Joe Sandefur – Joe & Martin Injury Attorneys, LLC
$525K Settlement: Illustrating Wrist Injury After Fall Down Stairs
-
Illustration
-
Color Diagnostics®
-
Medical Illustration
-
Legal
-
Personal Injury
-
Case Study
- +4
Joe Sandefur - Joe & Martin Injury Attorneys, LLC - negotiated a $525K settlement for a 76-year-old woman who suffered a trip-and-fall down a set of visually obfuscated stairs, which resulted in several injuries, five days of hospitalization, and a severely fractured wrist that would require extensive surgery.
Challenge
The Plaintiff was approaching the ball rack at a bowling alley when she encountered a set of three dark stairs with neon red lights shining from beneath in an extremely dark area. The obscure lighting setup created the optical illusion that there were only two stairs instead of three, causing the Plaintiff to fall, fracture her ribs, puncture her lung, and severely injure her wrist.
The bowling alley denied liability. They had contracted with three companies that oversaw the recommendations, construction, and configuration of the stairs. The stairs were illuminated from below with red neon lights in an extremely dark area that made them difficult to recognize. Furthermore, no guardrail was recommended or installed for patrons to protect themselves from falling.
Mr. Sandefur needed the three Defendant contractors to understand the level of damage his client suffered as a result of their poorly conceived floor design that failed to comply with building standards. He tasked our medical illustration team with building an illustration series that would break down his client’s injuries, starting with the wrist.
Colorized X-rays showing displaced wrist fractures.
Approach
We worked with Mr. Sandefur to turn his client’s X-rays and surgical procedures into a strategic illustration series that would lay the foundation for his client’s damage claims in relation to the wrist. This would be broken down into four parts:
-
01
Initial Injury: We colorized X-rays to paint a clearer picture of the fractures.
-
02
Surgical Experience: We illustrated the step-by-step procedures involved in the open reduction and internal fixation the victim would undergo.
-
03
Post-Op Hardware: We colorized post-op X-rays to highlight the inner hardware installed around the victim’s wrist.
-
04
Ongoing Recovery: We demonstrated the victim’s ongoing recovery beyond the initial impact by illustrating the additional excision of the dorsal spanning plate the patient experienced.
Illustrated open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) surgery.
Colorized X-rays showing post operative fixation of wrist fractures.
Result
Mr. Sandefur introduced the Defendants to the visual pain, suffering, and ongoing recovery his client had suffered as a result of their negligence while demonstrating that he was serious about showing the full brutality of his client’s damages if the Defense wanted to take this case to trial. The Defendants agreed to settle for $525K.
Illustrated excision of dorsal spanning plate.
“High Impact was great to work with. They were responsive, quick, involved, and created a great product for us. Every defense lawyer made a comment on how powerful the illustrations were. One of them literally cringed when he saw it. This was our first experience with High Impact and they are now our go-to for medical illustrations. I can’t recommend High Impact enough.”
Get in Touch
High Impact’s team of visual strategists, artists, and developers can build and customize your digital presentation for any case involving personal injury, medical malpractice, birth trauma - or any subject involving complex information.
Interested in working with us? Click here to get started. If you'd prefer, you can email us or call us at (800) 749 2184.
Work with us
Interested in working with us? To get started choose one of the options below, or send us an email if you’d prefer.