Law Firm Wins $2.5 Million Jury Verdict in Nail Gun Case

LOS ANGELES, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Personal Injury Attorneys Roger Gordon and Vincent Vallin Bennett of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton and Goldstein, LLP recently won a $2.5 million jury verdict, one of the largest in the nation for a nail gun case.

In Martin Oliver vs. Hitachi Koki U.S.A., et al., Gordon and Bennett proved that their client, Mr. Martin Oliver, a journeyman carpenter with 40 years of experience, was severely injured when the defectively designed nail gun he was using discharged a nail into his head, penetrating his brain and leaving him permanently disabled.

The nail gun—a Hitachi NR83A—was defective because it had a contact trip mechanism, which allows a nail to be fired when the nose of the nail gun is in contact with a surface and the trigger is pulled, regardless of the order in which those events occur. The fact that Hitachi's gun didn't have a sequential trip mechanism, which allows a nail to be fired only if the trigger is pulled after the gun's nose contacts a surface, constituted a design defect.

"In California, a product is defective in design if the benefits of that design do not outweigh the risks of danger inherent in that design," according to Gordon. "In this case, Hitachi knew of this particular nail gun model's dangerously violent rebound upon being fired, as well as the inadvertent firing of a nail [the contact trip mechanism]. Despite this knowledge, Hitachi did nothing to minimize or eliminate this defect."

"Mr. Oliver was a strong, vibrant person who felt proud to be able to put food on the table for his family," says Bennett. "His ability to work and support his family is what defined him and gave him a sense of dignity.  He can no longer do that, and the jury understood this."

Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is a recognized leader in personal injury and workers' compensation law in Southern California. The firm is located at 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1800, Los Angeles, California 90010. Tel:  (213) 739-7000; Fax: (213) 386-1671.   www.geklaw.com

SOURCE Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton and Goldstein, LLP