Oestreicher wins $1.5 million case against Ambulance Manufacturer

A federal court jury awarded a former New Orleans paramedic more than $1.5 million in damages this week for injuries he sustained while treating a gunshot victim in the back of an ambulance. The jury found the ambulance manufacturer, Medtec Ambulance Corp., knowingly designed a dangerous ambulance bench seat that caused paramedic Ryan Earls’ injuries in December 2010.

Earls, 26 at the time, was in the rear of the ambulance working on the patient when the truck hit a bump in the road. The faulty seat collapsed and Earls was sent sprawling, said his attorney, David Oestreicher. Earls wrenched his back, and he had to be removed from the ambulance at the hospital, Oestreicher said.

The jury’s award to Earls included $200,000 for his loss of future wages and benefits, $600,000 in medical expenses and $700,000 for his pain and suffering.

The five-day trial took place in U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle’s courtroom.

French Quarter Minutemen Float Plan for Armed Citizens Crime Watch Group

A new citizens group wants to form in the French Quarter, and its goal is to make the world famous neighborhood a safer place. The group calls itself the French Quarter Minutemen, an all volunteer organization made up of people who live in, work in or frequent the French Quarter, and who want to add…

Read more

Perspectives on the Law: Oestreicher’s Service at NOPD

David Oestreicher was comfortable and well suited in law school at Tulane. He also fit right in while working toward his Master of Laws degree at Harvard, but familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency can cause the mind to atrophy. Students of the law, more so, practicing attorneys need to keep sharp. They need perspective to…

Read more

Oestreicher Named to Patriots Circle at WWII Museum

New Orleans attorney, David Oestreicher, has been named to the Patriots Circle at the National World War II Museum. The Patriots Circle represents a special group of Americans dedicated to preserving the artifacts and personal accounts that serve as examples of teamwork, courage, sacrifice and leadership exemplified by the men and women of the World War II generation….

Read more