Serious Truck Collisions

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: A truck driver was struck head-on by a fully loaded semi-tractor/trailer.  He suffered multiple broken bones and brain injuries, requiring multiple surgeries, and he lost his ability to earn income. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the injured man. 

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: A woman driving a passenger vehicle was struck by a fully loaded semi-tractor/trailer in Texas, when it turned into her right of way.  She suffered multiple broken bones and brain injuries, and is never expected to recover full mental capacity.  Working with Texas counsel, WDJG has sued the driver and his employer owners of the tractor.  This case is pending with millions of dollars in claimed damages. 

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: A woman driving a passenger vehicle was hit by a commercial logging truck carrying a full load that ran a stop light.  The woman was killed and WDJG represents the husband against the driver / owner of the tractor-trailer to recover for the loss of his wife.  This case is pending.

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: A father and daughter in a passenger vehicle were struck by semi-tractor trailer in Glenwood Canyon. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the clients.

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: A woman driving a passenger vehicle in Denver was struck by a semi- tractor trailer that ran a stop light. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the woman.

Semi-Tractor Trailer Collision: In Idaho, a woman driving a vehicle was struck by a semi-tractor trailer that crossed a median. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the woman.

Truck Collision: A woman driving a passenger vehicle was struck by a commercial vehicle as she sat at a stop light. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client.

Automobile and Motorcycle Collisions

Automobile Collisions: WDJG attorneys have prosecuted dozens of auto accident cases, rear-end collisions, and other collisions over the years with satisfactory results for their clients.  Often we are able to recover policy limits and have recovered on the client's own uninsured/ underinsured motorist coverage when the defendant's insurance was insufficient.

Motorcycle Collision: A motorcyclist swerving to avoid a careless driver lost control of his motorcycle and suffered injuries that rendered him unable to continue with his career in law enforcement. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client.

Wrongful Death / Personal Injury

Wrongful Death: WDJG attorneys represented families of miners killed in a mine explosion caused by faulty wiring in an electrical device.  The litigation included claims of negligence and products liability. WDJG attorneys obtained a confidential settlement for the families of the deceased miners.  

Personal Injury:When a taxicab driver slammed a passenger’s hand in the door of a taxi, the taxicab company refused to pay for the medical bills.  The client’s hand was broken, and she was unable to fully work and sufferied severe pain.  WDJG sued on her behalf and took the matter to a jury trial; the jury returned a verdict of nearly $100,000 for the injured woman. 

Premises Liability

Premises Liability / Negligence: A child’s hand was crushed by a falling table in a commercial establishment.  WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the child. 

Premises Liability / Negligence: A defective home furnace in a residential home led to carbon monoxide poisoning of the occupants, causing cardiac arrest. WDJG attorneys obtained a confidential settlement for the victims.

Premises Liability / Dog Attack: An elderly woman was viciously attacked by a dog, causing serious injuries to her legs, arms and scalp. WDJG attorneys obtained a confidential settlement for the woman.

Product Liability

Product Liability: Product liability case brought against a major American automobile manufacturer.  The client suffered disabling and permanent injuries when the automobile burst into flames in an automobile accident, resulting from the defective design of the vehicle.  Attorneys at WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client.

Product liability: Product liability suit brought against an after-market vehicle manufacturer for injuries to a client caused by defective design of the vehicle. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client.

Slip and Fall

Slip and Fall: A tenant slipped and fell on a stairway that had been negligently maintained, resulting in the client’s fractured ankle and resulting loss of income and other damages.  WDJG attorneys secured a judgment against the landlord of over $700,000. 

Slip and Fall: A woman fell and was injured on ice outside an apartment because the landlord failed to prevent the accumulation of water falling from the roof. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the woman.

Assault

Assault: A man was attacked in his own home by a guest.  His head was beaten against the tile floor, causing a closed head injury. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the man.

Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death

Medical Negligence: Medical negligence case against a doctor and hospital for implanting a medical device that caused paralysis in the client. WDJG obtained a settlement with the doctor, and secured a jury verdict against the hospital for over $7,000,000.

Medical Negligence: Medical negligence case against a doctor and hospital for damages caused to an infant, including cerebral palsy, by a delayed and improper delivery. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the infant.

Medical Negligence: Medical negligence case against a doctor for misdiagnosis of a child’s illness ultimately causing end stage renal failure, requiring a kidney transplant to save the child’s life. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the child.

Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death: Wrongful death case against a doctor and hospital for causing the death of the client’s husband during treatment of a brain condition. WDJG sued on behalf of the widow and obtained a confidential settlement.

Medical Malpractice / Wrongful Death: Medical negligence case against a medical provider for misdiagnosis of a client’s medical condition, leading to cardiac arrest and death. WDJG represented the patient’s spouse, and secured a confidential settlement.

Medical Malpractice: Medical negligence case against a surgeon for misplacing pedicle screws in a patient’s spine, such that they struck and damaged a nerve, causing excruciating pain. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the patient.

Nursing Home Malpractice / Wrongful Death

Nursing Home Malpractice / Wrongful Death: An elderly father fell from a wheelchair and died when he was taken off the grounds of the nursing home without safety precautions and adequate training. WDJG represented the man’s children in a wrongful death action, and obtained a confidential settlement.

Nursing Home Malpractice / Wrongful Death: Clients’ mother died when she fell from bed that was not properly prepared. WDJG represented the woman’s children in a wrongful death action, and obtained a confidential settlement.

Chiropractic Malpractice

Chiropractic Malpractice: Malpractice case against a chiropractor for negligently manipulating his patient’s neck, causing immediate neck and brain injuries, leading to a stroke that permanently impaired the client. WDJG secured a jury verdict for the patient in the mid six-figures.

Chiropractic Malpractice: Malpractice case against a chiropractor for negligently manipulating his patient’s neck, causing immediate loss of vision because of a stroke. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client.

Professional Malpractice

Attorney Malpractice: WDJG brought a lawsuit alleging negligence and false advertising against a lawyer and a highly visible Denver law firm for failing to meet procedural deadlines,  thereby causing their client's personal injury suit to be dismissed. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the client. 

Fraud and Undue Influence: In California, WDJG filed a fraud and undue influence case against a certified public accountant who wrongfully and improperly influenced an elderly woman with failing mental capacity to change her will and leave practically all benefits of the estate to the accountant. The elderly woman’s heirs hired WDJG to take the case after many other California firms had turned them away.  WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the clients.

Fraud / Undue Influence / Forgery: WDJG represented an elderly father after his daughter and son-in-law took his home and life savings.  WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the clients.

Fraud and undue influence: Elderly and incapacitated parents were unduly influenced by one of their sons who wrongfully obtained their large family ranch, contrary to parents’ estate plans.  After the parents’ death, WDJG represented other siblings who successfully sued to recover the multi-million dollar ranch for the estate and reinstate parents’ estate plans.

Representing Contractors

General Representation of Local Contractors: General representation / defense of local construction clients when they are confronted with claims by owners related to alleged deficiencies or incompleteness of work, or when owners fail to pay. Those cases include claims arising from the construction of $ 4 million dollar homes in Aspen, a $ 1.5 million dollar house in Basalt, and others to cases involving claims of tens of thousands of dollars. These claims may include placing mechanics liens or claims against bonds.

Representing Sub-Contractors: Prosecution of claims for subcontractors in western Colorado when generals or owners fail to pay pursuant to construction contracts or assert unjustified claims of deficient or incomplete work.  

Out-of-State Builders: WDJG represented an out-of-state contractor who was effectively denied the opportunity to perform his contract reconstructing a resort in Rio Blanco County. The client needed representation to ensure that the contractor’s work was not impeded by the general contractor and to avoid any risk of a lawsuit. WDJG successfully represented him in negotiations; a lawsuit was avoided and the work completed.

Defending against Frivolous Owner Demands: A general contractor client constructed a home without any complaints of defects, but when the owner sued with claim of excess costs by the contractor, WDJG acted quickly to defend the contractor from the owner’s claims.

Litigation between Construction Professionals: A contractor was presented with defective plans from the architect, such that he had to improvise in executing the plans to accommodate and resolve multiple errors in the plans. Upon completion, the owners sought to avoid payment, pinning all blame on the contractor. WDJG represented and defeated the owner’s claims.

Construction Litigation by a Subcontractor: A subcontractor client was confronted with a refusal by the general contractor and a public entity to pay the contract sums for work performed. The controversy involved multiple issues relating to the quality of work, calculations of back charges, interference with the client’s performance of work, county bonding requirements and enforcement of the bond, and allocation of general responsibilities between the parties. WDJG’s client was the prevailing party in a court trial of these issues.

Arbitration between General and Sub Contractors: A general contractor refused to pay the subcontractor for work that was done by the subcontractor citing work deficiencies. The arbitration of the claims found in favor of our subcontractor client and awarded costs and attorney fees.

Representing Owners

Flood Damage: WDJG represented the owner of a home in Pitkin County whose house was flooded by a plumber’s negligence. The flooding caused extensive damage, including the settling of the foundation, destruction of fine construction details, and pervasive mold damage. WDJG obtained a confidential settlement for the homeowner client.

Defective Construction: WDJG’s client was sued by a builder who asserted that money was owed for the construction of a new house. The homeowner had been charged twice the contract price for the construction, even though the construction was obviously defective and in breach of the contract. WDJG protected the client by obtaining the dismissal of the builder’s claims.

Defective Construction: WDJG’s client’s home was built so poorly that the framing did not meet the foundation, the stairs to the basement did not align with the basement, and the front door and porch could not be accessed. WDJG obtained a recovery whereby the builder bought the house back from the client.

Adverse Possession / Boundary Disputes

Adverse Possession and Lot-Line Disputes: A lot line dispute between a large ranch in Western Colorado and one of its neighbors revealed pervasive lot-line issues along numerous properties on the Ranch’s entire western border. WDJG filed suit for the Ranch owners in Mesa County District Court against seven defendants, and those seven sued six more interested parties.  WDJG obtained a settlement involving all 14 parties, which ultimately resolved all issues and dramatically increased the marketability of the land.

Adverse Possession and Lot-Line Disputes: A lot line dispute between two neighbors revealed pervasive lot-line issues involving several other properties. WDJG filed suit and obtained a settlement that resolved the issues and dramatically increased the marketability of the land.

Easement Disputes

Establishing Prescriptive Easements:  A woman bought a resort condominium unit as an investment / vacation properly, only to find after closing that the unit included a bedroom that was built on HOA property, without written permission. The HOA threatened to sue, but WDJG attorneys negotiated a permanent easement to allow the bedroom to stay in place.

Establishing Prescriptive Easements: WDJG represented owners protecting their historic right to access over five miles of roadway, defending against the protests of several intervening property owners.

Defending Against Easement Claims: WDJG successfully defended a property owner from a neighbor’s claim asserting the existence of an easement where there was little evidence of the prior existence of a roadway, and despite available access by other routes.

Defending Against Easement Claims: WDJG defended a client from a lawsuit by a neighbor who desired to use the client’s driveway to access a remote portion of the neighbor’s property.

Trespass / Inverse Condemnation

Trespass Litigation: A natural gas extraction company installed gas pipelines on a client’s ranch in a substandard manner, and outside the authorized easement.  WDJG secured a preliminary injunction which halted the project, and then negotiated a confidential settlement to the rancher’s satisfaction.

Inverse Condemnation: A local municipality unlawfully destroyed client’s access road. WDJG filed an action for injunctive relief and inverse condemnation and obtained recovery for the client that included the reconstruction of the road and an award of attorney fees and costs in the amount of over $225,000 against the municipality.

Negotiating Easements and Surface Use Agreements

 Negotiating with Energy Companies: WDJG represented a Garfield County rancher in negotiating a series of access easements over his land sought by a natural gas extraction company.  WDJG helped the rancher increase the compensation being offered by over 400% and also secured specific and binding improvements for his property and indemnification of liability from the company’s operations on his land.  

Negotiating Easements among Multiple Parties: WDJG represented a rancher in negotiations with a neighbor desiring an easement, but problems arose when the holder of the conservation trust encumbering the property objected to the process. WDJG engaged in negotiations with the landowners and the conservation trust to achieve a workable agreement with all parties.

Disputes Relating to Real Estate (See Contract Disputes)

Landlord / Tenant Disputes (See Contract Disputes)

Litigation

Shareholder Dispute: WDJG brought suit against a closely held natural energy services company on behalf of its minority shareholders who were being oppressed by the majority shareholders.  WDJG’s lawsuit eventually led to a confidential settlement and forced buyout to the clients' satisfaction.

General Representation / Advisement

General Representation: WDJG represented a client who owned multiple corporate enterprises in litigation related to operation of large office building and communications-technology company.

General Representation: WDJG represented major local hotel operations including pursuit of litigation of claims made by and against the hotels.

General Representation: WDJG represented local tavern in matters with its landlord, the City, its employees, and prior owners.

General Representation: WDJG represents multiple local homeowner associations from Basalt to Glenwood Springs.

Litigation Advisement: WDJG represents and advises multiple local companies when they find themselves involved in or considering litigation to protect company interests, or in defense of claims made against them. These companies include construction firms, a bank, plumbing companies, a check cashing company, physicians, auto repair shops, realtors, etc.

Collections

Collections: As part of the potential pursuit of litigation, WDJG makes efforts to collect monies owed for general business clients, including lumber yards, hardware stores, a check cashing company, a tire installer, a concrete / paving company, a steel supplier and fabricator, and multiple homeowner associations.

Service Contracts / Contracts for Goods

Breach of Contract / Employment Litigation / Defense of Frivolous Claims: An independent contractor working for a local company was wrongfully terminated, accused of stealing valuable “trade secrets” and other property, and sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages under twenty-four different theories.  WDJG took on his defense and raised counterclaims for commissions owed and not paid (breach of contract).  After a two-week trial, the jury denied all of plaintiff’s claims, and returned a verdict for the independent contractor client for monies owed.

Fraud and Misrepresentation in a Business Transaction: A local businessman purchased a specialty piece of rigging equipment from a company in Texas over the telephone, faxing signatures back and forth.  When he received the equipment several months late, the equipment was defective and not as advertised.  WDJG represented the businessman in Garfield County District Court, and secured a judgment against the Texas company in the six figures. 

Litigation Defense: WDJG successfully defended a bail bonding company that was sued in a dispute over fees and a non-compete agreement, involving claims of several hundred thousand dollars.

Litigation Defense and Counterclaims: WDJG represented a client who was sued by a diesel repair shop for monies owed.  The client defended on the basis that the shop's repairs were deficient and ineffective.  At the end of trial, the court denied the claims of the repair shop and awarded to the client the cost of correcting the deficient repairs, and his costs and attorney's fees. 

Contracts Relating to Real Estate

Fraud and Misrepresentation in the Sale of Commercial Property: Purchasers of a hotel were deceived by the sellers, who impaired title to the property. WDJG brought a suit against the sellers to recover the initial purchase payments and the value of the work and improvements that the buyers had invested in the property over a seven year period. WDJG obtained a successful judgment for the clients.

Real Estate Litigation / Contract Litigation: A lawsuit for injunctive relief was brought by WGDJ on behalf of the buyers of a luxury resort condominium unit against their homeowners association and a homeowner, who wrongfully asserted a right of first refusal. WDJG secured a judgment for the clients and an award of attorney fees.

Defense of Wrongful Foreclosure: WDGJ successfully enjoined the wrongful foreclosure of a client’s large ranch by creditors, preserving millions of dollars of value. 

 Defense of Wrongful Foreclosure: WDGJ successfully enjoined the wrongful foreclosure of a client’s home after her husband had forged her name to a deed of trust.

Leasehold Disputes / Landlord Tenant Disputes

Defending Landlords: A landlord was sued for treble damages and attorney fees in small claims court by a former tenant for allegedly failing to return a security deposit.  WDJG defended the landlord and brought counterclaims. WDJG obtained a judgment against the tenant who lost on all counts and was ordered to pay landlord’s attorney fees.

Defending Tenants: WDJG defended the owner of a failing commercial business against the landlord’s demands for payment of the full lease.

General Advisement: WDJG advises clients with commercial leases how to avoid unfavorable lease conditions and obligations, and helps protect them from the pressures asserted by corporate landlords.

Zoning / Local Government:  In hearings before a local board of county commissioners, WDJG successfully represented landowners who objected to the significant expansion of an adjacent residential development. 

Local Citizen Group Representation: In hearings before a local municipal council, WDJG represented a local citizen group which sought to stop or at least ameliorate an expansion of a large and adjacent condominium project.