The Official Injury Attorneys of the San Francisco 49ers
Results
Highlighted Results
Exact settlement amount is confidential but exceeded $28 million. Confidential settlement against a health maintenance organization for failing to supervise a surgeon who performed inappropriate procedures on female urology patients causing significant, permanent injuries Including chronic incontinence. Claims involved more than 80 patients and reflected an aggravated liability situation since the health care organization was familiar with the surgeon’s recreational drug use but failed to monitor and concealed his conduct, training and experience.
Settlement in excess of $28,000,000
Exact settlement amount is confidential but exceeded $28 million. Confidential settlement against a health maintenance organization for failing to supervise a surgeon who performed inappropriate procedures on female urology patients causing significant, permanent injuries Including chronic incontinence. Claims involved more than 80 patients and reflected an aggravated liability situation since the health care organization was familiar with the surgeon’s recreational drug use but failed to monitor and concealed his conduct, training and experience.
Settlement
Martin Zurada and Mark Venardi led a team that obtained a multi-million recovery for a group of deserving clients. We are not afraid to turn down significant initial offers which are insufficient to compensate our clients and change defendant’s behavior. We roll up our sleeves, put on the gloves, and fight it out with the defense. If getting the best possible result means holding on until trial to resolve the case, or fighting the case at trial, we will do whatever it takes. We put our clients in the best possible position to obtain a maximum result.
Settled for $7,125,000
Our client was an 80 year-old passenger in a tender vessel. The vessel rose quickly on a wave and fell quickly causing our client to suffer a spine fracture that required a two-level fusion surgery.
Settlement
Mark Venardi accepted a case that no one else would take and turned a $50,000 offer just before trial into a $6,000,000 settlement. A famous and supposedly very good Oakland based law firm represented a homeless man that was crossing against a red light and hit in a crosswalk at night. The client was badly injured with a brain injury and multiple orthopedic injuries. The law firm did nothing in the case. It failed to retain the appropriate experts, failed to do any meaningful discovery, and failed to assess the client’s injuries. Two years into the litigation the law firm learned that the Defendant did not have any insurance and then quickly abandoned the client. The law firm did not evaluate whether the defendant had any assets. The client tried to retain other law firms from all over the San Francisco Bay Area. All of the law firms declined the case. Three months before trial in October 2023, the client saw one of our commercials and called our firm. We evaluated the case, which was challenging on some of the liability issues, and researched the defendant to determine whether the defendant had assets. The defendant did. We accepted the case, moved the trial court to continue the trial date, to reopen fact and expert discovery, and to reinstate our client’s right to a jury trial, which had been waived. At that time, the Defendant’s offer in the case was $50,000. Our firm then worked the case up the right way. We retained an accident reconstruction expert, night vision expert, orthopedic medical expert, neurologist, neuroradiologist, neuropsychologist, life care planner, and an economist. We represented our client the way he deserved to be represented all along and achieved a $6,000,000 resolution just 30 days before trial. Now our deserving client is taken care of for life after his case was horribly mishandled by a famous Oakland based law firm, and then rejected by most of the prominent law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Licensing Agreement Termination
Arbitration Award: $4.9 Million | ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp. Defendants
ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp. Defendants, a publicly traded company, terminated a licensing agreement with our client and nearly forced our client into bankruptcy, which is why they could not afford to pay an attorney on an hourly basis. We were the third attorneys on the case. Defendants offered $900,000 on the first day of arbitration and asserted that, if we did not accept it, they were going to prove that our clients were crooks. We rejected the offer and obtained an arbitration award for $4,900,000.
Settled for $4,800,000
Our client was a hard-working father who lost his livelihood in an instant when he suffered a major injury and amputation to his leg. We uncovered evidence of the Defendant’s failure to follow basic safety rules. Along with our team of highly qualified experts, we thoroughly explained every aspect of how our client, his wife, and his kids’ lives were changed forever by this tragedy.
Settlement Award: $4.3 Million | ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp. Defendants
ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp. Defendants raided our clients’ employees, stole their trade secrets, and then interfered with our clients actual and prospective customers. We sued Defendant for tortious interference with prospective economic relations, interference with contractual relations, and unfair business practices.
Settlement: $3 Million | Class Action Settlement.
Truck Drivers v. Agricultural Company. $3,000,000 class action settlement agreement that included payments to truck drivers and forgiveness of their debt. Our firm was lead co-counsel in a class action and PAGA claim for truck drivers of an agricultural company engaging in wage theft. The drivers did not receive pay as they waited substantial amounts of time to load and unload their trucks. Truck drivers who left the company were unlawfully charged for training expenses to discourage them from leaving. The settlement resulted in hundreds of hard-working truck drivers being better compensated for their work going back over five years, and forgiveness of the unlawful training charges.
Motorcycle Accident
Settlement Award: $3 Million | John Doe v. Construction Company
Our client was riding his motorcycle going straight down the street. Defendant driver employed by a construction company turned left, across our client’s lane, and hit our client. Our client suffered a fractured hip and fractured forearm requiring several surgeries. The case settled on the eve of trial for $3,000,000.
Medical Malpractice
Settlement Award: $3 Million | Stipulated Judgment
Medical malpractice case vs midwife for birthing malpractice
Construction Site Injury
Jury verdict in excess of $3,000,000
Our client an experienced electrician sustained a severe wrist injury at a construction site when he fell and tripped over some formboards with rebar inside of them. After a long fight, our client received compensation for his substantial lost wages and pain and suffering. This case was factually complex, and the Venardi Zurada team fought hard to uncover a smoking gun document that pointed the finger at the Defendant general contractor. By the end of trial, jurors did not believe the defendant, whose witnesses repeatedly lied on the stand. The jury found that the general contractor in charge of the construction site failed to provide our client safe and convenient access to toilets and that our client was forced into choosing between two poor toilet paths.
Medical Malpractice
Settlement Award: $2.7 Million | Childbirth Catastrophic Injury
Med Mal case from birthing malpractice causing hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and paralysis of newborn.
Insurance Bad Faith
Award: $2,600,000 | Jane Doe v. ABC Corp.
Contractor failed to build property pursuant to architect’s plans, and insurer denied claims in bad faith.
Pedestrian Serious Injury Accident
Settlement: $2,500,000 | Pedestrian Struck by Vehicle in Crosswalk
Our client was a pedestrian at a crosswalk when she was struck by a young driver who was unaware of the crosswalk or our client’s presence. Our client was struck and suffered serious injuries to her body and head.
Product Liability
Settlement: $2,350,000 | John Doe and Jane Doe v. XYZ Corp
Our client made glass figurines finished in a paint thinner and lacquer mix. Both of our clients developed cancer. We retained all the appropriate experts, proved that the paint thinner contained benzene, which was causally related to our clients’ cancer. The case settled after a battle of the experts for $2,350,000.
Product Liability
Jury Trial Verdict of $2,300,000 | John Doe v. Product Manufacturer
Our client was injured while riding a device manufactured by Defendant. The case settled after a three-week jury trial with a $2,300,000 verdict.
Settlement
Mark Venardi represented a client that worked for a Bay Area company with over 350 employees. Our client suffered from mental illness issues following gut wrenching and traumatic family matters. Our client’s psychologist wrote to the employer and asked that our client be allowed to work from home 50 percent of the time for a relatively short period of time. The employer refused. Our client complained and the company escalated its unlawful behavior and forced our client out of the company. Mental illness is a big deal, and our client deserved the best representation. We fought hard to establish the factual basis for liability against the employer, and after approximately 1.5 years of litigation we persuaded the employer to pay our deserving client $2,000,000. Our client’s rights were honored and hopefully the employer will change its ways.
Settled for $2,000,000 | John Doe and Jane Doe v. XYZ Corp
Our client’s daughter was putting gas in her car on the side of the road. Defendant driving a van veered off the road and killed our client’s daughter. The case settled for $2,000,000.
Premises Liability
Settled for policy limits of $2,000,000 | John Doe v. Restaurant
Restaurant employee seated our client at a table where a room divider curtain hid an object with a sharp point on it. Our client bent over to pick something up from the floor and struck his head on the concealed sharp corner. Our client suffered a traumatic brain injury. We sued Defendant for negligently concealing the sharp and dangerous object. The case settled for insurance policy limits of $2,000,000.
Toxic Chemical Exposure
Settlement: $1,700,000 | Toxic Chemical Exposure
Our client was exposed to toxic chemicals and developed cancer. This was a heartbreaking case because our client’s condition became terminal during the course of the litigation. While these cases are very challenging, they are worth the fight and we pushed hard to negotiate with the defendant so that our client and his family could be secure.
Judgment in excess of $1.5 million
Martin Zurada led a case for two disadvantaged and frequently houseless immigrants who were cheated and abused by an unscrupulous motel owner in Oakland. Both were cheated out of their wages for the hard work they had been putting in at the motel. Worse yet, our female client was repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by the motel owner. The motel owner knew that our female client was in need of the income from her motel job to obtain stable housing and regain custody of her children. He never imagined that these powerless people would fight back or find a law firm that would believe in them and would fight for their rights. We fought numerous motions and other delay tactics to get to trial. The highest offer we ever got was “$5,000” for both of our clients. We were told that our clients had a “nuisance” lawsuit that was worth nothing. We couldn’t wait for years for a jury trial in Alameda County, so we agreed to bring the case before a judge to speed up the wheels of justice. After a five-day trial led by Martin Zurada, we obtained a judgment for over $800,000 for our clients, and then we augmented it with an award of over $750,000 in attorney’s fees and costs. We then aggressively pursued collection, and, within six months of the trial, we forced the sale of the motel where all of the wrongdoing happened which resulted in our clients and our firm obtaining full money justice.
Judgment in excess of $1,500,000 | Employees v. Indian Restaurant
Judgment in excess of $1.5 million (with attorneys’ fees). Employees v. Indian Restaurant: Four employees of a restaurant were wrongfully terminated and threatened with deportation after they complained about repeated wage and hour violations by the employer. The employees worked more than 60 hours per week and were frequently shorted on their already meager “salaries”. The employer repeatedly promised to make up the backpay in the future and, after employees became persistent in their complaints about the unpaid wages and long hours, the owners of the restaurant threatened to call immigration authorities and have the employees deported. We prevailed at trial, persisted through six bankruptcies, multiple fraudulent liens on assets, and eventually seized three investment properties belonging to the employers.
Mediation settlement for $1,350,000 | John Doe v. Financial Institution
Our client was an Area Manager for a large financial institution. He was terminated after he complained about another manager sexually harassing one of the employees, and after our client participated in an investigation of the complaints. The case settled through mediation for $1,350,000.
Mold Claim Denied Insurance Coverage
Mediation settlement for $1,350,000 | Toxic Mold Denied Insurance Claim
Insurance company denied coverage for a mold claim after it failed to take appropriate action to remediate the property. The case settled for $1,350,000.
Toxic Mold Exposure
Settled for $1,250,000 | Jane Doe v. ABC Corp.
Our clients suffered personal injuries as a result of mold exposure. The exposure killed their puppy. We were the fifth lawyer on the case. Plaintiff’s prior lawyer recommended that they accept a $90,000 settlement offer. We thought Defendant had done way too much harm to our clients and needed to fully compensate them. The case settled for $1,250,000 on the courthouse steps.
Settled for $1,200,000.00 | Jane Doe v. Property Management Company
Defendant’s manager sexually harassed our clients and terminated them when they complained.
Combined Settlement: $1.1 Million | Jane Doe v. Medical practice
Defendant sexually harassed our clients.
Judgement in excess of $1,100,000 | Jane Doe v. Fraudulent Transferors
Our client was able to prove, after a full trial, that defendants placed about $1,100,000 in fraudulent liens to avoid collection on an earlier $800,000 plus judgment in favor of our client. The judge issued a tentative decision in the fraudulent transfer action indicating that he intended to extend the original $800,000 plus judgment against all persons involved in the fraudulent transfers, and would award significant emotional distress and punitive damages, resulting in a judgment well in excess of the $1.1 million in fraudulent transfers. The case settled before judgment was entered.
Commercial Driver Accident
Policy Limit Settlement of $1,100,000 | John Doe v. Commercial Driver
Client was able to recover $1,100,000 (policy limits) for spinal injuries resulting from a low-speed vehicle collision caused by an inattentive commercial driver, and then made worse by another low-speed collision involving another inattentive driver. Plaintiff had spinal surgeries prior to the collision and the collisions aggravated those prior spinal problems and led to two more spinal surgeries.
Bicycle Accident
Settled for $1,000,000 | Bicyclist struck by vehicle.
Our client was riding her bike when a driver turned right and struck her causing fractured patella and large cut on her neck.
Settled for $1,000,000
Our client was standing near a forklift when the operator lost control of the load and dropped it on our client’s foot causing peripheral nerve injury to the foot.
Unlawful Behavior At Non-Profit
Settlement: $1,000,000 | Policy Limits Settlement with Non-Profit
Our clients were females working for a non-profit that permitted unlawful behavior towards them and ignored repeated complaints.
Whistleblower Retaliation
Settlement: $1,000,000 million | Policy Limits Settlement for Retaliation
Our clients were whistleblowers at a medium sized company that retaliated against them after they brought unlawful conduct to light. Our clients complained of gender and racial discrimination, and we exposed how this business rewarded bad behavior instead of people who were doing the right thing. A pivotal moment was when key management witnesses told the truth and testified in our favor.
Premises Liability / Personal Injury
Settlement: $1,000,000 | Hernandez v. Dan’s Bar
Our client was a Patron at Dan’s Bar. Our client had a disagreement with the bartender that resulted in our client’s ejection from the facility. While he was outside the bouncer threw his shoulder into our client’s chest and caused our client to fall and strike his head on the concrete. We fought the insurance company which claimed that our client was responsible for his own injuries. The case settled for insurance policy limits of $1,000,000 just before trial.
Settlement: $1,000,000 | Bicyclist v. Auto Driver
Bicyclist was struck by large auto and suffered severe physical and mental injuries. Defendant did not want to take responsibility until right before trial.
Settled for nearly $900,000 | Worker v. Employer
An employee who was underpaid while working around the clock in substandard conditions for the employer and terminated when client complained.
Settlement: $865,000
Missed diagnosis of a benign tumor that grew causing surgery that would not have been necessary.
Insurance Company Interference
Settlement: $800,000 | ABC Corp. v. XYZ Corp
Insurance company tortuously interfered with our clients prospective economic advantage. The case settled for $800,000 and an agreement to change practices.
Settlement: $800,000 | John Doe v. Jane Doe
Our clients brought a wrongful death claim after their father was killed in a motorcycle versus car accident in a very challenging damages case.
Arbitration Award: $787,414.54
Our client was injured as a result of a rear end wreck.
Motor Vehicle Accident
Settlement: $725,000 | John Doe v. Jane Doe
Motor vehicle accident causing a spinal injury.
Construction Site Injury
Jury Verdict: $720,000 | Construction Site Accident
Our client fell into an opening at a construction site and suffered injuries to his knee and both wrists.
Premises Liability
Settlement: $700,000 | Premises Liability Accident
A stairway gave way and collapsed causing injuries including a femoral fracture which required surgery.
Bicycle Accident
Settlement: $650,000 | Bicyclist v. Driver
A driver struck and injured an avid bicyclist who tried conservative treatment but eventually needed a knee replacement surgery.
Settlement: $625,000 | Motorcycle Accident
Motorcycle accident. Total settlement value $625,000.
Terminated Contract
Settlement: $625,000 | ABC Corp v. XYZ Corp
Defendants terminated a contract to provide improvements to a number of office buildings. Our clients could not afford an hourly attorney so we represented them on a contingency fee.
Employee Misclassification
Settled for more than $600,000 | Pharmacists v. Pharmacy Company
Our clients were pharmacist who were misclassified as salaried employees and not paid their overtime and were not provided their meal or rest breaks. This type of case requires significant document analysis, and we reviewed a voluminous number of documents to confirm what was happening to our clients.
Settlement: $590,000 | Shrimplin v. Driver
Our client’s vehicle was struck by another driver going about 30 mph on an Oakland street. Our client had dreams of becoming a stylist, and she suffered from chronic pain, had no surgeries and limited medical treatment. Our client, her friends and family, and our team of experts testified at trial. The insurance company made a final offer of $15,000 before trial and dismissed her pain and suffering as inconsequential and temporary. $590,000 (about 20 times the offer).
Settlement: $575,000 | Our client vs County of Solano
Our client lost control of her car when traveling on fresh gravel causing her to roll over into a ditch. Chip sealing had recently been performed and the defendants failed to complete last step which resulted in a major shoulder injury requiring surgery.
Settlement: $565,000 | John Doe v. Vessel Operator
Our clients brought a wrongful death claim after he was killed in a collision between two vessels in a nearly impossible liability case.
Settlement: $550,000
Our clients worked at a restaurant that did not pay them all of their wages and did not make meal/rest breaks available. This case involved over a dozen plaintiffs at various jobs at the restaurant, all of whom were wronged. Defendants repeatedly denied responsibility until right before trial, and we won multiple legal battles to achieve justice.
Settled for more than $550,000 | John Doe v. Professional Firm
Defendant terminated our client because of his age.
Medical Malpractice
Settlement Award: $500,000
Medical Malpractice case causing death. Nursing home malpractice.
Settlement: $500,000
Our client suffered a TBI when she was a passenger when another vehicle rear ended the vehicle she was riding in.
Vehicle Accident
Settlement: $500,000
Our clients were in a car crash with back injuries.
Pedestrian Serious Injury Accident
Settled for over $500,000 | Pedestrian v. Driver
A pedestrian’s leg was broken when he was struck by a car at an Oakland crosswalk.
Judgment for over $500,000 | Body Shop v. Spray Booth Manufacturer
Our client, an auto body shop, obtained a judgment against a spray booth manufacturer who failed to deliver and install a paint spray booth as promised causing significant business damages due to reduced ability to paint repaired cars.
Settlement: $500,000 | Female Employees v. Restaurant
Two female workers were sexually harassed at a restaurant by their chef who tried to sleep with them and touched them inappropriately. When the two females complained, they were ignored. One client quit and the other was terminated in retaliation.
