A FEW OF OUR RECENT SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS

On July 3, 2024, Joseph F. Sullivan of Sullivan & Brill, LLP reached a $400,000 settlement with the insurance company of a gymnastics facility in Manhattan, New York. On December 06, 2021, Sullivan & Brill's client, age six at the time, fell from a balance beam seriously fracturing her left arm. The child had been dropped off at the gym by her mother, shortly before the fall to attend gymnastics class. At the time of the fall, the child was on a balance beam and was supposed to have been being supervised by on of the coaches. However, according to the child, the coach was tending to another student when the client fell. The coach saw the child beginning to lose her balance and she tried to get over to the child but couldn't get to her in time.

Following her fall, the child’s mother was informed about her daughter’s injury and directed to come pick her up from the gym. She immediately took her to Urgent Care where she was diagnosed with a closed fracture of the left upper limb.
The next day, the child developed compartment syndrome (a painful and dangerous condition, whereby she could have lost her arm), and underwent urgent fasciotomy with compartment releases and open reduction with internal fixation at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, New York. The child subsequently underwent skin grafting, whereby skin was harvested from her leg to close the wound on her arm. 

The gymnastics company initially denied liability claiming that it provided adequate supervision and that the mother and child assumed the risk of an injury like this. After extensive negotiations and mediation, the Sullivan Brill team was able to convince the insurance company that there was a high likelihood that a jury would find in its favor.