Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophic injuries are completely life changing injuries caused by another person or business.

There are a lot of lawyers who hold themselves out as catastrophic injury attorneys. Before choosing one, find out if the lawyer you are considering is board certified. Find out if he or she holds an “AV” rating with Martindale-Hubbell and a 10.0/10 (Superb) rating with AVVO.com. Determine whether the lawyer has tried (not just “handled”) a substantial number of catastrophic personal injury cases to verdict throughout Florida and the country.

Make sure your lawyer is the very best in the field

You don’t want to be the training ground for a lawyer when so much is at stake. Have they recovered substantial verdicts and settlements in these types of cases? Is the lawyer you are considering listed in The Best Lawyers in America? Is he or she recognized by SuperLawyers, or selected by their peers as a “Top Lawyer” by statewide publications? Has he or she lectured to other personal injury attorneys and taught trial skills to other trial lawyers? Has the lawyer published articles or books in the field? Is the lawyer considered preeminent in his or her field? Do they hold positions of leadership in their field of expertise?

These are important questions you need to have answered before you select a catastrophic personal injury attorney.

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John Elliott Leighton has obtained many verdicts and settlements on behalf of catastrophically injured clients for over 38 years. Considered one of the best catastrophic injury trial lawyers in Florida, Mr. Leighton has served as Chairman of The Academy of Trial Advocacy,  which is a national invitation-only association of the nation’s leading catastrophic injury trial lawyers. The Academy’s purpose is to bring together the nation’s top, ethical trial lawyers to share ideas, cutting edge strategies, and improve their skills as attorneys for the most seriously injured people. Mr. Leighton recently completed a two year term as President of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, which is the only national bar for trial lawyers who represent crime victims, sexual abuse survivors and their families. He has also been invited into membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and International Society of Barristers, invitation-only associations which are comprised of accomplished trial lawyers from both the plaintiff and defense bars. Another organization in which Mr. Leighton was elected into membership is the prestigious American Law Institute (ALI), which is the most recognized academic organization which produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law both federal and in the states. He was also re-elected twice to the Executive Committee of the National College of Advocacy Board of Trustees, which provides advanced and continuing legal education for the nation’s trial lawyers. He is also a board certified trial specialist by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization, an achievement attained by very few personal injury trial lawyers.

A History of Substantial Verdicts and Settlements

We have been extremely successful in obtaining some of the country’s most significant results in catastrophic injury cases such as traumatic brain injuries, severe birth trauma, spinal cord injuries (paralysis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia), back and neck injuries, amputations and burn injuries. Mr. Leighton has won multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for clients in lawsuits involving birth injuries, car and truck crashes, product liability cases, violent crime/inadequate security, cruise ship and boating accidents and aviation disasters.

In a recent case, Mr. Leighton set a record by obtaining a $24.1 million jury verdict in Seminole County, Florida, on behalf of a young girl who suffered cerebral palsy due to medical malpractice during her birth. (Orlando Business Journal, June 20, 2005.)  Mr. Leighton has also obtained substantial settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients who have suffered paraplegia, quadriplegia, severe burns, neurologic injuries, gunshot wounds (including one client shot in the face), brain injuries and sexual assaults.

In 2010 Mr. Leighton obtained a $9,000,000 recovery on behalf of a woman who was the victim of a serious medical mistake, resulting in brain injury. Mr. Leighton also secured an $11,250,000 settlement on behalf of a brain damaged child due to medical neglect.  In 2013 he won a $7,400,000 verdict on behalf of a man who lost his leg in a trucking crash. He recently recovered a multi million dollar settlement in a case where a woman was rendered comatose from a terrible medical mistake. Leighton has successfully represented clients with neurologic injuries such as quadriplegia and paraplegia, and understands the comprehensive medical and legal needs that go into representing these individuals.  And these are just examples of the types of recoveries Mr. Leighton and his firm have obtained for our clients.

Mr. Leighton lectures extensively in the field of catastrophic injury cases and has published articles and book chapters on the topic,  and is the author of Litigating Spinal Cord Injuries: Law, Medicine, and Economics, Chapter 11 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995).  He has been the chair of numerous seminars and programs for trial lawyers that addressed catastrophic injury cases, including the annual “Litigating Catastrophically Injured Infant Cases” offered by the National College of Advocacy.

When to Contact a Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury as a result of negligence, Mr. Leighton and his team of professionals will aggressively work to ensure that the medical expenses, future care, lost earnings and pain and suffering damages are maximized. This often involves using our team of investigators, health care experts, life-care planning consultants, vocational rehabilitation specialists and economists.

Mr. Leighton’s experience in catastrophic injury litigation goes beyond the courtroom. He lectures extensively around the country on this subject, teaching other lawyers the best ways to maximize the damages for clients who have suffered life-altering injuries. He writes and publishes.  He works with physicians and health care providers to determine what the immediate and future health care needs are of his clients.  Leighton Panoff Law’s experienced team of professionals – attorneys, paralegals, nurses and staff – all have one goal: to help our clients achieve the most they can.  To assist them in overcoming obstacles and to recover the most possible under the law.  Every case is different and every client is different, which is why Leighton Panoff Law does not use a “one size fits all” approach to cases.  To speak with Mr. Leighton or the team at Leighton Panoff Law, call us at 888-395-0001 or email us.  We will get back to you right away and answer all of your questions.

Click here for examples of our pending and finalized catastrophic injury cases.

 

Disclaimer: The information about past verdicts and settlements of the firm’s cases are based on the unique facts of each case. These amounts reflect the gross recovery in each case (before attorneys fees, expenses and medical costs are deducted). Although these results were obtained by our firm, they may not indicate the success or value of any other case as each case is unique. By clicking on Verdicts and Settlements you are acknowledging that every case is different and each case must be evaluated on its own merits. The information contained here has not been reviewed or approved by The Florida Bar.