Attorneys Serving Georgia And The Southeast Since 1974

Representative Cases For Cathey & Strain, LLC

Wrongful Death / Catastrophic Injury

Our law firm has recovered six-, seven- and eight-figure verdicts and settlements in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, (many of which involve confidentiality provisions), including the following:

• Wrongful death of father and four-year-old son, who were killed when their disabled vehicle was struck in the rear on a multi-lane highway in broad daylight.
• A minor who suffered catastrophic burns as a result of being shocked by a negligently maintained electrical line.
• A young man who suffered catastrophic brain damage as a result of an equipment supplier negligently maintaining brakes on a boom truck, causing loss of control and ejection of the driver.
• Wrongful death of a little girl resulting from an amusement park ride, which settled for a record amount in the state of Georgia. The case resulted directly in the enactment of the “Carnival Ride Safety Act” by the Georgia Legislature (O.C.G.A. § 34-13-1).
• Amtrak conductor killed when a barge collided with a railroad bridge causing the train to plunge into a bayou in Alabama.
• Represented Rodney Culver, running back for the San Diego Chargers, and his wife who were killed in the ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades. The eight-figure settlement was the highest for all passengers.
• A seven-figure recovery against a bank and repossession company for an individual who was killed in an altercation during the repossession of his vehicle.
• Wrongful death in the Swiss Air commercial air disaster resulting from defective insulation in the flight control wiring system.
• Wrongful death of a highly paid executive with two young children who collided with a disabled armored car on the interstate as a result of poor maintenance/mechanical defect.
• Represented the family of a retired husband and wife who were blown off a highway bridge in Alabama by a speeding 18-wheeler while they were pulling an RV causing them to plunge hundreds of feet into the creek bed below the interstate bridge, resulted in two seven-figure verdicts.
• Numerous road maintenance/road runoff cases against state and local government agencies involving issues of sovereign immunity and highway maintenance policies/regulations.
• A high seven-figure settlement in a case where a tractor-trailer ran a stop sign causing a serious collision and rendering a teenaged boy paraplegic.
• A tragic case involving an ungated railroad crossing and the failure of the adjacent landowner to comply with specific zoning regulations about the crossing resulting in the death of two children and catastrophic injuries to their sister.
• Several private plane crashes including a case in which the gas was contaminated with water and a Federal Tort Claim arising from failure of air traffic controllers to divert a plane away from a severe thunderstorm, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and passenger in Alabama.

Medical Malpractice

Our law firm has recovered six-, seven- and eight-figure sums in verdicts and settlements in diverse medical malpractice cases including the following:

• Brain damaged baby as a result of birth trauma resulting in cerebral palsy; the doctor and hospital failed to recognize fetal distress and deliver baby by emergency C-section.
• Wrongful death of a husband/father after routine appendectomy where the doctor and nurses failed to diagnose and treat post-surgical bleeding resulting in shock and death.
• Numerous “V-bac” cases (vaginal birth after Cesarean section). Failure to recognize fetal distress and allow a mother to continue with vaginal birth without performing emergency C-section resulting in catastrophic brain damage/cerebral palsy.
• Improper intubation of a trauma patient by EMS crew where a breathing tube was inserted into the esophagus instead of the airway at the scene of accident resulting in death.
• Failure to diagnose unequivocal signs of cervical cancer and report to the patient resulting in the death of a young mother in North Carolina.
• Failure to remove chemotherapy port-a-cath, which was left in the patient for several years and migrated to her heart, resulting in significant heart damage.
• Over-prescription of a combination of anti-nausea/pain medication for a young mother who had come to the emergency room for the flu, resulting in coma and death.

Auto/Truck Accidents:

• Death of a young mother of two when she struck a vehicle that had become disabled on the highway as a result of poor maintenance of the vehicle and inadequate training of the driver.
• Severe brain damage to an individual when she collided with a poorly lit tractor-trailer, which pulled out from a chicken farm, blocking her lane of travel with the trailer.
• Failure to properly mark a disabled semitractor-trailer with the required triangles/ warning devices on the interstate causing a working father to strike the rear of the truck resulting in catastrophic head and facial injuries.
• A tragic accident on Christmas Eve when a beer delivery truck crossed the centerline striking our client and killing her two-year-old baby and causing massive orthopedic injuries to the mother.
• Family of ten and two foreign exchange students going on vacation to the beach when a semitractor-trailer driver lost control, crossed the median and struck the van killing eight members of the family including both parents and one of the exchange students, and seriously injuring the remaining three passengers.
• Numerous state and federal tort claims actions, including a GBI agent who crossed the centerline and killed a young woman.
• An undercover police chase resulted in an intersection collision catastrophically injuring a mother and her daughter.
• Numerous motorcycle accidents involving the deaths and/or serious permanent injury to our clients operating the motorcycles.
• A high-wage earning pharmaceutical saleswoman exiting the bathroom stall of interstate rest stop when an elderly man, attempting to park, crashed through the wall into the bathroom pinning her against the sink resulting in a crushed pelvis and other significant orthopedic injuries.

Premises Liability:

• A disoriented and dehydrated patient was unmonitored and left her hospital room, and was found dead three days later in a small restroom on another floor of the hospital.
• Numerous cases involving criminal acts of third parties on unsecured/unmonitored premises including an individual who had acid thrown in his eyes at a rental car company resulting in blindness and a hotel room invasion resulting in a serious shooting injury.
• A young female drug counselor working at a state prison who slipped and fell on stairs recently painted with nonabrasive high gloss paint requiring two back surgeries with a fusion/insertion of metal orthopedic hardware and resulting in permanent disability from work.
• Building inspector walking through partially constructed high-rise fell through an inappropriate/ineffective wooden cover over a hole in the floor resulting in his death.
• A malicious dog with a previous bite history attacked and mauled a disabled Mary Kay saleswoman causing permanent disfigurement.
• A neighbor who was asked to house sit fell over a hidden/rusty pipe in the garden causing a severe laceration, which became infected and ultimately resulted in the amputation of her leg.
• A patron at a carnival in North Carolina fell off an unguarded walkway to a ride and fractured her ankle, developed a blood clot and ultimately had a stroke causing permanent brain damage and disability.
• A swim team member drowned at a university swimming pool — failure to have a lifeguard present.

Product Liability:

• We have represented victims of defective industrial, agricultural and consumer products ranging from “hi-lift” trucks, cranes, forklifts, lawn mowers, ATV’s, jet skis/PCW’s, farm equipment, gas ovens and exercise devices.
• We have participated in numerous multi-district litigations around the country including L-tryptophan, Gammaguard, PhenFen and Vioxx.
• We have handled numerous medical device cases including defective knee and hip replacements, leg-lengthening device, and a needle disposal container with no fill mark in which a nurse received a needle stick and contracted AIDS causing extreme depression and suicide leaving behind a young child.
• A young computer specialist was blinded when an elastic exercise device snapped/broke and put out his eye. The manufacturer of the device was located in a country that was not signatory to the Hague Convention, and did not answer the lawsuit and had no connection with the U.S.; however, a high six-figure sum was recovered from the retailer of the device.
• Numerous defective firearm cases involving “gun drop,” in which the handgun fired after being dropped on the ground because of a faulty safety and/or trigger mechanism.
• A large recovery was made on behalf of the family of a young woman who was run over by a coworker backing up a defectively designed steam roller, which did not allow proper rear visibility.

Automotive Defects:

• Client suffered catastrophic brain damage rendering her completely disabled as a result of a car hood failing to perform as designed and penetrating the windshield of her vehicle causing contact with the head of the driver.
• Death of a young mother with two children as a result of inadequate service/maintenance instructions by the auto manufacturer and negligent inspection/brake repair by a dealer, which resulted in the loss of control and rollover of the vehicle.
• A retired couple on their way to Alaska for a vacation was struck in their Jeep by another driver, resulting in a rollover and roof crush because of inadequate roof strength rendering the wife quadriplegic.
• Numerous Jeep CJ-5 and CJ-7 cases across the country in which occupants were severely injured and/or killed as a result of instability and resultant rollover.
• Numerous multi-piece tire rim cases handled around the country arising from defects or mismatch and resulting in tire rim explosions causing catastrophic injuries or death.
• Cathey & Strain founding partners were part of the initial team of trial lawyers forming the Bronco II Litigation Group litigating and trying cases around the country based on the rollover propensity of the Ford Bronco II vehicle.
• Numerous cases resulting from the rollover/roof crush and death and/or catastrophic injury of occupants of 15-passenger vans, Suzuki Samurais and Ford Explorers.
• A multimillion-dollar recovery was made on behalf of a one-year-old child riding in a defective child seat, which was not compatible with the vehicle, after a head on collision rendered him brain damaged, and quadriplegic requiring 24-hour care and respirator.
• Numerous defective seat back, door latch, seat buckle and seat belt cases resulting in the death or catastrophic injury of occupants including minor children and infants.
• Significant recovery for the parents of two small children who locked themselves into the truck of their parents’ vehicle and were found hours later dead from heat. Failure of the vehicle to have an illuminated trunk unlatch mechanism in the truck compartment which can be pushed from the inside to open the trunk.

Commercial Litigation and Insurance Coverage Disputes:

• Medical group, law firm and business “divorces” both on behalf of the plaintiff and defendant.
• Fraudulent diversion of patent rights to a shell corporation in order to defraud investors from a return of their investment and profits earned.
• Disputes over primary and secondary coverages particularly as it relates to uninsured motorist claims, trucking companies and “claims made” vs. “tail coverage” for professionals.
• First-party lawsuits against insurance carriers regarding failure to defend, failure to appear on behalf of an individual and allowing a case to result in a default judgment. Those often involve the assignment of such claims by the judgment debtor to an injured client.
• Multimillion-dollar verdict in an insurance coverage dispute involving commercial products, which became tainted during manufacturing/bottling so as to make them worthless and distributed nationally to retailers.
• Declaratory judgment action arising from a denial of insurance coverage for the wrongful death of a student against a local school board when a teacher took the child home from an extracurricular activity and caused a collision killing both the teacher and the student.
• International arbitration under the provisions of International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, France, involving failure to pay sales commissions to a French citizen for sales made in Europe, Australia and the U.S.