On September 23, 2002 Mr. R, a hard working married man and father of two young children was part of a crew building large estate homes in a private and secluded community. Unfortunately for Mr. R, the developer and builder failed to supervise the safety, means and methods of how their contractors built the homes. The developer and owner also failed to provide proper safety equipment leaving Mr. R and the small company for which he worked without the tools necessary to safely complete the roof of the home on which he was working. As a result of needing to meet the developer’s demands and not having the proper safety equipment, Mr. R fell approximately 15 feet to the ground. Mr. R was injured and became a paraplegic and lost his ability to earn a living and provide for his family.
Attorney Robert Wayne, a well-known lawyer and fellow pilot contacted Brett Panter and asked him if he could represent the R Family. Mr. Panter was determined to help them out of their financial crisis and to seek compensation in what was a very complex case. Generally, an injured worker is unable to sue the general contractor, and his only remedy is to file a worker’s compensation claim. In this case worker’s compensation paid over a million dollars of benefits and had a lien on the third party claim. Nevertheless, Brett Panter assembled a team including the appellate firm of Hicks and Kneale and and numerous liability experts. Together, they successfully brought a claim against the owner and developer of the project. Brett Panter has handled numerous cases involving issues relating to defeating the exclusivity of worker’s compensation and was familiar with the necessary elements to prove this case.
As a result of significant legal efforts the case was partially settled with one of the defendants for over $2 Million (present value). Mr. R and his family will receive more than $2 Million in guaranteed payments over his lifetime, which will provide Mr. R and his family, future financial security. In addition to the settlement, Mr. Panter is continuing with this case against other defendants. Considering the catastrophic nature of the damages, the case has more work to be done, to provide the R family with continued financial security for the difficulties that they will encounter throughout their lives.
Mr. Panter would like to thank the R family and attorney Robert Wayne for entrusting him with this most significant and important
