Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers HomeCase Results
A $250,000.00 settlement at trial for cyclist Halabi, who was thrown off of his bicycle when it became mired in a pile of loam that had been left in the travel lane of Trapelo Road in Belmont, Massachusetts. There were no warning signs or traffic cones to warn him of the hazard and the loam was the same color as the road. The cyclist suffered a severe injury to his leg that required multiple surgeries.
The defendant was the construction contractor putting in new gas lines in the road and nearby houses. We established violations of the defendant 's contract, as the defendant was obligated to put barriers between oncoming traffic and material left in the roadway. At deposition, employees of the defendant told conflicting stories of warning signs and traffic cones being in place, all inconsistent with the testimony of the police officer at the scene the morning of the crash, who described the absence of adequate markings and signage.
Sims v. [Name of Cab Company withheld], et al.
We recovered $150,000.00 on behalf of cyclist Kirsten Sims. Ms. Sims was cycling home from work on Commonwealth Ave., before the new bikelanes were installed. The defendant passenger got out while the cab was stopped at a red light, catching Ms. Sims by surprise and pinning her between the cab door and a parked car. The $150,000.00 settlement was split between the cab company and the passenger’s insurance. Of note was the actions beyond the call of normal legal advocacy of Attorney Fischer, who happened to be cycling home from the office behind Ms. Sims, saw the accident, stopped to help and prevented a hostile cabdriver from leaving the scene of the accident.
We recovered $767,500 for our bicyclist client, who was hit by an elderly driver making a right turn into Ms. Ocana’s path. Ms. Ocana underwent multiple surgeries for torn shoulder muscles. She also suffered from a head injury, from the force with which she hit the ground.
We brought a civil rights suit in Federal District Court in Springfield on behalf of safe cycling instructor and bicycling advocate Eli Damon. Mr. Damon had suffered repeated stops and harassment by Hadley, Massachusetts Police for insisting on his right to the full lane of travel on the four lane state highway, Route 9, as it passes through Hadley. He started wearing a video camera to document the harassment. When this led to Mr. Damon’s arrest and criminal prosecution for allegedly violating the state wiretap statute by videotaping the Hadley police, enough was enough and Atty. Fischer brought suit. After a lengthy landmark opinion that assumes a bicyclist’s equal right to the road, the case was settled with the Town of Hadley accepting the bicyclist’s right to be in the lane of travel and paying a substantive sum for attorneys fees. The Federal Court opinion is available here.
We brought and settled this civil rights suit against a state trooper who got angry at cyclist Kopacz for being in the right lane of McGrath Highway in front of the Museum of Science. While the monetary amount of the settlement was nominal, the defendant Massachusetts State Police agreed, as part of the settlement, to adopt and implement a course for state police officers on bicyclists’ rights and bicycle law.
Settlement of $200,00.00 for a cyclist who suffered severe back injuries when his bicycle was caught by a hidden construction hole covered by leaves. The settlement was apportioned between the contractor and subcontractor who each failed to put any hazard sign, cones or other warnings. Settlement was reached easily because we obtained photos of the hidden hazard immediately after the crash, before the defendants swept the leaves and painted orange spray paint around the hole. We was also able to identify portions of the contract with the DCR that required safety precautions the defendants failed to make.
We mediated a settlement for $502,000, for a bicyclist who was hit by a motorist, knocked off balance and veered off the road and into a tree. The motorist claimed she never touched the cyclist but that he lost control and veered into the tree on his own.
