PRACTICE AREAS

The firm’s practice is concentrated on complex litigation. Below are descriptions of some of the types of cases in which the firm has obtained a successful result for the client.

Automotive Product Liability
The firm has handled numerous cases against many of the major automotive manufacturers involving a variety of defective vehicles. The firm has a national practice in this area, representing clients in automotive product cases in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Sample automotive cases:

Protecting Occupants in Accidents – Vehicle Crashworthiness
The firm has successfully handled numerous cases involving the failure of vehicles to provide reasonable protection to occupants in accidents. These cases have involved unreasonably weak and inadequate roof systems, defective restraint systems, inadequate interior padding, unsafe roll bars and many other vehicle structural and occupant protection features.

Rollovers of Sport Utility Vehicles and Minivans
In recent years, the public has become increasingly aware of the risk of accidents involving rollovers of sport utility vehicles (SUV’s) and minivans. The firm has successfully handled many rollover cases involving a variety of these vehicles in numerous types of accidents. Vehicles should be designed so that they do not roll over on flat, dry, paved surfaces, even when the operator attempts emergency accident avoidance maneuvers. The firm has worked with test engineers to demonstrate the rollover propensity of many current sport utility vehicles and that simple, inexpensive design modifications can prevent rollovers.

Special Purpose Vehicles
The firm has substantial experience handling cases involving special purpose vehicles. One example is a case in which the firm recovered a substantial verdict for injuries sustained while the plaintiff was riding on the platform of a yard tractor. The firm is currently handling a case in which the driver of a three-wheeled forklift was killed when the forklift rolled over.

Cases Involving Other Types of Defective Products
Weisman & McIntyre has substantial experience handling a wide range of product liability cases in which our clients have been seriously injured by other types of defective products. Examples include: a defective heater that caused disfiguring burns; HIV-tainted blood; ladder and scaffolding collapses; chain saws and other construction equipment; and toxic exposure to dangerous solvents.

Civil Rights and Other Constitutional Cases
Weisman & McIntyre has handled many civil rights cases and cases involving Constitutional rights. The firm has significant experience protecting the rights of children, the elderly, and the mentally ill in cases ranging from the adequacy of public schools to abusive practices at state hospitals to police misconduct.

The State’s duty to provide a constitutionally sufficient education
The firm represents children who attend public school in relatively poor school districts throughout Massachusetts in an ongoing effort to secure a quality education. Mr. Weisman has been lead counsel in this matter since the late 1980’s and was instrumental in securing a landmark decision from the Supreme Judicial Court in 1993, holding that the state has a constitutionally-enforceable duty to provide public school students with a quality education. The firm’s commitment to these public school children continues as it seeks to enforce the Supreme Judicial Court’s 1993 decision. During 2003 and 2004, the firm served as lead counsel in a seven-month trial before Judge Margot Botsford in the Massachusetts Superior Court. At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Botsford issued a 300+ page report finding that the State is still not meeting its duty to provide the required education and recommending further relief. Judge Botsford’s Report is currently under consideration by the Supreme Judicial Court. Additional information about this case is available at goodschoolsformass.org.

Safety and security for abused children, the elderly and the mentally ill
The firm has represented children who have been the victims of abuse and professional malpractice. For example, the firm negotiated a favorable settlement against a school and its administrators on behalf of five children with significant disabilities who were physically and emotionally abused by their teacher. The settlement was reached in the middle of a lengthy trial, after significant publicity about the evidence of misconduct. As a result of the publicity surrounding the case, two additional families whose children had been in the same program contacted the firm, which was able to negotiate a prompt and favorable settlement of their claims.

The firm has successfully represented the families of elderly patients in a number of cases against residences, nursing homes and hospitals involving such claims as inadequate security at nursing homes and inadequate monitoring of patients after surgery. Among the firm’s clients was a prominent author who died as a result of the mistreatment she received at such a facility.

The firm is also involved in cases seeking to protect the rights of individuals with mental illnesses, and in particular, cases involving abuse of these individuals.

Guarding freedom of speech
The firm is committed to protecting against violations of freedom of speech. One of the firm’s cases involved protecting four university students’ rights under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act to hang posters and banners outside their dormitory windows protesting the university’s position on apartheid. In another case, a Town library reversed its ban of the showing of a controversial movie.

Police misconduct
The firm has represented individuals who have been the victims of police misconduct. In one case, the client’s husband, a passenger in a car, was killed after a high-speed police chase. The case settled after discovery revealed that the chase violated police policy and that the pursing officers continued the chase even after they had been ordered to stop. In another case, a jury in federal court returned a verdict in favor of a prisoner who was abused by guards.

Sexual assault and harassment
The firm is committed to providing representation to victims of sexual assault and harassment. In one case, the assailant was a prominent sports figure, and the firm represented the victim in a civil action for damages, after the assailant was convicted of rape. In other cases, the firm has represented victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Medical malpractice
The firm has successfully resolved many medical malpractice cases, including:

• Delayed diagnosis of lung cancer
• Injury to patient resulting from improper positioning during surgery
• Surgery in which a foreign body was left in the patient
• Surgical error resulting in a punctured bowel and iliac artery
• Medical treatment without the patient’s consent
• Failure to render appropriate and timely care in emergency rooms

Other Cases involving Personal Injuries
Weisman & McIntyre has the versatility and expertise to provide high quality representation to individuals in a wide range of matters. Examples of other types of cases the firm has handled include:

• Claims against cigarette manufacturers for smoking-related injuries
• Claims on behalf of individuals injured as a result of the negligent operation of trains and subways by public transit authorities
• A suit on behalf of a golfer who was struck by lightning against a golf course for failing to monitor a fast-moving storm and failing to use a warning system that was in use in golf courses around the country
• Suits against state highway departments for improper design of roadways, including failure to provide adequate guardrail or other off-road protection and failure to provide adequate signage

Corporate and Commercial Litigation
Weisman & McIntyre represents clients in connection with a wide range of business disputes. Both Mr. Weisman and Ms. McIntyre worked for many years handling complex business disputes at major law firms. Weisman & McIntyre’s small size and efficient operation enable the firm to provide high-quality services in business litigation matters at reasonable cost. Examples of the types of business litigation that the firm’s lawyers have successfully handled include the following:

• Representation of architects, developers, and owners in a range of construction disputes.
• Representation of manufacturers of construction equipment.
• Representation of manufacturers of building supplies.
• Representation of manufacturer of metal buildings.
• Representation of partners and shareholders in business divorce and other disputes. In one case, summary judgment was obtained and affirmed by the First Circuit on behalf of the client-shareholders in an action brought by a former shareholder who alleged that he had sold his stock for less than its fair value as a result of misrepresentations. In another case, the firm represented a partner in a joint venture dispute arising out of the development of a large real estate parcel in Boston.
• Representation of a major magazine in cases around the country defending the client-magazine’s trademark
• Representation of insurers in coverage disputes. In one case, judgment was obtained in favor of client-insurer, ruling that there was no duty to provide coverage in connection with alleged contamination of a town’s groundwater where the insured failed to provide timely notice to the client.
• Representation of engineering firms and other business entities. In one case, a jury returned a substantial verdict on behalf of client-engineering firm in an action that arose out of the development of a modern vending machine. The trial judge allowed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, but the Appeals Court reinstated the jury’s verdict in favor of the client.
• Representation of finance companies. In one case, judgment was obtained in favor of client-finance company dismissing allegations that the client had improperly arranged financing for trucks sold by plaintiffs.
• Representation of clients in adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court in a range of real estate and other business disputes. The firm has also served as special counsel, and in one case, the Court issued a published opinion allowing a fee petition on account of services provided to a Debtor in defense of claimed RICO and ERISA violations, rejecting a creditor’s argument that these fees were not properly chargeable to the Debtor’s estate.