Catastrophic brain injury from falling hard packed snow and ice

$500,000

The victim pulled up as close as she could to an outside ATM machine at a western Massachusetts bank at about 12 noon one winter day. She had to get out of her car and walk to the ATM to do her transaction. The ATM was covered by a sloping canopy. It had snowed in the past 24 hours, but that morning temperatures had risen to just above freezing by noon. When she approached the ATM, hard packed snow and hard ice slid off and hit her on the head and shoulders.

She was dazed. Her two young children witnessed this and it was recorded on bank surveillance video. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, checked out and released. But the next morning, her partner found her passed out on the kitchen floor. The local ER arranged for her to be life-flighted to a regional trauma center where she was admitted with a diagnosis of concussion and possible brain damage. Over the next two or three years while she was treated, Attorney Goodman filed suit and engaged in extensive pre-trial discovery, including numerous depositions of all people involved. It was a rigorous battle to convince the bank’s insurance carrier that they were responsible for not warning customers, closing off the ATM, or having the canopy raked off in order to eliminate the unreasonable risk of harm that snow and ice posed to customers attempting to use the outdoor ATM. Finally, the insurance carrier decided they risked paying a huge verdict at trial and settled the case for a confidential settlement. The helicopter bill was $50,000 and other hospital bills added up to hundreds of thousands. Attorney Goodman and his team made sure all liens were satisfied and bills resolved with a substantial settlement still left for the innocent victim.