Blog : seth rosenberg

Seth Rosenberg Selected for National Trial Lawyers Honor

Seth Rosenberg Selected for National Trial Lawyers Honor

  • By minamitamaki
  • March 30, 2012
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Seth RosenbergSeth I. Rosenberg, a Senior Associate in the firm’s Personal Injury practice, was recently selected as a member of National Trial Lawyers Association: Top 40 under 40, an invitation-only honor extended exclusively to those individuals who exemplify superior qualifications, trial results, and leadership as a young lawyer.

Selection to the National Trial Lawyers Association: Top 40 under 40 is based on a thorough multi-phase process which includes peer nominations combined with third-party research. The result is a credible, comprehensive and impressive list of young attorneys chosen to represent their state.

The Top 40 under 40 is restricted to only 40 attorneys per state per year. Attorneys must also specialize in the areas of civil plaintiff or criminal defense law.

Seth specializes in representing plaintiffs in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings. He has obtained jury verdicts, arbitration awards, and settlements for his clients totaling millions of dollars. He successfully represents clients in all types of personal injury cases, including premises liability, vehicular negligence, products liability, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. His trial verdicts and settlements have been featured in many California legal periodicals, including The Recorder and The Daily Journal.

Senior Counsel B. Mark Fong, also in the firm’s Personal Injury practice, was selected in Oct. 2011 to be a member of the National Trial Lawyers, which is composed of the top 100 trial lawyers from each state.

Minami Tamaki Recovers $5 Million for Elderly Grandmother Run Over in Crosswalk

Minami Tamaki Recovers $5 Million for Elderly Grandmother Run Over in Crosswalk

Jane D (fictitious name), a 75-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of 10, was returning home from her morning walk when she was struck by a commercial vehicle in 2009 on a busy San Francisco intersection. She suffered serious injuries that crushed her pelvis and eventually required amputation of her left leg.

Partner Dale Minami, Senior Counsel Mark Fong, Senior Associate Seth Rosenberg and Associate Eunice Yang obtained a $5 Million settlement for Jane at mediation.

Jane had walked three to five steps into the crosswalk when the driver, John R. (also fictitious name), struck her while making a right turn in his company-owned vehicle. Because the driver claimed he never saw her, Jane was dragged for six feet after she was hit, leaving a trail of bloody tissue on the street.

When the truck finally came to a halt, Jane had suffered de-gloving injuries to both legs, multiple foot, leg and pelvic fractures, and extensive abdominal injuries. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital in critical condition.

Jane sued the truck driver, John R., for motor vehicle negligence, and John’s employer for negligent hiring, training and supervision of their driver.

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Minami Tamaki Obtains Significant Win for Injured Motorcyclist and for Plaintiffs’ Rights to Collect Full Medical Expenses

Seth RosenbergMinami Tamaki Senior Associate Seth I. Rosenberg recently obtained a personal injury judgment for a motorcycle enthusiast involved in a crash in November 2006. Rosenberg obtained a verdict of $189,961.02 and costs of $24,355.74 in Alameda County (Goode v. Crockett).

Rosenberg’s understanding of the “Rules of the Road” and the trauma and pain that serious motorcycle accidents cause has helped him successfully represent many motorcycle riders and injured motorists in their claims against negligent automobile drivers.

Since 1998, motorcycle accidents and deaths have been increasing. Forty percent of deaths are the result of an automobile or truck turning left in front of motorcyclists, according to recent research of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Automobile driver distractions, along with other potential factors, contribute to the increasing rate of motor vehicle riders’ crippling injuries and fatalities.

Rosenberg represented Don Goode, a 39-year-old fermentation specialist who was riding his motorcycle on Seminary Avenue with a green light into the intersection of Camden and MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California. After Goode entered the intersection the defendant, driving his Cadillac CTS on MacArthur Blvd., darted out against a red light, causing Goode to strike the side of his car.

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Foot-wide Pothole Injures Cyclist, Possibly Ending Drumming Career

Senior Associate Seth Rosenberg obtained a $145,000 settlement from the City of Berkeley and Comcast late last year for client V. Carrillo (not the client’s real name), who suffered a severely broken hand (requiring surgery) in 2006 from a bicycle incident in Berkeley, Calif.

Carrillo, then a student at the University of California, Berkeley, was riding his bicycle with his girlfriend at night when he rode into an unseen, deep pothole filled with water on University Avenue. Upon riding into the pothole, he was ejected. His left arm and hand felt numb, and he could not move his fingers. Carrillo removed the gloves he had on and noticed that his left pinky finger was bent abnormally to the side and the knuckle of his ring finger was severely indented.

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Reflections on a Mentor

Seth RosenbergMinami Tamaki LLP Senior Associate Seth Rosenberg wrote this piece for The Recorder, which published it in mid-July as part of their “Mentors 2010” series.

Mix in Jerry Spence, Yogi Berra, a Zen Master of your choosing, and a healthy dose of ’60s-style rebellion and you have my mentor and friend, Berne Reuben.

Berne and I began working together in 2004. At that time, Berne had just left his solo practice of 100 years and I had just become a plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney three years out of law school. He had little experience working closely with young attorneys and I was a little-too-cocky young attorney (many would say a “lot-too-cocky”). Things did not look good … and they were not good in the beginning. There were squabbles. We did not see eye-to-eye.

But two things changed everything. First, I consumed significant helpings of humble pie. And, second, I quickly realized that Berne Reuben was one hell of a trial lawyer. I then decided that I just needed to become a sponge and soak up everything Berne had to say. And Berne can talk. Indeed, one of his favorite sayings (and now mine is that the best part of the law is “T&T” (“thinking and talking”). We spent hours T&T’ing over cases we were working on together and separately. And, like any great mentor, he was always available to talk (except on his day off — Friday, or mornings, or days after he played music at night with his friends, or… ) In these T&T sessions, Berne taught me wonderful “Yogi Berra-esque” sayings that I recite all the time:

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Minami Tamaki Assists Small Business Owner Injured by Hazardous Sidewalk Panels

Seth RosenbergAssociate Seth Rosenberg obtained a $400,000 settlement for client Kenneth T. for hip injuries suffered after he tripped and fell over elevated sidewalk panels on a street in San Francisco.

Kenneth, then 81, and a small business owner, suffered his injuries in January 2008 from tripping over panels that were pushed up as much as one inch above the sidewalk due to tree roots that were planted in the area. Approximately 26 panels were pushed up in a similar way because of those tree roots and other pedestrians had fallen at the same spot.

Because of injuries suffered from the sidewalk panels, Kenneth needs assistance with activities for daily living and employs home health aides for eight hours per day. He will need this home assistance for the remainder of his life.

Kenneth can no longer work at the home improvements company he owned and the settlement Rosenberg obtained for him will help cover medical costs and lost earnings.

$3.5M Settlement to Help Brain Injured Client with Care and Lost Wages

  • By minamitamaki
  • March 22, 2010
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pedestrian-crossingDale Minami, Mark Fong and Seth Rosenberg in our Personal Injury practice recently obtained a $3.5 million settlement for a man who suffered brain injuries after being struck and knocked unconscious by a waste management truck while walking in a crosswalk in San Francisco.

The client, “George,” had to undergo emergency neurosurgery to relieve bleeding and pressure on his brain. Afterward, he required physical therapy and rehabilitation. The incident prevented him from continuing work as a mechanic for San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Authority.

The defendants, the company that owned and operated the truck, litigated the case for more than a year, claiming that George was not paying attention in the drizzling rain. They claimed the umbrella he was holding blocked his view of the right turning truck, as well as the driver’s view of him.

Lawyers for George were able to prove that he had suffered subtle, but significant mental and emotional changes and, using advanced technology, could demonstrate through a simulated video that the truck driver could have seen George despite the conditions and the rain.

The defendants eventually agreed to pay George $3.5 million dollars for his past medical expenses, lost wages, future care and residual brain damage. He will now be able to afford life care assistance for the rest of his life and not have to worry about his future medical care or providing for his family.

Dale, Mark and Seth felt the settlement sent a message to the truck company to pay more attention to the safety of the public and will donate some of their attorneys’ fees to the distribution of a pamphlet on pedestrian safety.

“I’ve seen so many auto/pedestrian accidents in San Francisco where drivers were simply not paying attention,” said Dale. “I’m glad we were able to help George’s family.”