Our firm is recognized across North Carolina and nationally as a vigorous advocate for children in our legal system. The stories of two young children exemplify our efforts.
Valerie Lakey - Swimming Pool Injury
Five-year-old Valerie Lakey of Wake County was horribly injured when she sat on a defective pool drain in a kiddie wading pool and was trapped by the powerful suction, which pulled out most of her intestines. We represented Valerie and her parents and the subsequent verdict and settlement were the largest products liability verdict and settlement in the state's history. The verdict also was the largest in the history of the swimming pool industry.
More importantly, our attorneys helped the Lakeys in urging North Carolina to pass laws to better protect children in swimming pools. These laws have become a model for the nation. The story of Valerie's case received international publicity. In 1997, John Edwards and David Kirby were awarded the Steven J. Sharp Public Service Award by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America for their representation of Valerie Lakey.
Ethan Bedrick - Insurance Company Denies Coverage for Therapies
Ethan Bedrick, a four-year-old from Charlotte who suffered cerebral palsy, needed many types of therapy according to his doctors. But his health insurance carrier refused to pay for the therapies, contending he did not need them. We represented Ethan in our federal court system in a lawsuit against the insurance company. At the end of a long court struggle, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996 ruled in favor of Ethan, severely criticizing the insurance company's callous actions in cutting off Ethan's badly-needed therapies. The opinion in Ethan's case has been recognized nationally in the debate over the rights of patients against HMO's and insurance companies.
Birth Injury Cases
In addition, the firm represented Bailey Griffin, whose trial regarding her birth injuries resulted in a record verdict in a malpractice case, and Carli Snell, whose birth injuries resulted in a settlement in 2000 that was then the largest malpractice settlement in the state’s history. For more on these and other birth injury cases, see Birth Injuries.
Read more below about other non-birth injury cases involving our representation of children:
Child loses use of right arm after complication goes undiagnosed
A 7-year-old boy broke his right arm when he fell off the back of a pick up truck. He was brought to the hospital for treatment and surgery to repair the arm. Following surgery, the boy developed a complication called Volkmann’s contracture, and lost most of the use of his right arm. Plaintiff’s experts testified that the physicians should have conducted neurovascular checks for Volkmann’s contracture, and that those checks would have warned of the complication in time to prevent the boy’s injury. The case settled.
