Homeowner’s Father-in-Law Fells Tree, Striking Our Client

Attorney John Doran, with assistance from Anthony Minchella, represented an individual from New York who was struck by a falling tree while innocently installing a fence for his employer’s customer. Our client had been working at the property since the day before the incident. The couple that owned the home had purchased a chain saw and cable system for their father and father-in-law to cut down trees on their property. The father-in-law decided to fell a 110 foot tulip tree by himself. The system he set up was woefully inadequate to perform the job safely, and our tree expert seriosuly criticized the father-in-law’s method.  The tree fell in our client’s direction, who had nowhere to escape the falling tree, which struck him on the head and back, knocking him to the ground. During the lawsuit, we uncovered emails between the father and son that showed them trying to establish a story that would shift blame from the son, who had minimal insurance, to the father, who had much more insurance.

Our client suffered a concussion, and also was forced to have back surgery. After years of litigating in federal court, we forced two insurance companies to pay a substantial six-figure settlement, more than what the judge mediating the case felt should be paid.