Your Iowa Attorneys

Verdict & Settlements

The results we obtained in each of these cases were based on facts, legal issues, and insurance coverage that were unique to each case. For this reason, you should not assume or expect we will obtain a result like this in your case. We present this information to show that LaMarca & Landry, P.C. has litigated large cases, complex cases and cases arising out of a wide variety of factual scenarios. Because each case is different, prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.

Business Litigation

• $2.4 million settlement in an ERISA case for 25 members of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) whose stock in the company was forcibly sold at less than fair market value by the trustees of the ESOP.
• $14.2 million federal court jury verdict, including $10 million in punitive damages, for 10 Midwest seed companies for breach of contract and fraud by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, the largest corporation in the world.
• $4.4 million trial court ruling for fraud by a developer who diverted loan proceeds rather than pay a construction firm which built subdivision infrastructure in reliance on loan proceeds. The ruling consisted of $1.1 million in actual damages and $3.3 million in punitive damages.
• Injunction against the State of Iowa on behalf of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Bekenton USA, Inc., preventing the State of Iowa from improperly assessing royalties in a Master Settlement Agreement in nationwide tobacco class action settlement.
• Multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of real estate development company and against a bank for bad faith and fraud in breaching agreement to lend sufficient funds to complete multiple development projects. Settlement included substantial reduction in liability for personal guarantors, actual damages and highly favorable restructuring of loans for certain projects and deed in lieu of foreclosure with a waiver of personal liability on loans for two projects which development company no longer wanted to complete.
• $1.7 million federal court jury verdict for breach of contract and slander against Washington National Insurance Company on behalf of a Sioux City insurance brokerage.
• $43,000 jury verdict on claims of breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud against a real estate developer who misused and mismanaged a homeowners association’s money while completing the development.
• $2 million class action settlement for patients who were overcharged for medical services by the use of hospital liens filed by Mercy Medical Center against their motor vehicle personal injury lawsuits.
• $300,000 jury verdict for breach of verbal agreement for a business who sued the widow of its former president who named her, rather than the company as promised, as the beneficiary of an insurance policy on his life.
• $300,000 recovery for a 77-year-old widow who was defrauded by a younger man who had gained her friendship and confidence, only to obtain money and mistreat her.
• $1.7 million federal court jury verdict for 47 former employees of the Younker’s department store chain who were denied severance pay upon the consolidation of this division with Carson Pierce Scott by parent company Saks, Incorporated.
• Landmark case with confidential monetary settlement and requiring agreement by major medical center not to engage in quota contracts which required cardiologists and heart surgeons to utilize implantable cardiac rhythm devices from one manufacturer.
• Successful defense of breach of exclusive intellectual property license agreement and successful trial court ruling on counterclaim for defamation and unfair competition, resulting in award of $157,500 to licensee and over $250,000 in statutory attorney fees.
• $2.8 million administrative law judge ruling in favor of Consolidated Freightways for damage to consigned freight and overcoming “act of God” defense in Chicago & Northwestern Railway bill of lading for negligent operation of train during violent thunderstorm resulting in derailment on elevated trestle bridge.
• $664,000 trial court ruling for breach of a commercial lease and constructive eviction due to unremediated rainwater intrusions which caused property damage and led to mold growth. The award included damages for the purchase of leasehold improvements at new location, employee downtime during relocation, moving expenses, reimbursement for remediation expenses during occupancy and attorney fees.
• $40,000 settlement for a tortious interference claim against a landlord for interfering with the sale of a tenant’s business operated in landlord’s shopping center. In same case, also obtained $145,000 district court judgment against a third party for encouraging landlord to make a side-deal with buyer.
• $150,000 district court judgment for seller against buyer for breaching purchase agreement for restaurant business.
• $475,000 settlement in favor of general contractor in a mechanic’s lien priority dispute between contractor’s lien and the bank’s first mortgage.
• $71,664.70 district court judgment for breach of promissory note.
• Confidential settlement of claim for negligent security against large retail mall owner and security company where video surveillance showed 5-year-old girl playing on escalator more than 20 minutes before she fell to her death.
• Physician non-compete agreement deemed unenforceable due to employer’s failure to follow disciplinary protocol and employer’s failure to demonstrate actual need for covenant to protect its interest.

Personal Injury

• $4.3 million trial court ruling against the Iowa Department of Transportation for negligent maintenance of a highway resulting in a head-on collision seriously injuring two members of the Drake University women’s basketball team.
• $1.1 million settlement on behalf of a 55-year-old woman who received severe crushing injuries to her left leg when struck by a commercial vehicle while she was in the crosswalk at a busy downtown Des Moines intersection.
• $2.74 million settlement for a 24-year-old woman who suffered multiple pelvic fractures and a concussion after being run over by a DART bus in downtown Des Moines.
• A multi-million dollar post-jury verdict settlement against 18 manufacturing companies for the families of 10 persons killed in a department store fire, which the jury found to have been caused and spread by defective polyvinyl chloride wire insulation.
• $1 million settlement for a 34-year-old bicyclist who was struck from behind by a truck on a rural road.
• $390,000 jury verdict for the estate of a 21-year-old unmarried woman without dependents who was killed in an intersection collision in a rural Iowa county.
• $800,000 settlement for a 46-year-old woman who suffered a back injury while a passenger in a helicopter that suffered engine failure and had to ditch in the ocean off Islamorada, Florida.
• $900,000 settlement for the estate of a 62-year-old truck driver killed when a defectively designed two-story grain bin loaded with six tons of soybeans collapsed on top of his truck while delivering soybeans to a grain elevator.
• $1.6 million settlement to the widow of a 46-year-old grain elevator manager killed by an explosion of grain dust ignited from an electrical short.
• $90,000 settlement for a 68-year-old man who suffered a broken wrist with nerve damage after being hit by a DART bus in downtown Des Moines.
• $690,800 settlement for the estate of a 45-year-old single woman with no dependents who was killed when a garbage truck drove over her.
• $150,000 settlement for a man who suffered a broken leg when the defective logging tool he was using broke.
• $75,000 settlement for a man who suffered soft tissue injuries after falling down when an escalator suddenly slowed down.
• $140,000 settlement from private healthcare facility for an 11-year-old girl who was allowed to leave a youth shelter with a 17-year-old male resident who sexually assaulted her.
• $950,000 settlement for a man who suffered a broken arm and cervical disc bulges when he was struck by a semi while aiding another motorist on I-80.
• $1.67 million settlement for an unmarried man with no dependents who suffered non-paralyzing spinal fractures and soft tissue injuries as a passenger in a single-car rollover. Defendants included the driver and owner of the vehicle and the Iowa County Highway Department that negligently maintained the gravel road on which the rollover occurred.
• $250,000 settlement for husband and wife injured when a pickup truck turned in front of them.
• $350,000 award by trial judge for a 41-year-old male construction worker who sustained right knee medial meniscus tear and pelvic fracture when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by an oncoming vehicle that turned left into his lane. He also suffered a loss of consciousness for several minutes at the scene, with a diagnosis of mild concussion. Liability was uncontested and trial was on damages only. Damages included an award for past and future medical expenses, past and future physical and mental pain and suffering, past lost wages and partial impairment of future earning capacity.
• $220,000 settlement for a motorcyclist who suffered a fractured left clavicle, fractured left humerus, fractured left forearm and non-displaced cervical fracture requiring a neck brace for four weeks. Defendant motorist made an unsafe left turn in front of a motorcycle at a busy intersection in Ankeny, Iowa. Confidential settlement of claim for negligent security against large retail mall owner and security company where video surveillance showed unattended five-year-old girl playing on an escalator more than 20 minutes before she fell to her death.
• $1.1 million settlement for a 55-year-old woman whose leg was severely injured when she was struck by a DART bus while in the crosswalk.
• $100,000 policy limit settlement from Defendant who ran red light at busy intersection resulting in extension/flexion (“whiplash”) with resulting permanent pain syndrome as a result of residual scarring in the soft tissues of the cervical and thoracic spine.

Medical & Professional Malpractice

• $2 million medical malpractice jury verdict after a spine surgery operation left a 55-year-old woman partially disabled.
• $4.5 million settlement from a national accounting firm to investors who bought stocks and bonds in reliance on the firm’s faulty financial information in an offering underwritten by a commodities brokerage.
• A multi-million dollar confidential settlement for 8 medical malpractice victims from the estate of a prominent Des Moines plastic surgeon with a history of personal problems who later killed himself.
• $2 million class action settlement for patients who were overcharged for medical services by the use of hospital liens filed by Mercy Medical Center against their motor vehicle personal injury lawsuits.
• $175,000 jury verdict against a Des Moines orthopedic surgeon for a lawyer who had multiple dislocations after a hip replacement surgery.
• $850,000 settlement for the estate of a man who died of undiagnosed cardiotoxicity from the cancer drug Fluorouracil (5-FU).
• Landmark case with confidential monetary settlement and requiring agreement by major medical center not to engage in quota contracts which required cardiologists and heart surgeons to utilize implantable cardiac rhythm devices from one manufacturer.
• $870,000 settlement for a non-displaced thoracic fracture and a herniated cervical disk requiring infusion incurred by a 40-year-old professional injured in a multiple rollover collision in Warren County, Iowa.
• $45,000 medical malpractice settlement for a woman whose thumb was injured after she was placed in an incorrect post-operative splint.
• A multi-million dollar confidential settlement of a nuisance lawsuit on behalf of 125 homeowners who were exposed to harmful particulate matter and hydrogen chloride emissions from a manufacturing facility with a defectively designed emissions system.
• $1.5 million settlement on behalf of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association against a bank for undue influence to get an elderly woman to change her will so as to give $1.5 million to a nursing home building fund rather than the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
• $1.1 million jury verdict against Norwest Bank Iowa, N.A. for negligence resulting in the loss of an SBA guaranteed loan commitment to a small manufacturing company.
• $140,000 settlement from private healthcare facility for an 11-year-old girl who was allowed to leave a youth shelter with a 17-year-old male resident who sexually assaulted her.
• Confidential medical malpractice settlement for 32-year-old athletic male who presented with unexplained “out of control” pain in his lower right extremity and against ER physician for failure to order MRI or consult with orthopedic surgeon as part of diagnostic workup, and thus failing to diagnose compartment syndrome resulting in permanent foot drop.

Workers’ Compensation

• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $320,000 for a worker who slipped on ice in the employee parking lot and suffered a fractured skull.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $120,000 for a school maintenance worker who suffered a torn rotator cuff.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $1,000,000 for a 48-year-old truck driver who suffered a brain injury in a single-vehicle accident. The employer originally denied the claim, asserting that the driver had deviated from his employment at the time of the injury by driving an alternate route.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $144,000 for a foundry worker who suffered left and right rotator cuff tears.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $148,800 for a maintenance worker who suffered a low-back injury.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $88,000 for a truck driver who sustained a low-back injury in a fall on the ice in a parking lot.
• Workers’ compensation arbitration award of permanent total disability benefits for a 66-year-old horse show employee who suffered multiple injuries following the collapse of portable horse stalls. The employer alleged that the worker was an independent contractor and not an employee.
• Workers’ compensation arbitration award of 80% industrial disability for a factory mechanic whose legs were run over by a forklift causing a hip injury and neuropathic pain. The employer alleged that the injury was confined to his legs.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $49,593 for the employee of a paving company who injured his back when run over by a power broom.
• Workers’ compensation arbitration award of permanent total disability for a truck driver who fell from his flatbed to the ground suffering an injury to his lower back. The employer and its insurance carrier alleged that the truck driver had suffered no permanent injury.
• Workers’ compensation arbitration award of permanent total disability against the Second Injury Fund of Iowa for a 54-year-old shelf stocker who suffered severe bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $150,000 for a 57-year-old repairman who injured his low back while lifting a refrigerator.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $85,000 for a worker who injured his back while sandblasting a water tower. The employer alleged that the worker’s disability was due to a pre-existing back condition.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $52,800 for a waitress who fell while carrying trays at work and injured her neck and right shoulder. The employer was unable to accommodate her restrictions.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $32,440 for a trade school student who lost his eye while building a house. At issue was whether the student was covered under workers’ compensation.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $96,000 for a construction worker who suffered a rotator cuff tear as a result of a work-related fall.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case of $50,000 for a nurse’s aide at an assisted-living center who injured her right shoulder and neck while assisting a resident. The employer alleged that her injuries did not limit her ability to work.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case for an aviation maintenance worker in the amount of $69,600. The employer and insurance carrier alleged that the medical condition was due to a non-work injury.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation claim in the amount of $110,000 for a 29-year-old factory worker who fell off a conveyor belt at work and suffered a back injury.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation case in the amount of $155,000 for a foundry worker who was exposed to toxic chemicals and developed permanent respiratory distress.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation claim in the amount of $250,000 for a foundry worker who suffered injuries to his left and right shoulders.
• Settlement of a contested workers’ compensation claim in the amount of $185,000 for a 58-year-old female truck driver who injured both shoulders while securing cargo.

The composite of experience of all of the above matters demonstrates that we have dedicated many practice years in the gathering and presentation of evidence before judges, juries, administrative courts, arbitration panels and corporate boards. While the facts and applicable law of each case are different, there is a commonality to the investigative techniques, rules of evidence and presentation skills that form the building blocks of each and every contested matter.