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Crime Victim Verdicts and Settlements in Philadelphia

At Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., we champion the legal needs of individuals and families who are victims of crime and negligence and who have been physically, emotionally, and financially injured. We understand the trauma and devastation that you may have experienced, and we are dedicated to making sure that you are properly compensated for your pain and suffering. Because of the nature of the cases we handle, many settlements on behalf of our clients are confidential. Please view the cases below for some samples of our past successes.*

Crime Victim Case Results

  • Confidential settlement for multiple victims with Penn State University for sexual abuse by former coach Jerry Sandusky.
  • $3 million awarded to estate of a shooting victim in Philadelphia, PA.
  • $2.5 million awarded to the estate of a victim killed by a drunk driver in Camden County, New Jersey. The award was made against the bar which served the driver.
  • $1.6 million awarded to estate of a shooting victim in New Jersey for negligent supervision and negligent storage of a gun.
  • $1.3 million settlement for victims of sexual abuse in lawsuit brought in Lehigh County against the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) where an SCA youth leader sexually assaulted children involved in SCA activities.
  • Confidential settlement in favor of estate of a person killed by a drunk driver.
  • $600,000 settlement against automobile insurance companies for uninsured motorist coverage for estate of a woman killed due to a carjacking.
  • Confidential settlement in favor of a crime victim’s estate in Philadelphia, PA, against person who assaulted and killed him with a punch. The settlement was achieved even though the person who assaulted him was insured under a homeowner’s insurance policy which excluded coverage for intentional acts.
  • Confidential settlement to a boy who was sexually assaulted in a Pennsylvania hospital.
  • Confidential settlement with late night take out restaurant for shooting in Passaic County, NJ, where it was alleged the restaurant was negligent by failing to use surveillance cameras.
  • Confidential settlement with nightclub for two victims of assault, which occurred on the street outside the nightclub.
  • Confidential settlement for teenaged victim of sexual assault who was assaulted at an unsupervised house party.
  • Confidential settlement with national clothing retail store for false imprisonment of husband and wife who were wrongfully accused of shoplifting.
  • $450,000 awarded to a Reading man involved in a motor vehicle accident with a drunk driver causing multiple fractures and subsequent period of disability.
  • $250,000 settlement with the owner/operator of a boarding home/apartment building for an unemployed woman who was stabbed by a co-tenant of the home who had previously been convicted for aggravated assault.
  • Confidential settlement for victim of assault with a baseball bat in case brought against property management company/landlord in Philadelphia County.
  • Confidential settlement for two female crime victims after they were assaulted and falsely imprisoned by a convenience store owner and employee.
  • $144,000 settlement with nightclub in Lehigh County, PA, for shooting in the nightclub parking lot.
  • $100,000 verdict for woman stabbed with a bottle in a nightclub.
  • Confidential settlement with the alleged abuser on behalf of a female victim of sexual assault/incest where no criminal charges were brought against the alleged abuser.

Other Notable Results

  • $101 million settlement for construction collapse. Soloff & Zervanos was co-lead counsel on the Tropicana garage collapse litigation team, which obtained the largest construction settlement in U.S. history, totaling $101 million. Five workers were killed and more than 30 were catastrophically injured when five stories of the Tropicana Casino and Hotel’s garage, which was under construction, collapsed on October 30, 2003.
  • Multiple million dollar recovery for a construction worker who was injured by a falling object from a scaffold on a multi-tiered construction site in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
  • $8 million dollar wrongful death settlement to the estate of a five-month-old child who suffered severe brain damage while being administered anesthesia during surgery. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., was instrumental in helping to obtain this multimillion dollar settlement against a major hospital in central Pennsylvania.
  • $4.5 million to a Lancaster teenager who sustained multiple fractures and life-threatening injuries in a truck accident.
  • Confidential settlement for a workplace accident when a 51-year-old construction worker was fatally injured when struck on the head by two cinder blocks. The cinder blocks fell from several stories above through an unprotected opening in violation of OSHA requirements.
  • $3 million awarded to a man injured in an automobile accident where he lost a leg and was unable to resume employment.
  • $2 million for a two-year-old boy who sustained brain damage after ingesting medication from a pill bottle left on a babysitter’s nightstand. We were successful in this case because we were able to prove that there was a conscious effort on the part of the pharmacy to use less expensive non-childproof containers in order to save costs. Federal laws require that all medications be filled in a childproof container, except in special circumstances.
  • $1.5 million to the estate of a woman killed in a motor vehicle accident in Central Pennsylvania. The wife and mother of two was killed when the driver of a delivery truck lost control and struck the woman’s car in her lane of travel. The settlement amount is believed to be one of the highest settlements in historically conservative Central Pennsylvania.
  • $1.45 million to a bus driver who sustained injuries to his eyes rendering him legally blind following an accident involving a bus and tractor-trailer.
  • $1.3 million dollar settlement obtained on behalf of a woman who injured her back in a motor vehicle accident involving an underinsured motorist. A significant portion of the damages in this case was attributed to a claim of bad faith by the insurance company for its failure to address her claim in a timely fashion.
  • $1 million to the estates of two elderly individuals killed in a motor vehicle accident.
  • $980,000 settlement against United States Government for a six-month-old female child with misdiagnosed congenital cataracts. This little girl was born overseas and stationed in Germany with enlisted parents. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., was successful in proving malpractice, through multiple video tapes which had been sent home to family members. Settlement included a lifetime medical fund and damages.
  • $950,000.00 to a 65-year-old man who was diagnosed as legally blind in one eye following a bus accident.
  • $950,000 to the estate of a man who died in a house fire caused by a defective product. A lawsuit was filed against the manufacturer of portable electric space heater which, after investigation, was determined to be the source of the fire. We demonstrated that the space heater was defectively designed by its manufacturer.
  • $935,000 settlement against press machine manufacturer and owner for a crush injury of one finger and a partial amputation of a second finger on the hand of a 21-year-old machine operator. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., was successful in this case despite substantial claims of operator misuse, employer ownership and lack of maintenance.
  • $825,000 to a Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, man who was injured when a piece of store merchandise fell onto his hand and crushed it. The injury resulted in multiple surgeries and several job changes.
  • $750,000 award for victim of stabbing at a private club in Philadelphia County.
  • $650,000 in New Jersey for a 52-year-old man who underwent wrist surgery on both wrists as the result of a motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff was a long time butcher and a significant settlement was obtained even though the defense contended that his wrist injuries were due to his job duties and not due to the accident.
  • $650,000 settlement for auto accident victim involved in an intersectional collision where the victim entered the intersection without the right of way. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., was successful against the municipality, proving a history of sun glare-related problems at this intersection, and that sun glare prevented proper traffic control vision.
  • $600,000 for a crane operator who underwent surgery as the result of a motor vehicle accident on I-95 in Philadelphia. Plaintiff was able to return to work following the surgery but was unable to continue to operate heavy machinery.
  • $600,000 to the estate of a man killed in a furnace explosion.
  • $500,000 to a Chester County woman injured in a motor vehicle accident resulting in a back injury, surgery, and a period of total disability.
  • $450,000 was awarded to a 47-year-old Lancaster, Pennsylvania, woman who was involved in a low impact motor vehicle accident. The award was significant since the defendant tried to demonstrate that it was impossible for the plaintiff to sustain such an injury when there was less than $200 in property damage. The woman was diagnosed as having disk degeneration in both her neck and lower back.
  • $450,000 for a wife and mother of two who was severely injured while driving a car after a tire blowout. Reportedly, she was operating a vehicle with retreaded tires. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., was able to demonstrate through a tire and retread expert that the blown tire was defective and never a candidate for retread.
  • Six-figure structured settlement for a six-month-old child who suffered from multiple skunk bites on her arm. The skunk was the pet of a licensed home day care operator.
  • $437,500 was obtained on behalf of a 67-year-old man who died due to mismanagement of Coumadin, a blood thinning drug, following a heart attack. Unfortunately, his physician failed to monitor very important blood clotting factors once the drug treatment was initiated. He died 15 days after taking the drug.
  • $435,000 was obtained in a medical malpractice case, and awarded to the estate of a Northeast Pennsylvania man who died of a heart attack after his family doctor failed to diagnose his heart disease.
  • Confidential settlement for an 18-year-old construction worker who suffered irreversible brain damage after falling through an unprotected hole in a second floor stair landing while doing masonry work. The hole was in violation of OSHA requirements.
  • $432,000 for a 29-year-old man who sustained serious leg injuries when his motorcycle was struck by a truck in New Jersey.
  • $400,000 settlement for estate of a 69-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who was permitted to wander unassisted from an assisted living facility (or personal care home) in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The woman drowned in a nearby creek and her tragic story was told to all members of Congress to strengthen regulation of the assisted living and nursing home industry in the United States. Her story was also told on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
  • Confidential structured settlement with motocross track operator in favor of an 11-year-old boy who lost vision in one eye in a motocross accident due to dangerous condition of the track.
  • $400,000 awarded to an auto accident victim who suffered head injuries and amnesia. Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., worked with memory reconstruction and accident reconstruction experts and was successful in recreating the accident, despite the fact that the victim had no memory of the events and there were no witnesses to the accident.
  • $400,000 verdict in Camden County, NJ, for a Cherry Hill, NJ, woman who sustained a carpal tunnel injury in a motor vehicle accident.
  • Confidential settlement to the estate of a young girl who was killed in a motor vehicle accident. The suit which was filed against a nationally recognized trucking company and was vigorously disputed by the trucking company because the driver of the car in which the girl was a passenger made a left hand turn in front of the truck. The truck driver argued that he could not stop because the car made the turn directly in front of his oncoming truck. Despite the actions of the driver and the argument that almost 100 percent of liability rested with the driver, the trucking company agreed to settle the lawsuit one month before trial.
  • $375,000 to a New Jersey housewife who tripped over defective pavement while exiting a movie theater and suffered wrist injuries, memory, and cognitive loss.
  • $350,000 for a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, woman injured in a motor vehicle accident resulting in back surgery and extended period of disability.
  • $325,000 verdict in Camden County, NJ, for father of five who suffered a herniated lumbar disk due to an automobile accident.
  • $300,000 awarded to a landscaper who was injured in a motor vehicle accident. The award was significant because all diagnostic studies including X-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs failed to reveal an objective finding of injury. He claimed that he was no longer able to resume his business full-time and thus it is believed that most of the award was made in order to compensate our client for his future lost wages.
  • $300,000 for a Camden County woman who sustained an aggravation to a prior lower back injury in a motor vehicle accident which lead to eventual surgery. Plaintiff had a long-standing history of multiple sclerosis and the defense contended that the symptoms were related to her MS and not to the motor vehicle accident. The case eventually settled for the policy limits.
  • $300,000 for the victim of a vicious dog attack in New Jersey. The settlement represented the policy limits of the defendant homeowner’s insurance policy.
  • $225,000 to a woman who injured her shoulder and back after her vehicle struck a farm animal that had escaped from a “secured” pasture late at night. The accident occurred in a very rural farm area and the farmer’s liability was disputed.
  • $200,000 recovery for a slip-and-fall injury to a woman who fell due to a deteriorated railing on a second floor balcony injuring her skull.
  • $160,000 to a mother of two who injured her back in a recreational accident while snow tubing. The injury resulted in back surgery and a short period of disability. We were able to demonstrate that the run-out ramp at the bottom of the snow tubing hill was too short and not designed to allow snow tubers to come to a safe stop.
  • $140,000 to a woman who slipped and fell in a mini market and injured her foot.

*Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., only provides legal advice after having entered into an attorney-client relationship, which this website specifically does not create. Only after having entered into a written, signed agreement with Soloff & Zervanos, P.C., will an attorney-client relationship be created. It is important that all action taken be done on advice of counsel only. The verdicts and settlements presented here are just a sampling of some our past successes. Since each case we handle is unique and must be individually and comprehensively analyzed, we cannot guarantee specific results. Contact us for more information.