Verdicts and settlements in the multiple millions of dollars have been awarded to clients of Tom M. Cummings. The following are some of his significant cases:
Assault and Battery Settlement, $3,400,000.00
An Oklahoma County jury returned a verdict for assault and battery for Mr. Cummings’ client in the amount of $2,400,000 for actual damages and $1,000,000 for punitive damages.
Dogbite Settlement, $300,000.00
A homeowner’s insurance company paid policy limits of $300,000.00 to Mr. Cummings’client, a school superintendent, who was bitten by a German Shepherd that the superintendent was trying to lead away from the children in her school.
Trucking Company Verdict, $350,000.00
A Canadian County jury returned a verdict for $350,000.00 against an oilfield trucking company whose driver ran a stop sign and caused a collision with a client of Mr. Cummings, a young man who broke his leg as a result.
Brain Damage Settlement, $870,000.00
A trucking company paid Mr. Cummings’ client $887,000.00 for a collision that occurred when the company’s driver rear-ended a woman who was stopped on the shoulder of a highway.
Medical malpractice, $1,400,000.00
A surgeon specializing in stomach stapling surgery paid $1.4 million to the widow and children of a man who died of complications from an untreated infection.
Workers compensation retaliatory discharge, $670,000.00
A worker was awarded $400,000.00 actual damages and punitive damages of $100,000.00, the highest allowed by law, plus interest of $170,000.00. Tom Cummings proved evidence had been tampered with.
Trucking company liability, $400,000.00
A national trucking company paid $400,000.00 to settle the claims of a young man who was badly hurt when a drowsy truck driver fell asleep and crossed the centerline of the highway.
Medical malpractice, $300,000.00
A Latimer County jury returned a verdict of $300,000.00 in the trial of a physician who failed to diagnose and treat a woman who developed serious MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph areas) infection, causing her to lose her eyesight.
Oilfield liability, $250,000.00
An oilfield company paid $250,000.00 to settle the injuries of another company’s worker, hurt because of a negligently done fracture job.
Nursing home negligence, $250,000.00
A Pottawatomie County nursing home paid $250,000.00 for failure to recognize and treat a decubitus ulcer in a man’s leg, which resulted in amputation.
Medical malpractice, $227,113.67
A jury returned a $277,113.67 verdict of in favor of a patient whose doctor failed to diagnose or treat an impending heart attack.
General negligence, $186,000.00
In Oklahoma County, a jury awarded $186,000.00 to a man who was injured while trying to stop a runaway ice cream truck.
Insurance liability, $180,000.00
A federal jury awarded an OU professor $180,000.00 against his uninsured motorist carrier when he was forced off the road and injured by a semi-tractor trailer truck that left the scene.
Insurance bad faith, $150,000.00
Tom Cummings uncovered proof that a company paid a shady character to make a false statement, accusing a homeowner of falsifying a claim. The defendant paid $150,000.00 in damages to the homeowner.
Psychiatric malpractice, $145,000.00
A Cleveland County psychiatrist paid $145,000.00 to settle the damages of a patient for whom he over-prescribed medications in exchange for certain improper behaviors on the part of the patient.
Legal malpractice, $128,000.00
A jury awarded $64,000.00 actual damages and $64,000 punitive damages against an Oklahoma City attorney who caused wrongful arrests and charges against her own clients.
Medical malpractice, $125,000.00
In Comanche County, three Lawton physicians paid $125,000.00 to settle the damages of a woman whose ruptured appendix went undiagnosed and untreated, resulting in loss of her uterus and ovaries.
Assault and battery, $125,000.00
An Oklahoma County jury returned one of Tom Cummings’ clients a verdict of $105,000.00 actual damages and $20,000.00 punitive damages, in a plaintiff’s verdict for negligence and wrongful detention.
Breach of contract, $80,207.00
An Oklahoma County jury awarded a man and his wife $40,000.00 against a recreational center and $40,207.00 against the owner of the business. The couple had agreed to build a stage on property belonging to the corporation but had no written agreement.
Chiropractic liability, $65,000.00
An Oklahoma City chiropractor paid $65,000.00 to settle damages caused by his bursting breast implants as a result of his over-zealous back manipulations.
Premises liability, $60,000.00
A business paid $60,000.00 to a woman who fell off the porch of a home that had been converted to a business because the size of the porch had been reduced to a dangerously small size.
Legal malpractice, $60,000.00
In a complicated case, the insurance company for a law firm paid $60,000.00 to the widow of a man who had been misdiagnosed at a hospital and subsequently died. The law firm failed to file suit against the hospital and allowed the statute of limitations to run.
Truck negligence, $50,000.00
An Oklahoma County jury awarded $50,000.00 to a man who was run over by a beer delivery truck which was backing up at a filling station.
Workers’ compensation retaliatory discharge, $50,000.00
A worker for an electrical contractor was awarded $50,000.00 by an Oklahoma County jury for his employer’s firing him as retaliation for his filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Veterinarian malpractice, $50,000.00
A Pottawatomie County jury returned a verdict for $50,000.00 against a veterinarian for the death of a horse resulting from the introduction of carbon dioxide gas from a canister into the horse’s bladder.
Premises liability, $38,000,00
An Oklahoma County jury awarded a woman $38,000.00 against a fitness center as a result of injuries caused by falling into a deep unprotected hole.
Premises liability, $37,500.00
An Oklahoma County jury returned a verdict for $37,500.00 against a truck washing company in favor of a woman who fell after getting out of her truck in the middle of the truck wash.
Dental malpractice, $30,000.00
In Pontotoc County, a dentist paid $30,000.00 to settle the damages of a woman who had suffered infections from blade implants.
Settlement Amounts on the Following Cases Have Been Agreed by the Parties to Remain Confidential:
Towed vehicle liability
Tom Cummings made new law in the case of a woman who was injured when a vehicle towed by an asphalt company came loose and crossed the median of a highway, injuring her and destroying her vehicle. Although the case was initially lost at trial due to judicial error, the Supreme Court reversed the trial court and established new law in Oklahoma, making those who tow vehicles strictly liable for injuries caused when the towed vehicle comes loose and injures an innocent motorist.
Workers compensation retaliatory discharge
A manager of a fast-food store who was fired while recovering from a worker’s compensation injury was paid a settlement for wrongful termination.
Child molestation
The homeowner’s insurance company for a lawyer imprisoned for child molestation paid its policy limits for the benefit of the victims of that criminal act.
Legal malpractice
An Oklahoma County jury deliberated for less than thirty minutes before awarding every dime she had requested from her previous attorney for holding back more money than his contract permitted.
Cattle on the highway
A rancher paid an undisclosed sum of money to settle the claim of the estate of a man killed in a collision with a cow that escaped onto the highway from an unrepaired fence.
Premises liability
A man using his home for a teaching business paid an older woman damages after she fell over a portable heater he had placed in a spot where she was not expecting it to be, based on her previous visits to the home.