The following is a representative sample of some of the cases that Chaiken & Chaiken has been involved in. Please keep in mind that results depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular case and past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Chaiken & Chaiken, P.C. has been involved in some particularly noteworthy cases including:

• Trimspa Class Action.  The Firm was lead co-trial counsel for a nationwide class of consumers of the diet supplement Trimspa X32.  The case was settled awarding the class a monetary recovery and an injunction forcing the manufacturer to revise its product labeling.
• The Firm recovered in excess of $2 million dollars on behalf of some family members of an oil platform worker killed in Nigeria in the midst of civil unrest.
• The Firm was retained as trial counsel for an individual seriously injured when a truck veered off the side of the road and struck his vehicle. Approximately one week before trial, the case settled for in excess of $1.5 million dollars.
• The Firm recently resolved a case for an individual who sustained an electrocution type injury when a building she was in was struck by lightening, and received a significant settlement.
• The Firm obtained a final appellate victory following a seven figure judgement in favor of the family of a young man killed by a negligent trucker upholding an award of $750,000 in punitive damages.
• The Firm successfully represented a "minority" shareholder of a closely held software company in a shareholder oppression suit.
• The Firm obtained a permanent injunction in a trademark infringement suit on behalf of a locally based major electronics retailer.

Please read more about our lawyers' successful results in the following areas:

• Personal Injury
• Employment Law
• Insurance Bad Faith
• Business Law

Trucking Accidents

• In February of 2004, the firm obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $1.26 million dollars for wrongful death of a 19 year old boy against a publicly traded trucking company and its driver. The case went to trial in Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas and is reported to be one of the largest personal injury verdicts ever rendered in that county. The case had originally been tried in October of 2002 and resulted in an adverse verdict for the firm's clients. The firm continued to fight for the clients - winning a new trial and ultimately obtaining a favorable verdict. The case involved a trucker who attempted to back his 18 wheeler into his small residential driveway in the middle of the night without any assistance. The 18 wheeler had all lanes of traffic blocked and essentially clothes lined the plaintiff who came around a bend in the road. The truck driver was substantially out of hours under federal regulations and was violating his company's own park at home policy at the time. The company, aware of these and other failures, had failed to enforce its own polices. West v. USA Truck, Inc. and Donald Ray Jones, Sr.; Cause No. CV33626, In the 62 Judicial District Court, Hopkins County, Texas.

Nursing Home Malpractice

• Failure to recognize a bleeding gastric ulcer.  In 2001, the Firm obtained a verdict of $50 million dollars in Copeland vs. Golden Acres, 134th Judicial District Court in Dallas County, Texas.  The verdict was reported in the National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the country in 2001.  The actual damage part of the award, $16 million, is believed to be one of the highest actual damages awards ever given in a nursing home case nationwide.  
• Falls, debicutis ulcers, head injuries and malnutrition.  The Firm has obtained numerous confidential settlements for families who loved ones suffered these types of injuries in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long term care facilities ranging from several hundred thousand dollars, all the way up to several millions of dollars.

Medical Malpractice

• Puncture of aorta during administration of anesthesia. The Firm achieved a confidential settlement of a claim where an anesthesiologist punctured a patient’s aorta while running a catheter and causing death.
• Failure to diagnose ruptured colon.  The Firm obtained a large six figure settlement of a claim involving an emergency room physician’s failure to diagnose ruptured colon and related life-threatening infection, resulting in multiple corrective surgeries, disfigurement and loss of functioning.
• Surgical error. The Firm achieved the confidential settlement of a case involving error during back surgery leading to substantial physical disability, additional surgery, and loss of functioning.

Burn Cases

• The Firm obtained a confidential settlement of a case in excess of $3 million dollars where a client was burned over most of his body as a result of another party’s negligence which lead to an apartment boiler explosion.

Hospital Negligence

• Confidential settlement of a case against a hospital for failure to treat and monitor a bed-ridden patient who sustained serious and debilitating debicutis ulcers.
   

Construction Site Injuries

• Cement truck roll over. Obtained large six figure settlement for injured worker whose truck rolled over at a construction site due to improperly constructed entry way to site.
• Injury from improper crane operation.  Obtained a large confidential settlement for worker struck in the face by a crane buckle when the crane was not operated properly.

Elevator Injuries

• The Firm has obtained millions of dollars in settlements for multiple individuals who have been injured while riding in elevators that were negligently maintained and/or operating defectively.

Motor Vehicle Injuries

• The Firm has collected (through trial or settlement) millions of dollars for its clients who have been seriously injured as result of the negligent operation of automobiles, trucks and motorcycles.

Premises Liability Claims

• Slip and fall injury. The Firm recovered a large six figure settlement for an individual who was seriously injured after slipping on a patch of ice which was on a walking path, but obstructed from view, caused by a leaky faucet which the premises owner knew was leaky, but had failed to repair.
• Security negligence. The Firm has recovered several large settlements for the victims of preventable, forseeable  crimes on the premises of owners who neglected to provide adequate security to prevent such crimes.
  

Employment Law Claims

Wrongful Termination 

• The Firm obtained a high six figure settlement while the jury was deliberating for an individual who was wrongfully terminated in violation of his company’s own internal grievance procedures.
• The Firm obtained a high six figure settlement for client damaged by employer’s wrongful termination in breach of written employment contract.
• The Firm was involved in the prosecution of a claim on behalf of a commercial airline pilot wrongfully terminated after exercising judgment to safely land a plane rather than continue the flight into dangerous, life threatening weather conditions, resulting in an eight figure jury verdict following trial.
• The Firm obtained multi-million dollar verdict for executive wrongfully terminated when he refused to breach a company ethics policy in a multi-million dollar customer transaction.
• The Firm achieved a confidential settlement for nurse who sued a hospital that terminated her employment in response to her “whistle blowing”, which exposed the hospital’s failure to properly respond the presence of a deadly infection in one of its care units.

Insurance Bad Faith and Failure to Fairly Settle Claims

Insurance Bad Faith

• Wrongful denial of life insurance claim. The Firm obtained a multi-million dollar settlement of claims against a large life insurance company for failing to pay on a life insurance policy.
• Failure to pay property damage claim. The Firm obtained a large six figure settlement for a building owner forced to sue its insurance company after refusing to pay for substantial damage to building following a storm.
• Wrongful Denial of the Duty to Defend. The Firm was successful in obtaining a declaratory judgment in Federal Court against an insurance company where the Court ordered the insurance company to assume the defense of the Firm's business client under the terms of a Commercial General Liability ("CGL") policy. In the process, the Firm was able to recover in excess of $130,000 in attorneys fees. Western Rim Investment Advisors, Inc. et. al. v. Gulf Insurance Company, 269 F. Supp. 2d 836 (N.D. Tex. 2003).

Business Claims

Promissory Note Collection

• The Firm has obtained multiple judgments on contested promissory notes (both secured and unsecured) and has collected multiple millions of dollars for its clients in the process.

Shareholder Dispute/Business Dissolution

• Shareholder Oppression. The Firm obtained a multi-million settlement for the founder of a successful microprocessor business after he was ousted by his co-founders from the business.
• Usurping Corporate Opportunity. The Firm obtained a multi-million settlement which involved the Firm’s client obtaining sole control of a manufacturing business that he had owned with another person, after the former co-owner engaged in self-dealing to the detriment of the Firm’s client and the company, through his operation and sale of a competing business.

Trademark Infringement

• A favorable confidential settlement on behalf of client that was sued for trademark infringement and Internet domain rights by a multi-national corporation where client had alleged counterclaims.

Please contact Chaiken & Chaiken, P.C. to discuss your case with a skilled Texas litigator.