Law Office of William D. Nelson, P.C.

A Tucson couple whose 4-month-old son died while living in foster care have settled their lawsuit against the state's Child Protective Services for $250,000. (Click to read article)

A 22-year-old woman who was repeatedly raped in July 2006 has settled her lawsuit against the apartment complex where the attack took place and a security company for $875,000. (Click to read article).

An Alzheimer patient at an Alzheimer care facility was not properly monitored by the staff and the facility was deficient in providing safety precautions on its grounds which allowed the patient to wander from the facility and fall into a culvert causing the patient’s death. The matter settled against the care facility.

A profoundly developmentally disabled adult female living at a group home was raped and impregnated by a caregiver. The rapist was criminally tried and convicted. The guardian for the victim retained me to bring a civil claim for damages against the group home. The matter settled.

A young working mother was walking across the grounds of a local park on her way to work at a food booth set up for a special event at the park. She fell due to a hole covered over by grass. She tore ligaments in her ankle and developed an excruciating medical condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy. The City refused to settle relying on an unreasonable interpretation of the Arizona Recreational Use Immunity Statute. The Court of Appeals ruled in my client’s favor on this point. See, Herman v. City of Tucson, 197Ariz 430, 4 P.3d 973 (App. 1999). The case went to trial and a jury found in favor of my client after a five day trial. The verdict was $450,000.00. In addition, the City was facing monetary penalties for its failure to accept a previous arbitration award and a settlement offer made by my client before trial. The City settled for $550,000.00.

A customer was walking down the toy aisle at a Tucson department store when he slipped and fell on translucent liquid bubbles that had been spilled on the floor. His head hit the floor causing a skull fracture with resulting vertigo, headaches and memory problems. The case went to trial in Pima County Superior Court. The jury found in favor of the client with a verdict that was four times the amount of the settlement offer made by the store.

A front end mechanic for a local car dealership came to see me after he had been in a motor vehicle collision while test driving a car he had just repaired. He suffered a herniated disc in his neck that required surgery. Unfortunately, he was left with permanent restrictions on his ability to work with his hands and arms raised overhead. He was not able to return to his position as a mechanic. Matter settled.

A 43 year old disabled lady used a motorized wheelchair for transportation. One day she was traveling in her motorized wheelchair on a Tucson city sidewalk. When she came to the driveway apron of a local business, there was a dangerous slope that she had to travel across. The sidewalk and driveway apron were in violation of acceptable engineering standards as set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As the client was attempting to travel across this dangerous area, her wheelchair tipped over and she landed out in the highway. Subsequent investigation revealed that the City had approved the construction of the sidewalk in violation of the City’s own design standards. The matter settled. After the case was over, the sidewalk and driveway apron were modified to meet applicable standards.

A 17 year old emotionally and developmentally disabled youth was placed in a group home. He was savagely attacked and beaten by two roommates using a baseball bat and metal pole. The youth’s mother retained me to bring a claim against the group home. The case against the group home settled. The group home was subsequently closed.

A local hospital employed a patient caregiver who was criminally tried and convicted for molesting female patients who had undergone surgery. I represented three of the patients in a civil action against the hospital. The cases settled.

An electrician for a power company was in a defectively designed bucket truck working on overhead power lines. He was severely burned when the bucket became energized by the overhead lines. The case against the manufacturer of the defective bucket truck settled.

An employee of a local paving contractor was performing maintenance on a city street when he was literally run over by a minivan. He suffered a devastating head injury causing him to be permanently disabled. The case settled against the driver of the van.

A young lady was driving her car out of a parking lot of a local resort when a large eucalyptus tree crashed on the roof of her car. My client suffered a severe back injury resulting in back surgery. I retained a tree expert who discovered that the tree had been growing out of an old stump that should have been removed as the root system had been severely compromised and could not support the weight of the tree. In addition it was determined that the resort had carelessly pruned the tree causing it to be top heavy. Due to the resort’s negligence, the tree was destined to fall. The case settled.