Local News Blog | Harrisburg, PA | Schmidt Kramer, P.C.

What is the best way to cover subjects that many patients ask about?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 14, 2013 in Workers' Compensation

Nothing is worse than losing a loved one to a work-related injury or occupational disease. In addition to the emotional pain and loss, your family will suffer financially, especially if the deceased was the main breadwinner. A work-related accident that causes the death of a loved one is devastating both emotionally and financially. If you […]

PAJ Inaugural “End Distracted Driving” Presentation Is Tomorrow At The Church Farm School In Exton

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 14, 2013 in News

Posted on Feb 14, 2013 Inaugural “End Distracted Driving” presentation is February 15 at the Church Farm School in Exton EXTON, Pa., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ With approximately 11,000 daily accidents due to distracted driving – and an untold number of “near misses” as drivers narrowly evade calamity – the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (PAJ) […]

Surgical Scars Qualify for Workers’ Compensation Disfigurement Benefit

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 13, 2013 in Workers' Compensation

Pennsylvania employers carry workers’ compensation insurance to cover employees who become sick or injured on the job. This insurance provides timely financial assistance to injured workers in the form of medical and wage replacement benefits. Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law clearly details some benefits, such as specific loss benefits, which are paid to a worker who […]

Commonwealth Makes Plans To Improve Safety of Dangerous Lancaster County Intersection

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 12, 2013 in News

Posted on Feb 12, 2013 PennDOT officials plan to take steps to improve the intersection of routes 222 and 322 in Ephrata Township, the most accident-prone area in Lancaster County and one of the worst in the entire state. The state plans to complete a roadway safety audit this year that will look for low-cost […]

Schmidt Kramer Partner Scott Cooper Participates In Spin-A-Thon To Benefit Save A Child’s Heart Foundation

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 11, 2013 in News

Posted on Feb 11, 2013 On Sunday February 10, 2013, Schmidt Kramer partner Scott Cooper participated in a Spin-A-Thon to benefit Save a Child’s Heart Foundation. Scott participated in spinning at the Harrisburg JCC for 3 hours which made up 4 segments of 45 minutes each with 5 minute breaks to raise money for the […]

Alzheimer’s Disease Follows a Predictable Pattern of Progression

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 09, 2013 in Social Security Disability

As Lebanon Social Security disability attorneys, we work with clients who suffer from serious injuries and illnesses to obtain the Social Security disability benefits they are due. One of the most difficult diagnoses is that of early onset Alzheimer’s disease – a degenerative brain disease that causes debilitating dementia. It occurs mostly in people over […]

Does Alzheimers Disease Qualify For Social Security Disability

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 07, 2013 in Social Security Disability

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that causes dementia – the loss of intellectual capacity. While most people are diagnosed with the disease when they are over the age of 65, about five percent of those who develop the disease do so before that time, typically in their 40s and 50s. This is […]

PBI Press Publishes Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyer Scott Cooper’s Book On Civil Depositions

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 05, 2013 in News

Posted on Feb 05, 2013 PBI Press Publishes Schmidt Kramer Injury Lawyer Scott Cooper’s Book On Civil Depositions: A to Z of Civil Depositions To order the book go to the link below. https://www.pbi.org/ Mr. Cooper is a partner in the firm of Schmidt Kramer in Harrisburg, where he specializes in personal injury law with […]

Pennsylvania Association for Justice President Scott Cooper’s Winter 2013 President’s Message

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 04, 2013 in News

Posted on Feb 04, 2013 Schmidt Kramer Partner Scott Cooper is the 2012-13 President for the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. As part of his efforts to build upon keeping members and the public informed about recent events impacting victims as well as future trial lawyer events, attached is a link to his Winter 2013 message. […]

Five Ways to Prevent a Lancaster Rollover Car Accident

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 03, 2013 in Car Accidents

A Lancaster rollover accident—one in which the car rolls over—is very dangerous and often results in serious injuries or even death. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2010 more than a third of all passenger vehicle accident fatalities involved rollover crashes. More than 7,600 people died in rollover crashes; 69 percent […]

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$10,043,952.13 Personal Injury
Schmidt Kramer, P.C.partner Gerard C. Kramer won a personal injury action for $10,043,952.13 in Northumberland County on behalf of a volunteer firefighter who was the victim of Intentional Tort. The 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was seriously injured when a barn collapsed, causing a spinal injury which left him a paraplegic. The claim was brought against the arsonist who intentionally started the fire. It is believed that the verdict is the highest ever in Northumberland County.
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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury
Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting.You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction.It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear.When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused.At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results.Joe ChapmanJanuary 18, 2013
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$2,200,000.00 Auto Accidents
On Monday, January 6, 2014, Schmidt Kramer accident lawyer Scott Cooper obtained a verdict on behalf of his client who is the widow of a man who died in a fiery crash on Interstate 78 in Lebanon County. The awarded verdict of $2.2 million was in a nonjury proceeding before a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. That verdict includes $100,000 in punitive damages assessed against the owner of the trucking company.Kamilah Claxton won summary judgment in November after the defendants, Sukhwinder Singh and the trucking company for which he worked, failed to file a brief in opposition to Claxton's motion, which was made in September. The verdict in Claxton v. Singh was issued after the court held a non-jury assessment of damages earlier this month."Mr. Sukhchan Singh, the employer, is liable on the basis of respondent superior, but was also grossly negligent in failing to maintain his vehicle in compliance with state and federal law, particularly with regard to having required safety inspections and correcting defects in its braking equipment," said U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell of the Middle District of Pennsylvania in his opinion accompanying the verdict."He was also grossly negligent in entrusting his vehicle to Sukhwinder Singh, an inexperienced truck driver who had failed the written test and driving test multiple times before finally earning his commercial driving license," Caldwell said.
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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury
A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy.2012-06-26 10:00:00 AMDate of Verdict: June 19. 2012Court and Case No.: C.P. Dauphin County No. 2009-CV-14003-MMJudge: Scott EvansType of Action: Medical malpracticeInjuries: Anoxic brain injuryPlaintiffs Counsel: Terry S. Hyman, Schmidt Kramer, HarrisburgPlaintiffs Experts: Dr. Anna H. Messner, liability; Lucille Packer, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Palo Alto, Calif.; Terry P. Leslie, vocations and earning capacity, Lancaster; Dr. Hilary B. Berlin, pediatric psychiatry, Great Neck, N.Y.Defense Counsel: Andrew H. Foulkrod, Darlene K. King, Foulkrod Ellis, Camp Hill, PADefense Experts: James C. Reilly, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Wilmington, DEComment: A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy.The entire verdict came against Dr. Andrew M. Shapiro, the doctor who plaintiffs Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Metz alleged chose to have the boy monitored at a pediatric ward. The plaintiffs argued Shapiro failed to tell nurses caring for the baby about, and how to care for, the boy's enhanced risk for respiratory failure.The jury came back on June 19 and awarded Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Mets $500,000 in non-economic damages and $686,170 in loss of future earning capacity, according to the plaintiffs counsel.According to the statement, the baby's mother brought him to Shapiro because she was "'afraid that he might stop breathing during his sleep,'" the plaintiffs' pretrial statement said. Shapiro performed a sleep study and observed the baby's Apnea Hypopnea Index to be 43 — four times higher than what's considered severe. A tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy were performed.According to the plaintiffs, the baby's sleep study results put him at an increased risk for post-operative respiratory complications. Despite this, they argued in the statement, Shapiro ordered the pediatric nurses at the Harrisburg Hospital general pediatric ward to observe the boy as they would any other patients — about once every four hours.The pretrial statement said that one in four children who have an AHI in the 40s and oxygen desaturation below 80 have some type of respiratory problem. The younger the child, the greater the risk of a respiratory problem, the statement said.According to the statement, Shapiro took off the child's pulse oximeter, the finger-mounted device used to measure blood oxygen, and ordered a heart and respiratory rate monitor. The child was 11 months old at the time.The plaintiffs pled that the baby was last seen at 4 a.m. There was no record of his oxygen saturation for the next hour and 45 minutes. He stopped breathing a 6:40 a.m., and his brain was without oxygen long enough to cause demonstrable injury on an MRI."Immediately prior to his surgery, [the child] was a normal child, who could say mama, eat finger foods, and was just on the verge of walking," the statement said. "After his code, [he] was like a newborn. He could not lift his head or sit up. He could not talk. He could not move."In his pretrial statement, Shapiro argued that he recognized the child's pre-operative sleep study showed he was driven to breath by decreased blood oxygen saturation, which he said was typical in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.He argued the American Academy of Otolaryngology dictates that admission to the intensive care unit is not the standard of care. In the statement, he said nurses did not observe signs of respiratory distress. No alarms sounded until the child arrested, the statement said.He said the baby likely arrested as a result of hypoglycemia and/or an acute aspiration, which he argued would not have been identified by blood oxygen saturation.— Ben Present, of the Law Weekly
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$1,024,040.80 Auto Accidents
Scott Cooper settled a wrongful death case on behalf of the widow of a police office who was killed in a car accident in the line of duty for $1,024,040.80. The claim against the other driver was amicably resolved before suit was filed for the entire available policy limits for the other driver. The case took place in Adams County, PA.
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Testimonials

Very caring and compassionate
Debra Zervanos
Gerry and his team were very caring and compassionate. Gerry was always very responsive to me whether it be phone calls or emails. He kept me updated every single step of the way. His team and himself worked tirelessly to get me the best possible outcome to my situation. He was able to wrap everything up within two years with a nice bow on it. I will forever be grateful and will recommend him to everyone.
Dakota Cravener
Solid, trustworthy and lucky to have on your side! Dennis Kergick represented me and I was very impressed. Finally a down to earth and easy to talk to attorney . When the time came he was a junk yard dog and I could see the opposing counsel was intimidated. All while maintaining a professional level of respect and courtesy. Would recommend to friends and family. Keep up the good work!!
It’s hard to believe it’s been four years already, but I’m still deeply thankful for my experience with Dennis. Now living in Illinois, I’ve had some similar encounters, and people here are often surprised — and even a bit shocked — when they hear my story. They always end up admitting just how good Dennis truly was. It’s something I didn’t fully realize at the time, but the more I share, the more it’s confirmed to me. God bless, and thank you I came back stronger than ever.
I wanted you to know that I'm so glad that I switched to Schmidt Kramer and that you are my Attorney. I think you are doing a great job for me, and wanted you to know that, A+++Thank you againKen

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