Personal Injury: Representative Cases

Verdict Settlements

Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford has represented a wide array of personal injury victims including fire victims, automobile drivers, truck drivers, motorcycle drivers, pedestrians, school children, dental patients, and grieving families. We have been successful in obtaining million and multi-million dollar settlements due to our dedication and expertise in personal injury law. Our experience enables us to obtain just settlements for any kind of personal injury claim.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

- In 2008, we represented a passenger in a car that was rear-ended by a pick-up truck driver who only had $25,000 in his own personal insurance. We found other applicable insurance and ultimately obtained a settlement for our client in an amount in excess of $2,400,000.00. At the conclusion of that case, we received a letter of recommendation from our client’s son, stating: “Last year my mother was involved in a horrific accident that changed our family’s lives forever. Upon first introduction to the Dixon Truman Fisher & Clifford group I was greeted in a professional and empathetic manner[.] [T]hey answered all my questions and concerns with great detail. The dedication too (sic) the case was provided with the utmost priority as developments arose I was well informed and never felt once neglected. The case was complicated involving Utah and Nevada[. Their] . . . expertise in the motor laws was apparent on how quickly complications were resolved. The research into the facts of the case was flawless and in depth with photographs of the accident scene, police reports, as well as multiple correspondences via telephone conference. Dixon Truman Fisher & Clifford group provided everything so I could concentrate my efforts on family. It is my belief the staff I had direct/indirect contact with from [the law firm] . . . provided can never be re payed (sic)[.] [A]ll of you brought stability to our lives and you (sic) friendship will never be forgotten. Once again thank you all for being there for me and my family in our time of crisis and my deepest wishes for further success in future endeavors.”

- We represented a truck driver in Oklahoma who was sideswiped by another trucker who had fallen asleep. The sleepy driver drifted into our client’s travel lane and caused her to overturn in the median. There was a witness, but the police sent him away without taking his name, and cited the woman who was injured based on the word of the other trucker. After a thorough nation-wide investigation we located the witness, went to Houston and took his video-taped statement. This made possible a settlement in excess of $600,000.00.

- We represented a female passenger in a car that was traveling during the early morning hours from Mesquite to St. George via the old road over Utah hill. The driver of the car fell asleep at the wheel and the car rolled several times. Our client was ejected from the vehicle and sustained serious injury to her knee. We assisted her in obtaining the insurance policy limits from two separate insurance companies which amounted to approximately $300,000.00.

Product Defect

- Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford obtained a $4,400,000.00 settlement in a fire/product defect case just before trial. The plaintiff was burned by a static electricity fire that ignited when he was filling gas cans on a bed liner in the back of a pickup truck. The bed liner insulated the static electricity that builds up during the flow of the gasoline through the hose and the gas nozzle. The build-up of static charge on the gas can grew so large that it jumped back to the nozzle, igniting the gas fumes. Although the plaintiff lost no wages, he suffered burns over 30 percent of his body and $160,000 in medical bills. The settlement was awarded because Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford’s research showed that a major oil company knew of this hazard but concealed it from consumers. Bob Renkes, executive vice president of the Petroleum Equipment Institute in Tulsa, Oklahoma was an expert deposed in the case. He acknowledged that “Dixon & Truman knows more about static electricity caused fires than any law firm I know of.”
Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford later obtained another multi-million dollar settlement for a Montana man who suffered a similar tragedy while filling gas cans in the back of his pickup truck in Townsend Montana.

Wrongful Death

- In Southern Utah there are numerous wilderness programs where troubled youth are sent for discipline and correction. These programs are regulated by the state of Utah. In one case, a teenager was left unsupervised while hiking in a rugged are of sandstone cliffs. A teenage boy she followed made a jump across a chasm but she did not, falling some 70 feet to her death. Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford investigated the accident, found numerous violations of Utah regulations, and brought them to the attention of the state agency in charge. The wrongful death claim brought by her grief stricken mother was settled for a confidential but substantial amount. The wilderness program was cited and had its license suspended.

- In 2008, Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford obtained a settlement in the amount of $887,500.00 for the wrongful death of a mother of six children. These children were left orphaned when the driver of a construction company pickup drifted over the center lane on a rural highway and struck her small car head on. The settlement failed at mediation because there were five other parties making large claims against the insurance policy limits of the construction company. Persistence in forceful negotiations eventually produced this significant settlement.

- In late 2007, Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford also represented the adult children of a retired man who was killed in a car accident when T-boned by a garbage truck. The settlement was confidential, but substantial.

- In 2005, Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford represented the spouse and children of a truck driver who was killed when a tow truck driver made an illegal u-turn on I-15. Our clients’ spouse and father, the truck driver, was unable to avoid the collision with the tow truck driver and was killed in the accident. Although the amount of the settlement obtained for our clients is confidential, it was very substantial.

Premises Liability

- In 2008, Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford obtained a settlement for a woman who tripped over a pallet at a garden nursery and fell face first to the ground. The nursery’s insurance carrier paid $110,000.00 to compensate our client for her injuries.

- In 2008, we obtained the insurance policy limits in the amount of $100,000.00 for an elderly woman who tripped on a nail on the balcony of the home she was renting. The balcony was not constructed pursuant to local code requirements.

- In late 2007, Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford successfully concluded a case for a woman who was attacked by a pit bull in St. George. The dog had been left loose in a middle-class neighborhood, despite the fact that it had previously attacked other animals. The dog had sunk its teeth deep into the victim’s leg, leaving a rounded scar. Although the victim incurred medical bills less than $2,000, she became terrified to leave her house for fear of dogs. Many insurance companies issue homeowners policies with endorsements excluding coverage for injuries caused by pit bulls, because the breed is notorious for attacking without warning or provocation. Our client’s insurance carrier denied that the dog was a pit bull, calling it a variety of Staffordshire terrier. Dixon, Truman, Fisher & Clifford showed that in fact, this dog was one of several breeds of dogs that fall under the category of “pit bull,” and that this type of dog and its cousin, the Rottweiler, are responsible for half of the fatal dog attacks on humans in the United States. Because of the negligence of the dog owner in disregarding the nasty reputation of pit bulls, the case settled for $45,000.