Attorney Jason Itkin

The legal team of Kurt Arnold, Jason Itkin and Paulk Skrabanek from firm at Arnold & Itkin, LLP have recently worked together to help represent an employee of Diamond Offshore. The plaintiff was a driller working on the Ocean Yorktown off of the coast of Brazil when he was unexpectedly hoisted into the air. After being lifted over twenty feet, his fall protection failed and he sustained serious injuries to his arm and back. Our firm filed the case in Harris County, TX and tried it before Judge Wilson in the 157th District Court. The trial lasted for over a week and a half before the jury returned with a unanimous $4,900,000 verdict.

After longshoreman Abelino Ponce lost his life in a tragic accident at the Port of Houston, the family sought the legal services of Arnold & Itkin LLP. The accident occurred when Mr. Ponce was helping to transport steel pipe from a ship to the dock. A wire struck him in the side and threw him to his death.

The defendants offered to settle the case for $250,000 on the eve of the October 2006 trial, but the plaintiffs rejected this offer at Arnold & Itkin LLP's urging. The firm was able to secure a $3.7 million dollar verdict for the family after a three-day trial.

Attorneys Jason Itkin and Jeff Seely recently took on a case in which the 58-year-old plaintiff fell over twelve feet in a parking lot, causing fatal injuries. It was proven by the firm that the parking lot in question did not abide by the associated OSHA and ANSI regulations and was completely missing the necessary guardrail. The firm took on the case for the surviving family; prior to going to court, the plaintiff was only offered a $200,000 settlement. Through hard work and dedication, they were able to recover a $2.9 million verdict for the family of the deceased.

In an attempt to help a telecom company acquire another company, a businessman entered into an oral agreement; however, these were never written down and when it came time for the transaction, the company only paid a fiftieth of the agreed upon terms. The businessman hired the legal team at Arnold & Itkin, LLP and together, they entered into litigation that lasted over a year against one of the most prestigious firms in the nation. At the end, the plaintiff recovered a $2.5 million settlement, which resulted in a $1,624,295 net recovery for the client.

The legal team at Arnold & Itkin successfully obtained $2.5 million in settlements for a client who suffered debilitating injuries during a truck collision in Mexico. There were numerous attempts by the defendant to move the case to Mexico, but Arnold & Itkin fought hard to see that it stayed in Texas.

Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to obtain a $2.25 million settlement for a seaman who suffered a severe back injury. The seaman was injured because he was trying to avoid a medicine ball that a crane operator had caused to swing toward him. He fell from a machine to the deck below.

Arnold & Itkin LLP secured over $2 million on behalf of two riggers who were seriously injured while working off the coast of Louisiana. Though the companies initially tried to blame the injured workers for what occurred, Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to prove that the incident resulted from the negligent actions of a production operator who worked for one of the defendants. The production operator did not completely "bleed off" pressure that had accumulated in a pipeline. When the two workers were replacing the valve on this pipeline, the valve skyrocketed into the air and knocked one worker to the ground while striking the other worker in the head. One worker suffered severe lower back injuries and the other suffered serious neck injuries and was also diagnosed with Post-Concussion Syndrome. In representing the injured workers, Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to prove that the safety consultant who was hired to supervise the workers did not do his job properly. The case was settled after the trial had already begun and was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division. The Honorable Judge Vanessa Gilmore presided.

Arnold & Itkin LLP represented an offshore worker who suffered serious facial injuries after the lid of a metal canister exploded into his face. He broke several facial bones in the incident. The firm was able to secure a $2 million settlement for the worker, and the net recovery after fees and expenses was $1,073,840.

Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to obtain a $1.85 million settlement for a client who suffered severe foot and ankle injuries. The client sustained these injuries when he was forced to jump overboard in order to avoid other injuries.

Arnold & Itkin LLP recovered a $1.75 million settlement for a worker who was seriously injured in an offshore crane accident. Attorneys Jason Itkin and Kurt Arnold represented the employee of Wood Group in the case, which involved an incident where a crane operator caused the boom crane he was operating to jerk. This caused the crane to strike Arnold & Itkin LLP's client in the face without warning, knocking him from the railing upon which he was standing. The plaintiff suffered a herniated disc in his back as a result of the fall, which required lumbar fusion surgery. He also suffered from post-concussion symptoms as a result of the blow to his head. Arnold & Itkin LLP litigated the case in federal court for the Southern District of Texas and was able to settle two weeks prior to trial.

Arnold & Itkin LLP recovered a settlement of $1.75 million for a client who suffered serious back injuries as the result of a lifeboat malfunction. The client suffered herniated discs in his back and neck when the lifeboat malfunctioned. Prior to the trial, the defendants made a final offer that would have left the client with a net recovery of only $480,000. Arnold & Itkin LLP took the case to trial in July of 2006. Midway through the trial, the defendants met the plaintiff's settlement demand, leaving the client with a net recovery of more than $1 million.

Arnold & Itkin LLP recovered $1.72 million for contractors who suffered serious injuries from exposure to hydrogen sulfide while working off the Gulf of Mexico in 2004. The firm was able to confidentially resolve the case in June of 2005, with a net recovery of $1,011,119.44 that was shared among the claimants.

When attempting to rescue a co-worker, the plaintiff suffered back injuries of his own. The legal team at Arnold & Itkin, LLP took on the case and were able to negotiate a $1.67 million settlement on his behalf.

Arnold & Itkin LLP represented the widow and minor children of a vessel captain, securing a $1.6 million settlement on their behalf. The claim was filed against the owner of the barge as part of a limitation of liability action. The captain was killed when a spud barge struck an underwater high-pressure gas line, which ruptured and caught fire, causing an explosion. The case was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Arnold & Itkin LLP's client fell through an open hatch that another captain had left open. The defense argued that the hatch was an "open and obvious" danger, but Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to show the weakness of this argument by hiring an expert who evaluated the case and prepared an animated demonstration of how the hatch would have looked from the plaintiff's point of view. The animation demonstrated that the defendant could have prevented the incident in the first place if the hatch had simply been barricaded. The case settled within ten days of trial for $1.6 million.

The case was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The Honorable Judge John D. Rainey presided.

On May of 2008, Gilberto Villegas was worked at the APM Terminals' marine terminal in Houston, Texas as a ship repairman when a pickup truck that he was standing on collided with a yard mule. This caused back injuries that resulted in the need for surgery. It was argued by the defendant that the driver of the yard mule was not at fault since the truck was in the middle of the intersection and that due to the low speed, it was a minor collision. They also argued that the plaintiff had injuries prior to the incident. They only offered to settle for $35,000. Attorneys Jason Itkin and Cory Itkin took on the case and were able to recover a $1.55 million jury verdict. The case was pending in Harris County, TX with the Honorable Jaclanal McFarland.

An operator was using a defective grinder when he suffered an open leg fracture. Arnold & Itkin, LLP took on the case and was able to negotiate a settlement on the eve of the trial for $1.5 million.

Arnold & Itkin LLP won a jury verdict of more than $1.2 million for an injured seaman who suffered serious neck and back injuries. Attorneys Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin represented a seaman who was working alone on a ladder, when he fell and injured his back and neck. He required a one level fusion of his cervical spine as a result of his injuries. The jury founds some contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff but awarded him more than $1.2 million on March 1, 2007. The defendant made no offer to settle before or during trial.

A dredge worker was working on unspooling heavy cable in Nigeria when he sustained a herniated disc in his neck. This injury was severe enough that it eventually resulted in the need for surgery. The case, however, was not straightforward as the worker had previously obtained neck injuries while employed for a separate company. Arnold & Itkin, LLP was not daunted by this, took on the case and was able to recover $1.2 million on his behalf. The case was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, with the Honorable Lynn Hughes.

Arnold & Itkin LLP was able to recover $1.078 million for a tugboat captain who was seriously injured during a crew change operation. The captain suffered from anoxic brain injury as the result of oxygen deprivation and also suffered from severe post traumatic stress disorder. The incident occurred when the client, a relief captain employed by the defendant in the case, was asked to perform a crew change operation in a jon boat. The operation was to take place across a half-mile wide stretch of the Mississippi River that was heavy in ship traffic. The off-going captain chose to organize the crew change using the jon boat in spite of the fact that a large crewboat was available for use. Shortly after the on-going crew entered the jon boat, they were swamped and nearly drowned by the wake of a large tanker.

The Arnold & Itkin LLP attorneys were able to win a verdict of $1.078 million after a four-day bench trial, totaling nearly $1.2 million with interest.

Attorneys Mike Tilton and Jason Itkin helped resolve an offshore case in which a Jones Act seaman fractured his elbow and arm after falling from an unsafe ladder. The plaintiff sustained these injuries in the Middle East but the lawsuit was filed in Florida. After many depositions, the case was settled before it made it to trial.

Attorneys Jason Itkin, Kurt Arnold and Mike Tilton recently worked to represent a man who had suffered in a crane collapse and who had sustained a herniated disc. The man had been working when the crawler crane's cab was sheared away – ejecting the plaintiff. Workers' compensation refused the claim and did not cover any of the associated medical bills. Our firm took on the case and was able to get the man the funds he needed to help stay afloat while the case moved forward. It was due to the innovative approach and the firm's ability to circumvent the workers' compensation bar that allowed for the client to be awarded a partial settlement of $1,050,000 in the end.