Forklift Safety is Big Money $$$

Los Angeles Personal Injury Law Firm Lazar, Akiva & Yagoubzadeh announced today its most recent personal injury settlement in a case involving injuries to a 39 year-old-man whose foot was run over by a forklift.

The firm’s client was a local vendor who was on the premises of a meat distribution warehouse near Downtown Los Angeles selling goods to the warehouse employees. While the vendor was in the courtyard of the premises, one of the warehouse employees was operating a forklift nearby inside the warehouse building. According to the complaint, suddenly, the forklift operator backed the forklift out of the warehouse and into the courtyard without checking his rear and he ran the forklift over the vendor’s left foot. The vendor was promptly rushed to Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center where he had emergency surgery on his foot.

The vendor retained the law firm of Lazar, Akiva & Yagoubzadeh, and from there the firm promptly uncovered the company’s insurance information and filed suit against the company for negligence and premises liability. “If the company’s insurance carrier had done the right thing and accepted responsibility for our client’s damages from the beginning, the company would have put this matter to rest a long time ago without incurring significant legal fees,” said lead attorney Jubin Niamehr. “As they say, there’s the easy way and there’s the hard way. Unfortunately for the defendants, they chose the latter.”

According to documents filed by the court, the company initially denied the vendor’s claims on the basis that the vendor was negligent and failed to exercise ordinary care. However, by interviewing and deposing multiple witnesses and uncovering video surveillance of the incident, Mr. Niamehr and his team pieced together a compelling case against the company. Just days before the scheduled jury trial when it became clear that the Lazar, Akiva & Yagoubzadeh legal team was not backing down from its demands and was ready for trial, defense counsel finally initiated meaningful settlement negotiations and the case settled for $550,000.00.

Mr. Niamehr said that, “although the defendant’s insurance company initially denied our client’s claims, we remained firm in our position throughout the case and we prepared rigorously for trial. The confidence we projected through our unwavering stance and the thorough preparations we made for trial sent a clear message to the defendant’s insurance carrier that we meant business, and we feel that is ultimately what made them come to the table at the 11th hour with such a significant settlement offer. In essence, we called their bluff.”

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 31, 2011