Verdicts & Settlements

A 72-year-old Canadian visitor to Palm Desert was struck by an out of control vehicle that drove through the front glass window of a Palm Desert thrift store and pinned her against a wall. The thrift store building did not have metal bollards installed in the parking spaces in front of the store which allowed the out of control SUV to crash through the front store window. As a result, she had a lower leg injury that required plastic surgery and therapy. She had other less serious injuries that required treatment.

The Plaintiff is a 52-year old female, who was involved in a Palm Springs step and fall accident occurring in Palm Springs in the pool area of a downtown hotel.

Attorney, Barry Regar, settled a dog bite case for an employed 45-year old female who was bitten in her left upper extremity by a Pit Bull belonging to the son of the owner of a store, in which the victim was working at the time of the dog bite. It was alleged that the dog was being kept in the utility room of a store located in Palm Springs, California for several hours before the bite occurred. She entered the utility room and was immediately attacked by the Pit Bull. She received bites on her left forearm and hand. She underwent surgery for the wounds and was left with residual complaints relative to her left hand and forearm. Minimal scaring also exists. She sustained a loss of earnings in the amount of $7,500.00 and occurred medical billings in the amount of $18,000.00.

Plaintiff is a 70-year old female, who was involved in a Palm Springs slip and fall accident occurring in a downtown Palm Springs restaurant. The Plaintiff entered the restaurant with several of her friends to celebrate a birthday dinner. While Plaintiff was waiting at the reception area for a table, she decided to go to the ladies' room. Plaintiff opened the door to the ladies' room, took several steps inside the ladies' room and slipped and fell in water, causing her to fracture her hip. As a result of the slip and fall accident, the Plaintiff required two hip surgery procedures. Because the first hip surgery was not successful, the Plaintiff had to undergo several months of pain management. At the suggestion of her pain management doctor, she obtained a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon, who recommended the additional surgery, using a different hip replacement prosthesis. As a result of Plaintiff's fall, she also suffered injury to her left upper extremity. The medical bills that were incurred by the Plaintiff totaled approximately $40,000.00. There was no loss of income claimed.

Settlement for a Coachella Valley Trip and Fall Accident. 84-year-old female tripped over an electrical extension cord that had been extended over a common area sidewalk in a shopping complex. The cord was black and the accident happened at night. Although there was overhead lighting from a decorative antique-style street lamp, the injured accident victim did not see the cord before her foot got tangled up in the cord causing her to fall on her left hip. She fractured her left hip requiring surgery. Her medical bills were approximately $40,000 for doctor and hospital services. The defendant store owner responsible for the negligent placement of the electrical cord engaged in this dangerous conduct in order to provide electricity to his sign above his storefront because he said he had no other option for a power source. The electrical cord was extended from his store sign, down a wall, and over the sidewalk to be plugged into an electrical socket in the antique lamp post. Our office sued the store owner and the commercial complex owner for creating a dangerous condition of the property and allowing the dangerous condition to exist for 5 years. The defendants argued that there was no history of other people tripping over the electrical cord and that the accident victim, the client of Barry Regar a Professional Law Corporation, was herself negligent for not watching where she was walking before she tripped. The case settled at a virtual mediation.

A 64-year-old female passenger in an automobile was injured when the car in which she was riding was rear-ended on the freeway. She received injuries to her back, foot, and eye. After an emergency room visit, she followed up with Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert doctors for treatment of her injuries. The injury to one of her eyes resulted in her having to have eye surgery which unfortunately did not totally repair her vision problems caused by the automobile accident. She also had to have foot surgery because of her accident-related injuries. Her neck injuries resulted in her having injections to her neck. She still has residual symptoms of pain and limitations from the accident caused by a negligent driver. Her medical bills were approximately $25,000. Unfortunately, the negligent driver was only insured for $100,000 liability coverage for injury to one person. The personal injury claim was settled with the insurance company for the negligent driver for his policy limits of $100,000 which was less than the reasonable value of our client’s personal injury claim. Because our client had the foresight to purchase Underinsured Motorists coverage as part of her automobile liability insurance policy, we were able to get her own insurance company to pay another $150,000 to their insured to compensate her for her injuries. Residents of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, and the rest of the Coachella Valley should if possible, always purchase Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists coverage as part of their automobile insurance policies. The reason is simple. Many of the accidents caused by negligent drivers are unfortunately uninsured drivers or underinsured drivers with low limits of insurance coverage. If you are in an automobile accident caused by a negligent uninsured driver, and you have Uninsured Motorists coverage in your insurance policy, you can go after your own insurance company for compensation for your injuries, medical bills, and loss of earnings. My client in the case reported above had $250,000 Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists Coverage as part of her insurance policy. Since we obtained a $100,000 settlement for her against the negligent driver’s insurance company which was his policy limit, we were then able to make a claim with her own insurance company for $150,000 which was the total available from her insurance company. The calculations for how we obtained that amount is that the most she could get from her own insurance company would be $250,000 less the $100,000 settlement from the negligent driver’s insurance company which results in her net recovery of $150,000 from her own company. Of course, her insurance company fought the case and the case settled before two months before we had to go to arbitration to resolve the claim.

Mr. Regar settled a medical malpractice case against a hospital for causing a permanent injury to a medical professional. Because of provisions in the settlement release, the specific facts cannot be stated. The injury resulted from the careless acts of a nurse which caused injury to Mr. Regar's client. The client was required to take a medication for the injury that adversely affected the client, resulting in a disability which caused a loss of income and earning capacity. The defendant hospital argued that the injury was not caused by the negligence of their nurse, but was caused by the careless acts of Mr. Regar's client..

Mr. Regar obtained a $1 Million settlement for his 75-year-old client who was involved in a two-vehicle automobile accident resulting in blunt force trauma to the client's chest and heart. Mr. Regar's client also received injuries to his neck and back which did not require surgery. There was no loss of income claimed as a result of the accident. Mr. Regar's client's medical bills were approximately $175,000.

This was a products liability case against an apartment house owner and the Gas Company for negligent servicing of the stove resulting in burns to a 7-year-old child leaving scarring. Medical bills were approximately $75,000. Mr. Regar argued that the apartment house owner provided old and poorly maintained stoves to tenants and that the stove in question failed to properly function, causing an "unrestricted height of flame upon ignition." Mr. Regar further argued that the Gas Company negligently serviced the stove after being called to the apartment by the minor plaintiff's mother. The defendants argued that the minor plaintiff was left home on the day of the accident without adult supervision, that she should not have been attempting to cook without supervision, and that there was actually nothing wrong with the stove when tested after the accident.