Historic Results/Representative Cases

Connecticut trial lawyers get results for injured people

At Silver Golub & Teitell we are proud of the results we have been able to achieve for our clients. Listed here are some of our historic, precedent-setting cases along with other representative cases. Please note that many of the results achieved by our attorneys are confidential. Accordingly, this list includes just a few representative cases.  Please be aware that past results are not a guarantee of future results. It is important to hire an attorney based on skill, experience, and any other factors you consider important, not just on past awards.

Historic Results

• A doctor failed to perform a timely c-section delivery of a baby despite obvious signs of fetal distress. The child suffered significant brain damage and requires 24-hour nursing care, including tube feeding, for the rest of his life. In this case, Silver Golub & Teitell obtained a jury verdict of $38.5 million, the largest jury verdict in a personal injury case in state history. SGT Secures Record-Setting $38.5 Million Jury Verdict To Help Seriously Injured Child, February, 2008. (PDF)
• As lead counsel for 70 Connecticut municipalities, Silver Golub & Teitell secured a judgment of $35.8 million against the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority to recover past overcharges imposed as a result of an illegal unsecured loan to Enron Corporation. CRRA was also enjoined from imposing more than $6.9 million in additional overcharges.
• As lead private counsel for the state of Connecticut in its historic action against the tobacco industry, Silver Golub & Teitell played a leading role in the nationwide litigation that secured a recovery for Connecticut totaling almost $4 billion.
• A corporate whistleblower was represented in his claim under the Federal False Claims Act against United Technologies, resulting in the largest award at the time recovered by the United States government under the Act. Settlement of $150 million.
• Written up in the New England Journal of Medicine for the superb quality of the presentation of the case, Pisel vs. Stamford Hospital became the first verdict over $1 million in the state of Connecticut. The case also created significant medical malpractice law in Connecticut that is still cited today, and set safety standards for hospitalized psychiatric patients. Jury verdict of $3.6 million.
• A 21-year-old man suffocated while sleeping in a bivy sack on a camping trip. The bivy sack, which resembles a sleeping bag, was dangerously designed to encourage the user to close it completely but, once closed, it posed a suffocation hazard. Settlement of $2 million and bivy sack product was removed from sale throughout the world.
• As lead counsel in what is believed to be the largest class action in Connecticut history, 40,000 current and former employees were successfully represented in their action against the Xerox Corporation for violations of ERISA pension laws.
• A 50-year-old man died after a dermatologist misdiagnosed a facial lesion as benign, despite a biopsy report indicating potential skin cancer. After a significant delay, the lesion was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma, which had fatally spread due to the delay in treatment. Jury verdict of $5.1 million. (At the time of the award, this was the highest medical malpractice jury verdict for wrongful death in state history.)
• A 36-year-old father of two, recovering in the defendant hospital from an uncomplicated surgical procedure, suffered cardiac arrest due to the hospital's failure to provide proper post-operative care. As a result of the hospital's negligence, the plaintiff was rendered blind, unable to walk, and unable to speak clearly and has sustained memory loss and other cognitive injury. The litigation resulted in a $15 million settlement for the plaintiff, at the time the largest settlement ever of a personal injury claim in Connecticut.

Representative Cases

Medical Malpractice Cases

• A 34-year-old woman sustains permanent brain damage because an anesthesiologist fails to properly monitor her vital signs during the cesarean delivery of her first child. Settlement of $16.7 million.
• A baby boy suffers brain hemorrhage, along with traumatic and hypoxic-ischemic brain damage, as a result of a birth injury during labor and delivery from the improper use of vacuum extraction equipment. After eleven weeks of trial: Settlement of $8 million.
• A 36-year-old woman with three children sustains brain damage during a routine tubal ligation procedure and will require lifetime care as a result of the anesthesiologist's failure to monitor anesthesia. Settlement of $13.2 million.
• An internist fails to diagnose colorectal cancer in a timely manner, leading to progression and metastases of the disease. Settlement of $1.9 million.
• Despite indications of fetal distress, a hospital obstetrical staff member gives a patient a labor-inducing drug and delays performing a cesarean section. The baby suffers oxygen deprivation, resulting in brain damage, cerebral palsy, and loss of intellectual function. Settlement of $10.5 million.
• Failure to diagnose and treat a recurrent brain tumor in a two-year-old child leads to permanent brain damage, including a loss of IQ, double vision, headaches, sleep disturbances, fatigue and an inability to regulate his body temperature. Settlement of $6.1 million.
• Despite signs of fetal distress and fetal asphyxia of a twin baby during labor and delivery, obstetrician and hospital staff delay performing a cesarean section, causing the child to suffer oxygen deprivation during her birth with resulting brain damage, cerebral palsy, and loss of intellectual function. Settlement of $8.9 million.
• Patient reports troubling lower gastrointestinal symptoms, including a bulge in his abdomen, but his physician fails to investigate for cancer. After a significant delay, the patient is diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, which leads to his death. Settlement of $2 million.
• A 46-year-old woman diagnosed with a brain aneurysm is advised by her physician to undergo risky surgery with no explanation of safer treatment alternatives. Error by the same physician during the procedure causes stroke and related brain damage. Settlement of $1.5 million.
• A patient's mammogram and ultrasound are misread after she reports concern about a suspicious lump in her breast. After delay, her cancer is diagnosed, but only after progressing to a more advanced stage and reducing her life expectancy. Settlement of $2 million.
• A hospitalized stroke victim dies from a physician's failure to prevent a pulmonary embolism. Jury verdict of $3.04 million, including $2 million wrongful death award to the surviving widow.
• Failure to properly diagnose a four-and-a-half-month-old infant's illness after the infant has a fever, seizures, and poor laboratory results leads to a delay in providing appropriate medication and causes brain damage, for which lifetime care is required. Settlement of $10 million.
• Failure to timely diagnose brain tumor in a six-year-old boy results in brain damage. Settlement of $3.3 million.
• A 43-year-old man suffers paralysis, cognitive deficits, short-term memory loss, and chronic pain as a result of his neurosurgeon operating at the wrong level of his spinal cord. Settlement of $6.4 million.
• Physicians and hospital staff fail to properly monitor a 23-year-old woman in the hospital and fail to diagnose her heart condition, resulting in her death within 24 hours of admission to the hospital. Settlement of $3.3 million.
• A baby boy sustains brain damage during his birth as a result of negligent administration of Pitocin medication during labor and failure to use standard ultrasound tests to monitor his condition. Settlement of $4.25 million.

Non-Medical Malpractice Cases

• A female television news anchor is wrongfully terminated by a Connecticut television station. Jury verdict of $8 million.
• A 44-year-old mother is killed in a car accident caused by icy road conditions. Investigation reveals that the road had been improperly repaved in the 1970s and that reports of dangerous icing to the state Department of Transportation were ignored. Jury verdict of $4 million.
• A young woman sustains injuries following a motor vehicle accident, which results in the loss of her senses of smell and taste. Settlement of $1.38 million after jury verdict.
• A 67-year-old man, struck by a hit-and-run driver, suffers severe injuries, including nerve palsy and multiple fractures to arm, leg, and shoulder. Jury verdict of $2.05 million.
• A 62-year-old woman crossing the street is struck by a car driven by a distracted teenager, causing brain damage and leg injuries. Settlement of $2.5 million.
• Two workers sustain head and back injuries after falling from a scaffold. Settlement of $1.05 million after five days of trial.
• An eight-month-old baby suffers a skull fracture and brain damage when he is dropped down a flight of concrete stairs by an elderly woman who loses her footing on uneven and defective steps. Settlement of $2.75 million.
• Plaintiff suffers neck injuries when the defective elevator in which he is riding drops two floors. Jury award and interest of $1.25 million.

Contact Silver Golub & Teitell to discuss your legal needs

Individuals and businesses in Connecticut rely on the skill and professionalism of the trial attorneys at Silver Golub & Teitell. We take both business and personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. Contact us online to find out how we can help.

We represent individuals and businesses in personal injury, wrongful death, and business litigation throughout the state of Connecticut, including Fairfield County, New Haven County, Hartford County, and the following communities: