Record $15 Million Settlement for Injured Claims Adjuster
Press Release, 07/10/1998Nationally prominent trial attorney, Robert Clifford of Chicago's Clifford Law Offices , received a record $15 million settlement late Friday for an insurance adjuster hurt while surveying a rooftop.
The case involved 34-year-old property adjuster, Jace Conger of Dallas, Texas, who was investigating hail damage to the roof of a car dealership there when he came into contact with a 7,200-volt electrical wire. Conger suffered severe electrical burns over nearly half his body.
Conger was an adjuster for McLarens Toplis, an international property casualty claims company with its North American offices headquartered in Chicago.
The settlement of Clifford, of Chicago's Clifford Law Offices, represents a record for a burn victim in that state.
"This man will have to live with disabling injuries and permanent scars the rest of his life," Clifford said. "This case points out the need for companies and property owners to be more mindful of checking for low-hanging wires near buildings."
Of the $15 million, $9 million was against a major Texas utility company and $6 million was settled with a second defendant, Jerry's Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., in Dallas, Texas.
The settlement represents two multi-million dollar awards this month for the Chicago law firm, hired as "road warriors." The other settlement was for a record $5.18 million in Sioux Falls, S.D., involving a drunken driving case against a tire company there. Kevin Durkin, partner at Clifford Law Offices , also handled the matter in South Dakota.
Clifford Law Offices is a national law firm in Chicago concentrating in personal injury, aviation, medical malpractice and product liability law.
