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WARSHAUER LAW GROUP SUCCEEDS FOR DOUG BURCHFIELD - $20,559,004.00 VERDICT
Greg Cusimano
May 2012
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Greg Cusimano
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Doug Burchfield suffered amputation to both of his legs when a runaway railcar crashed into another rail car and trackmobile where Doug was working. Doug has no memory of the event.
Michael Warshauer was the leadattorney in this case, tried in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Winning Works, LLC assisted in the preparation for this trial.
This was not an easy case. It had been turned down by another law firm when Burchfield brought it to Warshauer. The case was lost at the first trial, however Michael and team succeeded on appeal in getting a new trial.
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The rail car was delivered to the General Mills cereal factory inCovington, Georgia by CSX Transportation. The runaway car rolled away because the handbrake systems failed to hold the car in place. Michael, Lyle Griffin Warshauer, his wife and partner, and Douglas Dumont (all part of the trial team) were persistent in their investigation of this tragedy. CSX blamed the plaintiff claiming he failed to set the hand brake properly.
Michael never gave up on the case - he believed in the case. With the help of Winning Works, LLC conducting focus groups and assisting in litigation coaching, a shadow jury the trial team employed, the dedication of the trial team and great lawyering, the Warshauer Law Group ultimately succeeded. The jury determined that Burchfield had no fault in his injury. Doug Dumont of the trial team reported that CSX never offered more than $50,000 to resolve the case. CSX did not even own the rail car that caused the tragedy but the railroad company was respo
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Warshauer Law Group
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nsible and accountable for moving it and, by federal law, should have inspected and maintained the car in a safe condition.
In the second trial Dumont and Warshauer focused on the importance of good brakes on railcars and the railroad's choice not to inspect and repair the bad brake. Experts hired by Burchfield's attorneys testified that the rail car's hand brake was badly out of adjustment and that indentations and rust found in close proximity to the hand brake indicated that it had been out of adjustment for some time. One expert, Dumont said, determined that CSX should never have delivered the rail car. According to the Daily Report (ALM Media Properties, LLC.), "Burchfield's attorneys said this week they have filed a motion seeking an additional $4.5 million in interest stemming from their original demand for compensation for Burchfield's medical expenses and other damages."
It was a pleasure working with this law group and trial team because of their dedication to their clients and perseverance to seek justice.
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