Past Settlements & Verdicts

A Johnston County jury awarded $5,000,000 - $3.5 million dollars for the wrongful death of an 11-year-old boy, and $1.5 million dollars for the emotional distress of his father, who tried unsuccessfully to save his son. The accident occurred at Smithfield Middle School when the defendant, an 84-year-old woman, attempted to back her van up in an area where students were dropped off before school. The driver apparently became confused, and stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, driving into a crowd of students. The boy’s father attempted to save him, as he lay dying in his father’s arms. The largest settlement offer the insurance company made before the verdict was $240,000.

Isaac assisted Raleigh attorney William Plyler in obtaining $2,570,000 for a firefighter who was badly burned while fighting a fire at an industrial plant. In the previous eighteen years, the plant had 22 fires that required the assistance of firefighters. The fireman sued the plant, successfully contending that the company had failed to properly clean residue from its manufacturing ovens, failed to install oven burner shut-off switches, and failed to install a fire suppression system inside the ovens.

Plaintiff recovered $1,300,000 after the car she was traveling in as a passenger was struck by a train at a railroad crossing. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and other serious injuries. The accident occurred on a railroad crossing that was located at the entrance to a warehouse facility. The facility had obtained a right-of-way agreement with the railroad for the use of the crossing. Plaintiff contended that the facility knew the crossing was dangerous but failed to take simple measures to make it safer, and that the train was speeding in violation of its own regulations when the accident occurred. The incident occurred in Iredell County, Statesville, North Carolina.

The family of a woman who was killed in a truck accident in Person County recovered $1,014,000 from the trucking company. The truck driver overturned his truck due to careless driving, and several propane tanks he was transporting went airborne. One of tanks crashed through the woman’s windshield, killing her. The case settled during the trial for an amount that exceeded the trucking company’s insurance policy limits.

The family of a man and his adult daughter who died in a truck accident recovered $6.665 million dollars. The father and daughter died after their car’s rear tire blew, causing them to veer across the highway in Johnston County. A semi-truck driver failed to brake sufficiently to avoid a collision even though he had plenty of time to do so. The rear tire that blew out was equipped with a valve stem that was subject to a product recall due to premature cracking.

A 47 year old plaintiff recovered $2,570,000 after he was partially paralyzed and brain injured from a collision with a semi-truck on U.S Highway 70 in Wayne County. The truck driver made a U-turn, pulling out in front of plaintiff early one morning before dawn. The trucking company claimed plaintiff was contributorily negligent. Our investigation, along with an accident reconstruction, determined that the tractor-trailer’s reflector (conspicuity) tape had deteriorated so badly that the trailer would not have been visible to plaintiff as he approached until it was too late for him to take effective evasive maneuvers.

A 62 year old plaintiff suffered a brain injury when a 4000 lb. metal coil fell onto plaintiff, knocking and pinning him onto a concrete warehouse floor. Defendant contended plaintiff was contributorily negligent. Plaintiff’s injuries included bleeding on both sides of the brain’s surface (bilateral subdural hematomas) and internal bleeding within the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage). He also suffered several broken ribs and shoulder injuries.

The widow of a man who was electrocuted by nearby power lines recovered $1,000,000 from the utility company, which placed the power lines too close to a building in violation of the National Electric Safety Code. The man was killed while standing on scaffolding to make repairs to the building. The utility contended that contributory negligence was an issue.

Over the course of his career, Isaac has achieved landmark verdicts. In Martishius v. Carolco Studios Inc., Isaac and his former partner David Kirby obtained a multi-million dollar verdict against a movie studio for a worker who was severely burned by electric power lines while building an outdoor set for the movie "The Crow," starring Brandon Lee. Thorp and Kirby fought for almost ten years to get their client the justice he deserved. The process included the defendant declaring bankruptcy, a four week trial, and appeals by the defendant to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Relentless perseverance by Thorp and Kirby resulted at long last in justice for their client.

Plaintiff recovered $2,000,000 after his motorcycle struck a car that failed to yield at a stop sign. The defendant claimed plaintiff was speeding, thus contributorily negligent. The plaintiff was able to continue to work, climbing and repairing cell phone towers even though his leg was amputated below the knee as a result of the accident.