John Peck

Injuries: Multiple fractures, cervical spine injury, failed shoulder surgery, permanent disability A 79-year-old man was struck in a marked crosswalk by a commercial vehicle. The driver claimed bad weather obscured his view. We pulled the weather report. No precipitation at the time of impact. We obtained surveillance video showing the collision clearly. We deposed the driver and exposed contradictions in his testimony about speed, visibility, and awareness. We documented over $300,000 in past medical bills, $150,000 in lost earnings, and $500,000 in future medical costs. We secured a settlement over $1,000,000 for our client.

Injuries: Lumbar disc herniations, elbow ligament sprain, knee cartilage damage Our client was riding his moped through a Boston intersection when the at-fault driver made an illegal U-turn into his path. The ER ran CT scans. No fractures. The insurer pointed to those clean scans early and tried to avoid responsibility for any injuries. Our client went to an orthopedist who ordered MRIs. They revealed two lumbar disc herniations compressing nerve roots, a torn elbow ligament, and cartilage loss in the knee. The radiologist confirmed each injury was causally related to the collision and we secured the $300,000 policy limit.

Injuries Severe soft tissue trauma, nerve damage, knee and ankle injuries Our client was riding in a designated bike lane on a major Boston avenue when a rear passenger door of a commercial SUV swung open directly into her path. She struck the door and was thrown from her vehicle. The passengers stepped over her, told her she “needed to be more careful,” and walked away. The driver checked on her briefly, then got back in the vehicle and drove off without providing any identifying information. The insurer denied liability. It claimed our client was not in the bike lane and disputed that the driver fled the scene. The police report said otherwise. Dispatch notes logged in real time documented a hit in the bike lane and confirmed the vehicle drove off. Officers broadcast the plate to other units — standard procedure for a hit-and-run. We built the demand around the official record and Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 14, which places the legal burden on the person opening the door, not the cyclist. The driver also violated M.G.L. c. 90, § 24(2)(a) by leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury. Our client lost all sensation in her left arm for weeks due to a severe hematoma at the impact site. She could not lean on the arm, could not sleep without waking from numbness, and still carries a visible indentation where the door struck her. The case resolved for a confidential settlement in the high six figures.

Injuries Cervical and lumbar spine injuries, ongoing pain Our client was stopped in traffic when a commercial transportation vehicle rear-ended her at speed. The responding officer cited the driver. We respondeat superior liability against both the driver and the corporate owner, despite the owner trying to claim that the driver stole the company car. Through discovery, we learned that the driver was paid for the hours worked when he rear ended our client. We demanded the full policy limit with a hard deadline, invoking Massachusetts bad faith statutes and putting the insurer on notice that the corporate defendant could not hide behind its employee. We resolved the case for the over $500,000.

Result Confidential Settlement, High Six Figures Injuries Orthopedic injuries requiring surgical intervention Our client was using a piece of strength-training equipment at a commercial gym when a mechanical component failed without warning. The sudden malfunction caused a violent, uncontrolled movement that resulted in serious injuries requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation. The gym immediately pointed to the liability waiver our client signed at enrollment. Massachusetts law had a different answer. Under G.L. c. 93, § 80, no health club contract may contain a provision requiring members to waive negligence claims. The waiver was void on its face. Its inclusion in the membership agreement was itself a per se violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, G.L. c. 93A — opening an independent statutory claim with exposure to treble damages and attorney’s fees. We retained a mechanical engineering expert who inspected the equipment and identified a maintenance failure the gym should have caught during routine inspection. Discovery revealed no documented maintenance schedule and no record of the equipment ever being serviced. The gym had a duty to maintain its equipment according to the manufacturer’s guidelines. It failed. The case resolved for a confidential settlement in the high six figures.

Medical malpractice case involving a botched kidney surgery.