August 31, 1987
Over the years, Shamberg, Johnson, Bergman & Goldman has racked up some impressive victories both in and out of court. Among the most notable:
Wayne Carrol vs. Kittle and Members of the Board of Regents of the State of Kansas. Wayne Carrol lost an arm in an oil-field accident. Doctors at the University of Kansas reattached it. Several days later, Carrol, in a state of disorientation, tore off the bandages. The doctors reattached the arm. Several days after that, Carrol tore off the bandages again. This time the doctors were unable to reattach the arm. Shamberg Johnson sued the hospital for negligence, claiming it should have taken precautionary measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident. The case ultimately wound up in the Kansas Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital, as a profit-making institution, was not immune from suit under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
Myers vs. Jiffee Chemical Corp. and The Clorox Co. One of a series of cases in which children suffered disabling injuries as a result of having swallowed Liquid Plum'r, a popular drain cleaner. Through the firm's efforts and those of Dr. Keith Ashcraft, a local pediatric surgeon, and Dr. Lucian Leape, a pediatric surgeon now practicing in Boston, the Federal Drug Administration promulgated regulations requiring that the product be equipped with childproof caps. The firm settled the original case for $2 million.
Hyatt Regency cases. Following the skywalks collapse, in which 114 people died and 239 were injured, Shamberg Johnson filed the first case seeking damages from the hotel and its developer, Crown Center Redevelopment Corp. The early filing (the accident happened on a Friday evening; the suit was filed the following Monday) enabled the firm to get a first-hand look at the debris, before it was removed. As a result, structural engineers hired by the firm were able to determine that the accident was likely caused by a structural defect.
Lynn Johnson of Shamberg Johnson was one of four lawyers designated by a Jackson County judge to conduct discovery on behalf of all the state-court plaintiffs (the firm was not involved in a separate federal court proceeding). The defendants ultimately agreed not to contest liability, and the plaintiffs had the option of reaching settlements on the damage issue or trying that issue in court. A punitive damage fund of $20 million was also set up as an enhancement of any trial verdict. The settlement has been hailed as a model approach to mass-disaster litigation.
Toxic shock cases. The firm developed a national reputation for its expertise in toxic shock syndrome cases. The firm represented two clients in wrongful death suits against Procter & Gamble Co., a major manufacturer of tampons linked by the federal Center for Disease Control to the disease. The key event in the cases, opening up the floodgates for similar suits, occurred with Shamberg Johnson attorney Victor Bergman obtained a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court ordering Procter & Gamble to surrender research it had commissioned on tampons. "We got a wealth of documents that no one else had got at that time," said Bergman. "Those were probably the most difficult cases I've had to handle in terms of effort and complexity."
Kansas City Business Journal
By Dan Margolies
