Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. Obtains $17M+ Verdict in Defective Product Brain Injury Case
Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C., a San Antonio-based personal injury law firm, recently won more than $17 million for a young man who suffered a serious and permanent brain injury due to a defective product.
SAN ANTONIO, May 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. recently won a jury verdict of more than $17 million in the 37th District Court on behalf of a teenage boy who suffered severe and irreversible brain damage due to a defective product (case number 2014-CI-04073). Tom Rhodes, Bob Brzezinski, and Erin Oglesby, together with August Toudouze of Toudouze Law and with the assistance of Sam Royston, alleged that the instructions and warnings associated with a pair of oversized boxing gloves were defective, and that the company responsible for the design and manufacture of the product were negligent in its creation and marketing.
Our client was participating in a bouncy boxing match at a Christian youth convention when he suffered a serious brain injury due to repeated blows to the head by his opponent. After a thorough investigation of this incident, we determined that the product designer and manufacturer had no background in engineering or product design, that they failed to conduct any research or testing, and that they consulted with no outside sources in creating a product with the sole purpose of inviting young children to repeatedly punch each other in the body and head.
The gloves were the product of a single non-technical drawing, created without sufficient padding and with unsafe exposed wrist and thumb areas. Furthermore, the gloves weighed almost five pounds each, meaning that as participants' arms quickly tired, they would stop guarding their heads and faces and begin punching rotationally. Expert testimony revealed that rotational impact forces to the head are more capable of resulting in serious brain injuries, and that unprotected areas of the participants' fists were more likely to come into contact with an opponent's head.
While the defendant company attempted to argue that the young man did not actually have a brain injury and that the incident was the result of a lack of supervision by the youth convention, the jury ultimately sided with the plaintiff. Our client was awarded $10,547,000 in actual damages with an additional $6,500,000 in punitive damages against the product manufacturer. Other entities named in the lawsuit settled before trial.
Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C. has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients in more than 20 states over the last three decades. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the firm handles all types of personal injury cases, including auto accidents, catastrophic injuries, workplace injuries, defective products litigation, and more. Visit www.tomrhodeslawfirm.com for more information and to schedule an initial consultation.
SOURCE Tom Rhodes Law Firm P.C.
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