Cellino & Barnes Secures $1 Million Settlement for Victim of Frightening
Industrial Accident
New York-based personal injury firm represents Wyoming County man who sustained severe
injuries when misused Bobcat catapulted him face-first onto pile of steel
New York (PRWEB) May 14, 2010 -- Attorneys from the New York law firm of Cellino & Barnes have
completed the $1 million settlement of a personal injury lawsuit brought on behalf of a 41-year-old decorated
Army veteran who was seriously injured in a June 15, 2004 industrial accident.
After several attorneys in the Western New York area turned down the case, Glen Potter v. Jay E. Potter Lumber
Co., Inc. and James and Alan Leaton d/b/a Leaton Farms (Index No. 35990), was filed by Cellino & Barnes for
their client, a Wyoming County resident who served in the U.S. Army as a sniper and was deployed to Bosnia,
Kosovo and Somalia. Working as a laborer building a pole barn on the day of the accident, the plaintiff was
instructed by his supervisor to position himself on the back of a Bobcat machine, which was rated to lift up to
1,500 pounds of materials. At the time, the Bobcat was loaded with 2,780 pounds of steel.
"After the Bobcat elevated the steel it was attempting to carry, the load slammed to the ground from a height of
11 feet, which catapulted Mr. Potter through the air and over the top of the Bobcat, causing him to land face-first
onto the pile of steel," explained Richard P. Amico, an experienced trial attorney at Cellino & Barnes, one of the
nation's largest personal injury law firms. His injuries were varied and severe, including the loss of most of his
teeth, multiple disc herniations in his spine, multiple rib fractures, collapsed lungs and a traumatic brain injury.
Mr. Potter ultimately underwent seven surgeries to correct his condition."
Mr. Amico and K. John Wright argued the case in a nine-day trial on the issue of the defendants' liability for
violating Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6) and negligence. The trial court directed a verdict in fav