Scott Ritsema and Brian Chase of the Southern California-based firm Bisnar Chase secured a $16 million settlement on behalf of their one-year-old client who sustained calamitous injuries after being involved in a car collision, the result of a forceful rear end impact. The child, who was seated in a front facing car seat in the rear passenger seat, was thrown forward, causing his head to forcibly collide with the back of his mother’s skull. His mother sustained a concussion in the collision and struggled to regain consciousness as an ambulance arrived on scene. She regained consciousness only to learn that her son was undergoing an emergency surgical procedure to save his life, the first of three that the child would have to undergo. The victim’s skull had been crushed, or “caved in” as the mother described it, and sustained severe injuries to the orbital area, ear and bridge of the nose. Following the incident, he was tested for neurological effects from the accident, which consisted of multiple areas of residual-neurocognitive impairment such as loss of ability to focus, difficulties in speech, and short temper. Doctors concluded he would require specialized private education, and more than likely, ongoing treatment into adulthood.

The mother of the victim, appalled by the severity of her child’s injuries and recovery process, sought representation to hold Ford and Toyo Seat Company responsible for their vehicle’s and child seat’s inability to meet safety regulations. Attorneys Ritsema and Chase sought DK Global’s assistance in recreating the collision and injuries sustained by the child as a means of communicating the unsatisfactory design of the seat and vehicle. With the help of dynamic visuals, the attorneys of Bisnar Chase successfully explained to the jury that neither the vehicle nor the child’s seat, sustained the impact as they should have thus causing the child to suffer extreme and unnecessary injuries. Ultimately, with the assistance of DK Visuals, the attorneys of Bisnar Chase achieved justice on behalf of their young client and secured a settlement which helped relieve medical bills accumulated in the past, present and future for their Plaintiff, becoming the largest result of any case DK supported in the year 2016.