Crime Victim at Night Club

Stephen Skinner and Laura Davis of the Skinner Law Firm won a settlement for clients who had been brutally beaten and attacked in Martinsburg, WV. The case resolved during trial after Skinner and Davis won key legal rulings.

Consumer Rights Victory Against Kia

Stephen Skinner won a jury verdict against Kia Motors America and Bill Baisey on breach of warranty claims in a dispute over a faulty Kia Sedona van. Although Kia and Bill Baisey broke their warranty promises, they refused to pay their clients for their broken promises. After over a year of litigation, a Jefferson County jury found that they had done just that. After the verdict, the Court ordered Kia to pay the attorney fees for the Skinner Law Firm clients.

Crime Victim at Gentleman's Club

Stephen Skinner and Laura Davis of the Skinner Law Firm settled claims against the Vixen's club for a confidential settlement. Our client was the victim of an assault and battery by bouncers at the "Gentleman's Club." The Complaint alleged that the bouncers threw our client to the ground on the outside of the club where his cheek was fractured. He required surgery has has a permanent injury. During the case, it was discovered that the video surveillance system system at the bar "missed" recording what happened to our client. We brought a claim based on spoliation (or destruction) of evidence on top of the actual assault and battery.

Helping injured Lowe's customer

Andrew Skinner and the Skinner Law Firm have settled a claim on behalf of a client who was severely injured at the Lowe's Home Center in Martinsburg. The client was returning a defective riding lawn mower to the store. The client rented a flat bed truck from Lowe's to return the mower. Upon arriving at the store, the client asked for help from Lowe's, who sent an employee out to the truck. This employee got two ramps designed specifically for that truck and hooked them up to the rear of the truck. Our client started to back the mower down the ramps, when one of the ramps collapsed. Our client fell to the ground, while the mower fell on him. He injured his neck and tore his rotator cuff, requiring surgery. The lawsuit settled for a confidential amount after over two years of litigation.

Stopping Fingerhut’s abusive practices

Attorneys Stephen Skinner and Laura Davis helped a Ranson senior citizen stop harassing calls from Fingerhut marketing. Fingerhut tried to charge this senior citizen for merchandise she did not buy. When Fingerhut would not stop harassing her by telephone, this longtime Ranson resident turned to the Skinner Law Firm. Stephen Skinner immediately wrote to Fingerhut and asked them to stop harassing his client. Even though the law requires that Fingerhut stop contacting someone when they hire a lawyer, Fingerhut persisted. The only thing that made Fingerhut stop badgering was when the Skinner Law Firm filed suit. As part of a settlement, Fingerhut has agreed never to contact the client again, to remove her adverse credit information, and pay her for the annoyance.

Computer Equipment Falls From Delivery Truck, Critically Injuring University Employee

Attorney Stephen Skinner successfully resolved a case where a giant two-ton disk drive slipped off a delivery truck at a major Washington, DC university. The delivery company’s failure to use the right equipment and properly secure it lead to severe spinal injuries and risky surgery for a university employee. The injured employee needed pins in his back and extensive rehabilitation. The case was litigated in DC Superior Court until a settlement was reached. The delivery company provided the majority of the settlement along with two other involved shipping companies.

Homebuyers released from contract after fraud by homebuilder

We recently helped a young family get their deposit back from a national homebuilder when the family failed to qualify for a loan. The contract to purchase the house required the homebuilder to refund the deposit if the family could not qualify for a loan. Although the family did not qualify for a conventional loan, the homebuilder submitted its own application to a lender and got approval for a loan. The family turned to the Skinner Law Firm because the proposed house payments left them with just hundreds of dollars per month for car payments, food, commuting and living expenses for a family of four. The Skinner Law Firm was able to look at the loan application and determine that the homebuilder had fraudulently left out key information from the loan application. When confronted with the fraud, the homebuilder offered to refund the down payment. Unfortunately, it looks like this type of behavior has happened frequently in the Eastern Panhandle.

Poisoned Guest at Francis Ford Copolla Resort

In 2006 Stephen Skinner won a $452,000 jury verdict in New York City against Francis Cord Copolla's Zoetrope All-Story magazine for breach of contract for injuries to Stephen's client. The case deals with tropical infectious diseases that were spread to participants in the magazine's workshop held in Copolla's luxury Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize. The jury agreed that the Lodge served a meal that infected members of the workshop, and specifically Stephen's client, who still suffers from Entamoeba Histolytica and other symptoms. The magazine refused to honor the jury's decision, despite the fact that the trial judge upheld it. In 2007, the magazine filed an appeal in New York's First Appellate Department. On the eve of the oral argument before the appellate court in New York in the spring of 2008, the magazine agreed to settle the claims that led to the 2006 verdict.