Distracted drivers cause accidents. If you’ve been injured by a distracted driver, contact us now. We sue distracted drivers.

Posted in Commercials, Videos | No Comments »

Confidential settlement for a nursing home’s failure to take proper fall precautions. The resident fell from a chair resulting in a hip fracture and a lengthy hospitalization.

Posted in Nursing Home Neglect, Sweeney Case Results, Sweeney Case Results - Nursing Home Neglect | No Comments »

Insight Interview with David Farnbauch introducing head injury resources. 

Video Transcript: 

Q: Welcome back to INsight.  We’re with Dave Farnbauch, at Sweeney Law Firm, and talking about this whole notion of traumatic brain injury and what people can do, as they recover, and what their families can do.

A: Well, what I really wanted to talk about today, Dirk, is the fact that Fort Wayne now has a terrific head injury, brain injury support group.  It was needed for many, many years and we have a terrific program at Parkview Hospital.

Q: Is this that common?  I mean, I guess know a few people in my life that have suffered something like this.

A: Well, I mean, the statistics, Dirk, are really mind boggling about how many people suffer serious head injuries every year in the United States, how many people are hospitalized with traumatic brain injuries, serious concussions that have long term sequelae.  Every year it’s in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people that suffer these kinds of life changing injuries. 

Q: You used a term there I don’t know, long term — 

A: Sequelae.  It’s when residual effects, long term permanent effects.  You know, there’s a, sort of a misnomer that, you know, people that suffer, you know, serious concussions, it’s just a concussion and you’re going to go back to your normal life.  Oftentimes these so-called concussions can lead to life changing lifestyles that people that suffer these kind of injuries.

Q: As an attorney, if somebody has a head injury and they think, eh, everything seems like it’s back to normal and it’s okay, would you, or how often, then, do I have to come back if things turn out not okay, I guess?  

A: Well, I mean, personal injury cases that have a head injury as a component are pretty common and so we have a, you know, it’s just like any other type of a legal claim.  You have two years from the date of the injury.  I would say most of the time with any type of a moderate to severe head injury you’re going to know right away that your life is changed because of a head injury.

Q: So, what is, what do you like about this support group?  What happens?

A: Well, like I said, Parkview, it’s at their campus, Parkview Regional Medical Center, the first Monday of every month.  It’s run by a young lady by the name of Kristen Smith, who does a terrific job.  They have speakers.  People can talk about, you know, their problems and get information about, you know, how to treat these injuries and how to really cope with those kinds of changes in your life that a serious head injury brings about.

Q: Do people find when they get together with other family members and other victims that they share a lot of things in common or is it every case is different?

A: They do.  I mean, like I said, people that have a traumatic brain injury, even a mild traumatic brain injury, you need this kind of support from other people, who have gone through the same thing, so you can share your experiences and get information.

Q: Does the State offer any resources?

A: The State, in Indiana there’s a really good organization called the Brain Injury Association of Indiana.  So the chapter that we have in Fort Wayne is one of the, I don’t know how many chapters there are, about ten or so around the state, that they receive some funding from the Brain Injury Association of Indiana.  Once again, a terrific organization that advocates for people with traumatic brain injury.

Q: All right.  If you would like to learn more about some of the resources that are out there or some of the steps that you can take after suffering a traumatic brain injury or head injury, go to Sweeneylawfirm.com and you can find out more.  You can find all sorts of great resources there.  You can also give them a call.  We will be right back on INsight.

Posted in Personal Injury, Videos | No Comments »

CHARITY FREEMAN: Well the weather has finally warmed up in the Midwest and that means people can finally get outside and enjoy some of those recreational sporting activities they love to do like jet skiing or boating, being outdoors with your family and friends, but unfortunately sometimes those can lead to serious accidents which cause injury or sometimes even death. Today we are here with attorney David Farnbauch from the Sweeney Law Firm to talk about the legal claims that can arise from those recreational accidents. Thanks for joining us today David.

DAVID FARNBAUCH: Great to be here.

CHARITY FREEMAN: David, over the years the number of recreational accidents has risen significantly. You have been handling recreational accident claims for over 25 years. Why do you think that number has been on the rise? 

DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well I think that there are so many recreational accidents these days because so many people have recreational vehicles these days now compared to prior eras. we see lots of cases involving jet skis and water related accidents and those types of recreational vehicles.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Now are there specific rules and regulations that apply to watercraft like the rules of the road that motorists have to abide by when driving a car?

DAVID FARNBAUCH: There are actually a number of rules and regulations that govern watercraft in the state of Indiana.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Now what legal responsibilities do owners of boats, jet skis, and swimming pools even have when someone gets injured using those things?

DAVID FARNBAUCH: I would say that the most important duty that the owner of a watercraft has is to make sure that the watercraft comes into the hands of a person that knows how to operate the boat or the jet ski or whatever watercraft that we are talking about. The most common type of case that we see is where the watercraft comes into the hands of a person that does not know how to operate the equipment and there is an accident.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Now I am curious as to whether the owners of recreational vehicles and watercraft have to carry personal liability insurance or are those things covered under someone’s automobile insurance?

DAVID FARNBAUCH: Most of the time when we bring a personal injury case arising from a watercraft accident there is liability insurance that covers vehicles. Most of the time the liability insurance falls under the owners homeowner’s policy as opposed to their auto insurance policy.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Now David it would think that cases involving a boating accident would be a lot more complex than a regular run-of-the-mill injury case like a car accident. Do you find that these cases are significantly more challenging?

DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think watercraft accidents are more complicated than the run-of-the-mill injury case for a couple of reasons. First of all, most of the time when we deal with the watercraft accident it involves very catastrophic injury oftentimes in these cases unfortunately we’re dealing with somebody that has severe injuries or they’ve died as a result of a watercraft accident. The other thing that makes these cases more complex is the need for investigation. Oftentimes these cases will involve an event that occurs over a number of hours with a lot of participants, so it is critical to do an early investigation and interview all Of the participants in the accident early in the case.  

CHARITY FREEMAN: What advice would you give someone who’s been seriously injured in a recreational activity or sporting activity and maybe interested in pursuing a legal claim?

DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well the first advice that I would give anybody that has been involved in any kind of recreational accident is to refrain from giving any kind of a statement to an insurance adjuster or an investigator without at least obtaining some kind of legal advice. Then the other thing that I would recommend, is if there’s been a bad accident involving some sort of recreational accident it’s important to get a hold of an attorney that handled these types of cases before.

CHARITY FREEMAN: David thanks so much for visiting with us today and giving us some valuable information.

DAVID FARNBAUCH: You’re welcome. It was a pleasure to be here.

Posted in Personal Injury, Uncategorized, Videos | No Comments »

Insight Interview with David Farnbauch, a Sweeney Law Firm Partner; explaining what Probate Court is, and how it is involved with Personal Injury Cases involving minors and Wrongful Death Cases.

Posted in Personal Injury, Videos | No Comments »

$100,000 settlement in a nursing home negligence case against a skilled nursing home facility for failing to properly monitor a resident’s skin for signs and symptoms of an evolving pressure ulcer and for failing to properly treat the resident’s coccyx wounds. 

Posted in Nursing Home Neglect, Sweeney Case Results, Sweeney Case Results - Nursing Home Neglect | No Comments »

$220,000 settlement in a nursing home wrongful death case against a skilled nursing home for failing to monitor a resident for signs and symptoms of bowel obstruction. The resident was transferred to a hospital for emergent treatment of a bowel obstruction and died the following day. 

Posted in Nursing Home Neglect, Sweeney Case Results, Sweeney Case Results - Nursing Home Neglect | No Comments »

13 veterans have filed a class-action complaint against VA Northern Indiana Health Care System. The veterans, who were victims of medical malpractice, were patients of Dr. Bradley Hammersley over a seven-year period.   

The complaint claims hospital staff knew of the botched surgeries. Even though letters were sent to over 100 veterans, most were outside the two-year statute of limitations. The 13 veterans filing the claim tell echoed stories of their experience with widespread malpractice as a result of surgeries by Dr. Hammersley. 

David Farnbauch is representing the veterans in their claim.

Read the full report on VA Medical Malpractice.

Posted in News | No Comments »

13 veterans have filed a class-action complaint against VA Northern Indiana Health Care System. The veterans, who were victims of medical malpractice, were patients of Dr. Bradley Hammersley over a seven-year period.   

The complaint claims hospital staff knew of the botched surgeries. Even though letters were sent to over 100 veterans, most were outside the two-year statute of limitations. The 13 veterans filing the claim tell echoed stories of their experience with widespread malpractice as a result of surgeries by Dr. Hammersley. 

David Farnbauch is representing the veterans in their claim.

Read the full report on VA Medical Malpractice.

Posted in Medical Malpractice, Sweeney Case Results - Medical Malpractice, Videos | No Comments »

Confidential seven figure settlement during the fourth day of trial that is believed to be the largest nursing home negligence settlement in the history of Allen County. The case involved negligent fall prevention measures resulting in internal injuries. 

Posted in Nursing Home Neglect, Sweeney Case Results, Sweeney Case Results - Nursing Home Neglect | No Comments »