full details were not released until last week after The Morning Call filed a formal request, citing the Pennsylvania Open Records Law.
The parties had agreed in writing to keep the settlement secret. In addition, Giles sealed court records containing the settlement details.
The Susavage family could not be reached for comment. Representatives of the Levy School Bus Co. declined to comment. And lawyer Charles Sweet, representing the school district and intermediate unit, said he advised his clients to not comment about the settlement -- even after the settlement disclosures -- because of the privacy provisions.
grossman@mcall.com
610-820-6168
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
People: Susavage, Cynthia, Burns, Lawyer Peggy, Giles, James
Document types: LOCAL
Section: NATIONAL
Text Word Count 1285
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