Brain & Spinal Cord Injury

Representative Cases

Keegan Federal’s daughter, Megan, suffered a severe brain injury in 1989 in an auto accident when she was 16-years old.  Since that time, he has been very active in various brain injury organizations (see Keegan’s Attorney Profile) and a significant percentage of his practice is devoted to people with brain and spinal injuries and their families. 

Keegan Federal has been repeatedly elected, in state-wide polls of judges and lawyers, as a Georgia Super Lawyer (which is limited tothe top 5% of lawyers in the state), specifically for his expertise in handling brain and spinal injury cases.

Spinal Cord Injury; Bicycle; School Bus; Church Immunity

A 15-year-old girl riding her bicycle on a neighborhood street was struck by a school bus operated by a local church.  The church claimed that it was immune from liability as a religious institution, and that the young girl had caused the accident herself.  The girl suffered multiple injuries, including a spinal cord injury, and the parents’ medical insurance was insufficient to cover the significant expenses incurred.  The Firm was able to overcome the immunity defense, prove the bus driver’s negligence, and obtain the maximum payout from the church’s liability carrier, thereby providing the financial resources for the parents to pay for extensive rehabilitation therapies for their daughter.

Brain Injury; Settlement Value (New Jersey)

The parents of a teenage girl, who had been injured on a college campus, were dissatisfied with their prior attorney’s advice to settle for $300,000; they sought a second opinion from the Firm.  After reviewing the facts and explaining the applicable New Jersey law (which was quite different from Georgia law) to the Clients’ prior attorney, the Firm worked with the prior attorney, prepared and submitted a video settlement demand package to the defendant’s liability insurer, and obtained the full policy limits of $1,000,000 for the injured student.

Brain Damage; Pharmaceutical Negligence; Minor Child

The Firm represented an Atlanta physician whose daughter had suffered moderate brain damage resulting from improperly dispensed medicine.  A law firm specializing in pharmaceutical malpractice was associated and, on the eve of a jury trial, the defendant’s insurance company paid the settlement demand.

Brain Injury; Wrongful Death; Apartments; Swimming Pool; Premises Liability

A 14-year-old boy who was a non-swimmer went wading at a friend’s family’s apartment complex pool and was found at the bottom of the deep end of the pool; he was unconscious when pulled out by the EMT and remained comatose for two years until his death.  The parent’s pastor referred them to the Firm. The Firm’s investigation revealed that the company which owned and operated the apartments had failed to install an emergency phone at the pool and failed to have other required safety equipment available.  Although the apartment company denied any responsibility for the boy’s injury and death, its insurance company was convinced to pay the total settlement demand to the boy’s parents.  (The company insisted on confidentiality as to the settlement amount.)

Spinal Cord Injury; Truck; Improper Maintenance

A Georgia Tech student driving to a soccer game in Athens was crushed by a speeding 18-wheeler tractor-trailer and paralyzed from the neck down.  After filing suit and taking voluminous discovery, the Firm proved that the trucking company had failed to maintain the vehicle in a roadworthy condition, and the company’s insurer paid the Firm’s Client its total policy limits.

Brain & Spinal Cord Injury; Disability Insurance

The Firm successfully sued the disability carrier which refused to reinstate monthly benefits to its insured who had been injured, then returned to work, and then was discharged by the employer.  A lump sum settlement was recovered for the Client and invested in a trust which pays his monthly benefits.

Brain Injury; Premises Liability; Tree Removal (North Carolina)

The Client suffered a significant brain injury, resulting in permanent disability, at a motel in North Carolina.  As he was parking his car, a windstorm caused a tree to fall and crush the Client’s car.  The Firm’s investigation proved that the tree had been diseased and that the corporation which owned and operated the property should have known that it posed a danger to visitors.  The claim was settled with the corporation’s insurer at a mediation hearing.

Brain Injury; Product Liability (Arizona)

A computerized video game baseball bat came apart in mid-swing and struck the Client in the temple causing a mild-to-moderate brain injury with resulting headaches, memory, and concentration problems.  Suit was filed in Scottsdale, Arizona, against the manufacturer of the faulty equipment, and a significant recovery was obtained for both the Client and his wife. The defective bats were recalled and taken off the market.

Brain Injury; Uninsured Motorist; Death

A grandmother was driving her grandson to dinner at a restaurant in North Atlanta when a truck towing a camper trailer ran a stop sign and collided with the Client’s vehicle, killing the grandmother and causing a brain injury to the grandson.  The case was settled for the total insurance coverage available, in addition to a $500,000 uninsured motorist payment by the grandmother’s own insurer.

Brain Injury; Defective Product; Minor Child

Another attorney requested the assistance of our Firm in representing the parents of a child who had sustained a brain injury at a park when the defective flagpole on which she was swinging suddenly broke throwing her onto nearby rocks.  After co-counsel had filed suit, the Firm conducted the investigation, retained an expert metallurgist, and took the depositions of the relevant parties. The park owner’s insurance carrier agreed at mediation to pay the settlement demand (insisting on confidentiality as to the amount).

- additional sample cases available upon request