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.
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…
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After the 2004 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival lost money, there was talk of slashing the next year’s budget. But longtime Fest producer Quint Davis’ new partners at AEG Live advocated for the opposite strategy. They said you can’t cut your way out of this. “This” refers to financial straits Jazz Fest found itself in, and…
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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….
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