Since the early 1990’s, The Edward A. Williamson Law Firm has been a leader among Plaintiff’s firms pursing mass tort litigation in Mississippi and the Deep South. We have aggressively pursued thousands of claims for individual injuries obtained as a result of the adverse effects of drugs like Fen/Phen, Trasylol, Phenylpropanolamine, Prempro, child vaccinations and more. In 2001, our clients and the firm enjoyed the first of several great successes in the so called mass tort venue. On the morning of the first day of trial of a multiple plaintiff case, a favorable settlement was successfully negotiated. Although part of the settlement agreement prohibits any discussion of actual dollar amounts, it has been widely rumored the settlement was the largest per client settlement ever obtained in such a case at that time.

Our successful efforts in diet drug litigation and other “mass tort” actions continues as we are now winding down our global settlement of our remaining diet drug cases for our clients and have recently reached a global settlement with one of the major defendants in the “PPA” litigation PPA being the active ingredient in many over the counter cold medications which cause hemorrhagic strokes.

Parkerson v. Town & Country Mobile Homes, et al

Although not a "big money" case, we at The Williamson Law Firm consider this victory as one the highlights of our mission to represent and seek justice for everyday citizens of our state and country. In the Parkerson case, the plaintiff had signed an arbitration clause in the financing documents, not in the original sales documents themselves, which would have taken away her right to seek justice before a jury of her peers in a court of law in Neshoba County. The trial judge sustained the defendant mobile home dealer’s motion to compel arbitration. After our successful appeal, the arbitration clause was set aside, and M.S. Parkerson was awarded her right for trial by jury. The case was then settled for an amount which fully compensated April Parkerson.

Ford v. Barker, M.D.

Weeks prior to the beginning of the trial of this birth trauma case on August 30, 1999, we rejected the Defendant's maximum offer of $150,000.00, which was then withdrawn prior to trial. In the fourth day of the trial, we settled the case for $650,000.00. This birth trauma case involved a brachial plexus injury. Our primary contentions were that the physician failed to utilize the McRobert's maneuver, improperly used pitocin, scheduled a premature labor and delivery for her own convenience, and failed to anticipate or advise as to the benefits of a caesarean section.

Morrison v. Pontiac Dealership

A $490,000.00 settlement was achieved on May 29, 1996. This case involved a first-time car buyer. The salesman at the Defendant's, car dealership told her that the car had an air bag. Nine days after she purchased the vehicle, Ms. Morrison had a head-on collision. There was no air bag. We did not get the case until a year-and-a-half after that. Upon taking the case, we pursued the matter by focusing on her head and upper body injuries since the orthopedic injuries were not caused by the absence of the air bag. The end result was a $490,000.00 settlement after 20 or so depositions.

Plaintiff Name Withheld v. Tank & Equipment Company, Inc., et al

A $1.5 million settlement was awarded on February 11, 1992, after about a year-and-a-half of litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division. This case involved a public service officer who got ammonium hydroxide in his eye while inspecting a chemical transport tanker truck, causing severe loss of vision and near blindness. We sued both the trucking company and the designer of the tank. The theory of this case was that because, it was foreseeable at the time of the design and manufacture of the tank that the tank itself would be inspected for safety compliance, it was foreseeable that the "spill dam reservoir" on the top of the tank would catch the ammonium hydroxide spills when the tank was filled; and that, on occasions, it would rain and force the hydroxide through the overflow pipe from the "spill dam reservoir.” Ultimately, upon inspection underneath the tank in the area where the pipe emptied, the hazard of ammonium hydroxide existed.

Peavy v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company, et al

Mr. Peavy suffered second and third degree burns over 40-50% of his body in August of 1980 when the metal drum, which had been supplied to the salvage operation on the railroad yard by the Defendant, exploded hurling him into the air. The barrel had the words "empty" written on it in large letters. Webster's dictionary defines empty as "destitute of effect or force." The Plaintiff suffered permanent physical disability, including permanent facial scarring, the inability to close his eyes, permanent tearing, disfigurement, psychological injury, and loss of earning capacity. This case was tried in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division resulting in a $1.6 million verdict on July 3, 1987.

Nowell v. Universal Electric Company

A $1 million award in October 1984 for the wrongful death of a young soon-to-be father who was severely burned when a metal barrel on which he was working exploded. The barrel in question had been lost long before representation of the Nowell heirs was undertaken. The identity of the barrel which exploded and its origin from the defendant, Universal Electric Company, was proven by circumstantial evidence.

Robinson v. Kenneth Breakfield, et al

A $150,000.00 verdict was awarded on February 13, 1984. Although the vehicle the Plaintiff was riding in did not show any severe damage to the rear bumper, it was proven to the satisfaction of the jury that the Plaintiff suffered severe and impairing back injuries. This was the highest recorded verdict in Neshoba County at that time.

Rushing v. Keller Industries of Alabama, Inc., et al

A $100,000 verdict awarded on February 16, 1984, which was tried in Neshoba County the same week as Robinson v. Breakfield. The plaintiff proved to the satisfaction of the jury that the ladder was defective ("Keller-Killer ladder") and gave way under Charles Rushing, causing him to fall and suffer serious personal injury as a result.

Johnson v. Bank of North Mississippi, et al

TRIED ONCE . . . $120,000.00 verdict, TRIED TWICE . . . $177,500.00 verdict, SHALL WE GO FOR THREE . . . The first trial of this case, in November 1978, ended in a verdict of $75,000.00 in actual damages and $45,000.00 in punitive damages. Two years later, we tried the case before another judge and received an even higher verdict of $77,500.00 in actual damages and $100,000.00 in punitive damages. Mr. Johnson had bought a Peterbilt tractor-trailer based on the bank's advertisement that it had a Cadillac engine with 93,000 actual miles. Not so, the bank knew, because it had financed the assembly of the tractor/ trailer form a glider kit using old "moving parts" collected from various truck "grave yards with up to 500,000 miles use on them and we proved that the Bank knew it! Because of the two separate verdicts, this case was, at one time, the 1st and 3rd highest recorded verdicts for DeSoto County. The Bank never offered a penny to settle the case prior to the last verdict.

Mississippi Department of Transportation v. Edward A Williamson, et al

This Eminent Domain case tried before a jury in the Circuit Court of Neshoba County Mississippi on March 2, 2004. The State of Mississippi had offered $26,000.00; the jury awarded $60,000.00. The Mississippi Transportation Commission appealed the final judgment all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court which denied M.D.O.T.'s appeal.