The Injury Lawyer Directory Blog

Phil Collins has recently announced that due to a severe spinal cord injury, he will never be able to play the drums again. The 58-year-old lead singer and drummer for the British rock band Genesis has been playing the drums for more than 50 years. In his statement, he expressed a deep sadness over his inability to play drums, but he assured his fans that he will still be able to sing.

Due to the position he sits in while playing the drums, Collins has developed a condition that causes his vertebrae to crush his spinal cord. The condition has deteriorated to the point where he cannot even hold his drum sticks without experiencing severe pain.

In recent years, Collins has been taping his drum sticks to his hands in order to make it through a set. However, even this solution continues to cause him pain, and after serious deliberation, he has decided to put his health first, forcing him to set down his drum sticks once and for all.

Collins first gained notoriety in the early 1970's as the drummer for the British rock band, Genesis. When their original lead singer, Peter Gabriel, left the band in 1975, Collins stepped in to fill the void. Several years later, he launched a successful solo career. However, he has always remained a part of Genesis, carefully balancing his solo career with his obligations to the band which catapulted his career almost 40 years ago.

Due to the severe debilitating pain caused by spinal cord injuries, victims are often forced to endure serious financial hardships resulting from large medical bills and extended periods of time away from work. If you have suffered a spinal cord injury caused by the negligent actions of another, it is important to consult an experienced personal injury lawyer at once. You may be eligible to receive compensation for your damages.

If you have a spinal cord injury claim in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, please contact the experienced Oklahoma spinal cord injury lawyers at Stipe, Harper, Laizure, Uselton, Belote, Maxcey & Thetford today to schedule your free initial consultation.

A woman is still in the hospital after suffering a spinal cord injury on a flight over Texas last Friday night. The injury has left the woman paralyzed.

The woman was aboard Continental Flight 511 from Houston to McAllen, Texas. She went to go to the bathroom while the flight was experiencing considerable amounts of turbulence. She hit her head on the bathroom ceiling when the plane unexpectedly dropped due to the turbulence.

The woman spent the rest of the flight stretched out on the floor of the plane, waiting for paramedics to be able to treat her when the plane landed. She suffered a fractured spinal column and a fractured neck that has left her paralyzed from the chest down. She is scheduled to undergo a second operation to try and repair her condition. It is uncertain whether or not she will ever be able to walk again.

Continental Airlines asserts that the seat belt lights were turned on at the time of the injury. However, it is still unclear whether the light was turned on while the woman was in the bathroom or if she simply ignored the warning light and chose to use the bathroom at an unsafe time. Federal Aviation Administration officials are currently investigating the details of the incident.

If you have a spinal cord injury in the Beaumont, Texas area, please contact the Law Offices of Bush Lewis P.L.L.C. today to schedule a consultation.

A helicopter manufacturer and parts maker has been ordered to pay a New Hampshire couple $9.5 million for injuries sustained when the tour helicopter they were in crashed on Kaua'i in 2007. Judy and Douglas Barton survived the crash, but both sustained fractured spines. Judy is now paralyzed below the chest, while Douglas has frequent back pain that required he give up his machinist job. Another passenger in the helicopter crash was killed.

The helicopter tour was supposed to last an hour, but came down on the Kaua'i North Shore near Haena Beach Park. Investigators found that extreme metal fatigue, which was a problem with other helicopters of the same make, caused the loss of the tail rotor. 500 of the same helicopter models were grounded worldwide as a result of the crash. Similar defects were found in the tail rotors of two helicopters in New Zealand.

Helicopter manufacturer Boeing and parts maker Aluminum Precision Products are paying the $9.5 million dollars. The Bartons will use the money to pay more than $750,000 in medical expenses, hire in-home health professionals, housekeeping staff, and move out of their mobile home.

It's not exactly winning the lottery, is it?

If you or a loved one has suffered a life-changing spinal injury due to a defective product, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.

Darryl Barnes was initially awarded $76.4 million by a jury when he was shot in the back and paralyzed by a police officer 20 years ago. That was then reduced to $8.9 million by a trial judge. Now, Barnes will receive nothing except a bill for $100 for court costs.

The Shooting

On August 22, 1988 in New York, Officer Franz Jerome spotted Barnes running with a Tec-9 semiautomatic pistol. According to prosecutors, Jerome identified himself as a police officer and ordered Barnes to stop, but Barnes kept running. There was a short chase and Barnes fired a shot at Jerome. Jerome fired back, hitting Barnes. Barnes claims he was shot point-blank after he dropped the gun. He alleges he picked up the gun during a fight with two other men and did not see Jerome. He also claims Jerome was not in uniform.

The Aftermath

After 20 years and tens of thousands of dollars spent on court costs, the Court of Appeals refused to hear Barnes' attempt to recoup millions of dollars two different juries ordered the city to pay him. The awards were reversed by a midlevel appeals court. The first appeal brought by the city in 1998 was the result of the city arguing that the trial court excluded evidence that Barnes belonged to an anti-white, anti-police group. This group advocates violent resistance to arrest.

However, in March 2003, Barnes did not show up to the second trial, claiming he was physically and mentally ill. Here, Barnes was awarded $51 million, which the trial judge then reduced to $10.75 million. This second verdict was reversed and dismissed by the appeals judges because Barnes did not appear to prove he was physically and mentally ill.

Barnes' lawyer, Robert Simels is reviewing whether to take the case to the federal level and claims the Court of Appeals upheld a decision that is "1000 percent wrong." On the other hand, the city's top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo, says, "This case became a poster child for the need for tort reform."

Whether or not the actual shooting happened in the way Barnes and his lawyer claim it did, this case has more to do with the way damages are given to those a group of 12 people believe deserve it. We have seen many cases in which city appeals have and the subsequent rulings by judges seem to believe the juries were wrong. But then, that's part of the law of the land, and one the citizens feel is probably just.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by a police officer, please contact a personal injury lawyer in your area.