In the News

Jury awards $13 Million in hit-run death of boy
Miami Herald - January 11, 1996

The parents of a Hallandale boy killed 19 months ago by an allegedly drunk driver were awarded $13 Million in damages Wednesday by a Broward County jury.

"I think the jury was trying to send a message that if you drink and drive, they're going to make you pay" said Larry Ben, the family's attorney.

Bryan Jonathan Bernier, 15, a freshman at Hallandale High School, died May 14, 1994, after he was hit by a van on Hallandale Beach Boulevard just west of Interstate 95 in Pembroke Park.

Police believe a van driven by Joseph Monroe Eule of Hallandale struck Bernier from behind as the boy sat at a red light on his motor scooter. Eule allegedly fled to Dade County and abandoned the van just south of Ives Dairy Road.

Eule is in jail awaiting trial on criminal charges stemming from the accident.

Stroke Victim wins more than $2 million
Miami Herald - July 15, 1999

Thanks to a jury in Broward Circuit Court, a wheel-chair-bound stroke victim is hoping to walk once again. The jury awarded Donna Ricci and her husband, Thomas, $2,165,000 in a seven-year-negligence case against the Parke Davis drug company of New Jersey. Her stroke left much of her body paralyzed after she took birth control pills that the jury decided the company had negligently distributed.

The pills - Norlestrin-150 - were signed for before the clinic actually received them, accordingly to testimony, and they were given to Ricci by a nurse who was not qualified to prescribe them, Larry Ben said.

$718,000 Awarded in Surgery mistake
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel - January 28, 2000

A West Palm Beach woman whose left knee was disabled by a surgeons error was awarded $718,000 by a Broward County jury, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Dawn Atherton, 29, needs a cane or brace to walk and still has a limp after her surgeon accidentally damaged a nerve in her knee during a 1994 arthroscopic operation, lawyer Larry Ben said.

Dr. Michael Mikolojczak, of West Palm Beach, had argued during the malpractice trial that his mistake was a normal complication of the surgery, Ben said.

Jury awards $12 Million against Psychiatrist for over-prescribing
Broward County Circuit Court - December 17, 2001

Three young children were awarded a total of $12,109,165.95 for the death of their mother by a Broward County jury.  The jury found that Dennis R. Porter, M.D., a psychiatrist, knowingly prescribed excessive amounts of addictive pain medications which resulted in the woman's death.  The jury awarded both compensatory damages and punitive damages against Dr. Porter.

Settlement & Verdicts

$830,000.00     -  Settlement.  Truck Accident, fractured femur.

$3,646,342.00  -  Verdict.  Legal Malpactice/Conversion. Joseph Oldani,                                        a disbarred attorney from Hollywood,  Florida
                               (now residing in Tallahassee), defrauded dozens of his clients
                               by stealing their money from his trust account.

$450,000.00     -   Wrongful Death Settlement. Negligent filling of a prescription
                                by pharmacy.  At this time, no pharmacist in the State of Florida                                 had been successfully sued for filling a written prescription
                                from a doctor.

$175,000.00     -    Settlement.  Auto Accident.  Disc herniation in low back.

$100,000.00     -    Settlement.  Burn from scalding water.  Client sustained third
                                  degree burns on his chest when he passed out in shower.  

$275,000.00     -     Settlement.  Rear-end Collision on Bridge. 

$300,000.00     -     Settlement.   Sexual assault by door-to-door magazine
                                  salesman.  The magazine company failed to check
                                  the references listed on the salesman’s job application.

$240,000.00     -     Settlement.  Pedestrian/Auto accident. Surgery for ACL tear. 
                                  The settlement included a large payment from Allstate
                                  Insurance Company in excess of its liability policy limits.

$540,000.00      -    Settlement.  Auto Accident,  multiple fractures.

$200,000.00      -    Settlement.  Auto Accident,  lumbar laminectormy, disckectomy.

$165,000.00      -    Settlement.  Auto Accident, hip fracture.

$225,000.00      -    Settlement.  Medical Malpractice,  breast implant had to
                                  be re-performed.

$475,000.00      -    Settlement.  Auto Accident with Waste Management Truck,
                                   shoulder surgery.

$175,000.00      -     Settlement.  Auto Accident,  shoulder surgery.

$200,000.00       -    Settlement. Auto Accident - leg fracture.

$350,000.00       -    Settlement. Auto Accident - ACL reconstruction.

$300,000.00       -    Settlement. Slip & fall at Walgreens - low back surgery.

$450,000.00       -    Settlement.  Client hit by Runaway Horse - low back surgery.

$170,000.00       -    Verdict.  Motorcycle - arthroscopic knee surgery.

$186,000.00       -    Settlement. Low back laminectomy.

$150,000.00       -     Settlement.  Slip & Fall in  Walmart.

$160,000.00       -     Verdict.  Roof collapse on tenant, head injury. 
                                    The landlord went to jail.

$350,000.00       -     Settlement.  Motorcycle Accident,  fractured jaw.






*Not all results are provided, the results are not necessarily representative of results obtained by the lawyer, and a prospective client's individual facts and circumstances may differ from the matter in which the results are provided.