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In the case of McAllister v. S.C. Dept. of Transportation, tried in 2004 before a Spartanburg County Jury, the Jury awarded a total of $15 million, a combined award for a wrongful death and a personal injury resulting from the same crash. Gary Poliakoff was lead trial attorney. The case concerned a failure by the DOT to maintain a highway safety sign that was required by DOT engineering plans for the intersection, the absence of which led to a horrible collision. In the case, we also proved that the S.C. DOT failed to have in place any credible system for keeping record of required signs, or for replacement of signs when missing. (A lesser amount was actually paid in settlement while on appeal). At that time, it was the highest jury award in the history of Spartanburg County.
In 2004, an investment firm, Carolina Investors, subsidiary of HomeGold, crashed and closed its doors. Over 8,000 investors lost entirely their savings. The Bankruptcy Trustee assembled a team of 7 litigators, including Gary Poliakoff, to litigate against any responsible parties, for the purpose of collecting as much as possible for the aggrieved investors. Gary Poliakoff participated in all of the work performed by the team and specifically was given the task of litigating against the CPA firm that had approved the financial reports for several years, all of which was highly successful.
In November 2005, Gary Poliakoff and Ray Mullman tried the case of Clark v. White Oak Manor, in which an 85-year-old nursing home patient was given a shot of insulin intended for another patient, resulting in hypoglycemic shock and related problems. The jury awarded $50,000 in actual damages and $1 million in punitive damages. It is believed that this is the highest jury award in a nursing home neglect case in the history of Spartanburg County. (Note: a lesser amount was received in settlement while on appeal).
In 2011, Gary Poliakoff and Ray Mullman tried a 2-week case before a jury against a medical company. The medical company failed to provide sufficiently qualified home health staff to attend to the needs of the partially paralyzed plaintiff, and disaster occurred. While the jury was deliberating, the defendant began significantly increasing its settlement offers. Approximately three hours into the jury’s ongoing deliberations, defendants agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle.
In March 2012, Gary Poliakoff was lead attorney in the case of Babb, et al. v. Lee County Landfill SC, LLC (owned by Republic Services). The case was brought on behalf of 3 households, all alleging severe and frequent odors from the landfill, causing diminished quality of life, enjoyment of property, and similar damages. This was a 2-week jury trial tried in U.S. District Court (Federal Court) in Columbia, resulting in a combined award of $2.32 million. The award for their damages due to the landfill odors was unprecedented for this type of nuisance in South Carolina, per The State newspaper. The 3 sets of homeowners continued to fully own and reside in their homes.
Please feel free to discuss our trial experience, as well as our history of verdicts and settlements, with us.