Peter W. Riley

Settlement - $ 12,000,000.00 

Description: The 16-year-old plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle being operated by a friend, also sixteen years of age. The driver lost control and flipped. The plaintiff sustained a severe spinal cord injury which left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent upon a ventilator. The defendant's insurance company denied coverage for the crash, asserting the vehicle involved was removed from the insurance policy one month before the crash.

Settlement - $ 5,000,000.00 

Description: This case involved a recovery for a victim of medical malpractice. The plaintiff, an Army veteran, went to a hospital in Southern Minnesota reporting that he had blacked-out while driving his car. Investigation revealed a large aneurysm (a weakening in the wall of the blood vessel) in his brain. Because he had no health insurance, the plaintiff went to the Veteran's Hospital in Minneapolis. There, investigation confirmed the presence of the aneurysm. The decision was made to undertake surgery. Surgery was scheduled for a Monday morning, but when the plaintiff arrived at the hospital on Sunday afternoon, he was told that no one knew anything about the scheduling of the surgery; despite the fact the nurse's notes specifically reflected that Plaintiff was to return that day for preparation for surgery. The plaintiff was sent home, with instructions to return the next morning to meet with the surgeon. Plaintiff and his family arrived at 10:00 a.m., and were not seen by the surgeon until 5:00 p.m. At that time, the Neurosurgical resident informed him that she had no idea why he was there, that surgery had not been scheduled, and he should go home and wait to hear from them. Five days later the aneurysm ruptured, and the plaintiff was profoundly brain damaged.

Settlement - $ 1,100,000.00 

Description: The case involved a 34-year-old man who was a concrete worker employed to pour a concrete floor in a 3-story wood frame apartment building under construction in Hutchinson, MN. On 5/5/97, the worker was pouring concrete on the ground floor when an approximately 45 mph gust of wind came up, causing the building to collapse, fatally crushing him. Investigation proved that the collapse was caused by very careless construction practices.

Arbitration Award - $ 1,075,000.00 

Description: The case involved a woman who was driving her car across the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis when she lost control on ice and struck the bridge rail. She got out of the car to examine the damage and just was she was re-entering the car, an uninsured vehicle lost control, striking the plaintiff and pinning her between her car and the uninsured vehicle. After recovery of an arbitration award of $775,000.00, plaintiff proceeded to collect additional amounts from the insurance on the vehicle which she was operating, a loaner vehicle from her car dealer. The car dealer's insurance company, Safeco, vigorously disputed plaintiff's entitlement to benefits, resulting in two appeals (Safeco v. Goldenberg). Plaintiff's claims were ultimately upheld on appeal.

Settlement - $ 1,000,000.00 

Description: The case involved a 29-year-old plaintiff and his wife was out for an afternoon cruise on Lake Minnetonka. The operator of a fishing boat nearby observed some approaching weather and decided to try to get home before the rain hit. While proceeding at approximately 25 to 30 mph, he struck the side of the boat in which the plaintiff was riding, killing him. The plaintiff was survived by his wife and two young children

Settlement - $ 850,000.00 

Description: The case involved a 61-year-old man who was driving westbound on Highway 8 near Forest Lake, Minnesota, returning from the family's cabin. The defendant, driving eastbound on County Road 8, apparently took her eyes off the road, crossed the centerline and struck the plaintiff head-on. The plaintiff was survived by his wife and several adult children.

Arbitration Award - $ 775,282.00 

Description: The case involved G.S. a 26-year-old man. The out of town defendant, driving a rental car, made an illegal U-turn in front of G.S. causing a collision. There was substantial damage to the plaintiff large Ford Bronco.

Settlement - $ 750,000.00 

Description: The case involved a man who was stopped waiting to make a left hand turn into his rural driveway when the defendant rear-ended him at a high rate of speed. Plaintiff's injuries initially appeared to be mild muscle and ligament injuries to his neck and back, but over time his condition deteriorated and he developed chronic pain syndrome, which severely limited the use of his left arm.

Settlement - $ 600,000.00 

Description: The case involved a young woman who was struck by a hockey puck at a high school game. The woman was a cheerleader for her high school, and traveled to the Wayzata High School hockey arena for a game. Just before the end of the first period, a player took a slap shot, which ricocheted into the stands where the woman was seated. She sustained a head injury. Investigation revealed that alterations to the stands to install locker rooms underneath them had resulted in eliminating essentially all protection provided by the Plexiglas surrounding the rink. The matter was settled during trial for $600,000.00.

Settlement - $ 600,000.00 

Description: The case involved a man who suffered from significant arthritis, which restricted him to a wheelchair. However, Plaintiff lived independently at home with his wife, and regularly traveled around the small Southern Minnesota town where they lived in his wheelchair. On the day of his injury, the plaintiff was taken out for a recreational trip by a handicap transfer van service. Upon return to his home, the van driver placed the plaintiff on the handicap ramp, but because of the street configuration, the ramp was on somewhat of a down slope. The driver failed to lock the plaintiff's brakes, and the wheelchair flew off the end of the ramp, somersaulted, and the plaintiff was ejected from the chair, with the chair subsequently landing on top of him. As a result of the arm fractures the plaintiff sustained in this injury, he was no longer able to live independently, and had to move to a nursing home.

Arbitration Award - $ 500,000.00 

Description: F vs. B: C.F. was a highly experienced semi-truck driver. He was driving along a four-lane divided highway in southern Minnesota when the defendant, who was driving illegally on the shoulder, pulled directly into the path of his truck. Mr. F. sustained multiple fractures of his back, as well as a serious shoulder injury.

While eyewitnesses confirmed that Mr. F. was not at fault, a reconstruction by the Minnesota State Patrol suggested that Mr. F. had been at fault, having allowed his truck to wander onto the shoulder. An expert reconstructionist retained by Mr. Riley showed that the State Patrol reconstruction was clearly in error. An arbitrator awarded $500,000.00 to Mr. F. for his multiple injuries, and found no fault on the part of Mr. F.

Settlement - $ 500,000.00 

Description: N vs. S: A.N. was an 18-year-old college freshman when she was killed. A.N. was a passenger on a snowmobile driven by a friend on New Year’s Day, 2006 when the friend drove out of the ditch without stopping and pulled directly in front of a car proceeding down the intersecting highway at 55 miles per hour. A.N. was survived by her parents, a brother and sister, and two grandparents. The driver of the snowmobile claimed he had no memory for the accident, and the defendants attempted to deny liability despite the fact that a witness clearly saw the snowmobile driver pull out of the ditch without stopping or looking for intersecting traffic. The case was settled at mediation for the sum of $500,000.00.

Settlement - $ 450,000.00 

Description: The case involved a passenger in a vehicle being operated by his friend on their way to a job site in Western Minnesota. The friend fell asleep, and the vehicle crossed the centerline, striking an oncoming semi tractor-trailer. Plaintiff sustained a head injury as well as injuries to both shoulders that required two surgeries, several months apart, to correct the injuries to his rotator cuff in each shoulder. Plaintiff was no longer able to work as a commercial electrician, but was doing residential electrical work at the time of trial.

Jury Verdict - $ 450,000.00 

Description: The case involved a plaintiff who sustained a severe injury to his femur (the large bone in the upper leg) in a snowmobile accident. Repair of this required placement of a rod through the femur to allow it to heal. After healing was complete, the defendant doctor sought to remove the rod, but failed to remove all of the hardware before pulling the rod out, and caused significant damage to plaintiff's femur. Plaintiff was off work from his job as a used car broker for approximately six months as a result of the surgical injury.

Settlement - $ 450,000.00 

Description: S vs. B: Mr. and Mrs. S. were a husband and wife team who drove a school bus in Northern Minnesota. One day as they were going home for lunch with the husband driving one of the school buses and the wife as a passenger, a logging truck coming the opposite direction came around a curve at high speed and crossed into Mr. and Mrs. S.’s lane of travel. The truck driver swerved to return to his own lane but dropped the load of logs, knocking the bus into the ditch where it rolled over. Mr. S. sustained minor injuries to his neck and back. Mrs. S. sustained a head injury, hand fracture, and neck and back injuries. She was ultimately forced to undergo a fusion of her neck, and also had been referred for possible surgical evaluation of her back. She wasn’t able to return to her former employment for over two years, and even at the time of settlement, it was unclear whether she would ever be able to return to her work.

Both Mr. and Mrs. S. received workers’ compensation benefits and filed a lawsuit against the owner of the logging truck and its driver. The matter was ultimately settled for the limits of the truck’s insurance in the amount of $450,000.00, and Mr. and Mrs. S. then pursued an underinsured motorist claim.

Settlement - $ 290,000.00 

Description: The plaintiff's husband was taking pilot training under the supervision of defendant's employee, a Certified Flight Instructor. While practicing engine out procedures at a too low altitude, the plane went into a spin and crashed.

Settlement - $ 280,000.00 

Description: The case involved a 57-year-old woman who was operated on by, Defendant, general surgeon, for a performance of a laproscopic cholycystoctomy. In the course of the performing this procedure, Defendant's doctor lacerated the patient's common bile duct, resulting in serious liver damage.

Settlement - Confidential 

Description: The case involved a police officer, was asked to detain an intoxicated passenger exiting an airplane. The passenger became violent and the plaintiff was knocked to the floor of the jet way, sustaining a brain injury. He was disabled from his former employment as a police officer.