A member of the Bars of both Connecticut and Vermont, Joel Faxon came to KK&B following a clerkship for the Superior Court Judges in Connecticut. For several years at KK&B Joel's practice included litigating the "Colonial Realty" commercial class action lawsuit brought against several prominent accounting firms including Arthur Andersen on behalf of 7500 investors in Real Estate Limited Partnerships. That suit ultimately was resolved by settlements in excess of 100 million dollars. Joel's practice includes products liability, employer liability, civil rights, automobile accidents, air crash cases, commercial litigation and claims against insurance companies. Joel is a graduate of Drew University and the Vermont Law School. He enjoys fighting the tough battles in trial and appellate courts. Some examples of Joel's trials and settlements: Casey v. Teledyne Continental Motors: $3.6 million dollar multi-defendant settlement arising out of the crash of a private plane in Rhode Island. Products liability defendant Teledyne manufactured a defective crankshaft that failed midflight causing the plane to crash. Joel represented the estate of the pilot and his surviving spouse. Product liability claim pending in Federal Court in Connecticut. Separate suit against A&P mechanic pending in Complex Litigation Docket of Superior Court. Coughlin v. Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York: $1.55 million dollar mid-trial settlement arising out of motor vehicle death. Jehovah's Witness defendants claimed that the driver who caused the death was not their employee but rather was on his own private religious trip at the time of the accident. Joel uncovered evidence of the sect's activities and obtained secret documents during discovery that bolstered the case and caused the Jehovah's Witnesses to pay the highest settlement amount in their history. No offers to settle were made by Jehovah's Witnesses until after the trial commenced. Scott v. Ford Motor Credit Corporation: $1.3 Million Dollar Settlement for Family of Nine Year-Old Child Killed in Vermont automobile collision. Case involved multi-district litigation and conflicts involving Vermont, New York and Connecticut law. Whitaker v. Erdos & Maddox: $1 million dollar policy limits settlement of legal malpractice action with underlying medical malpractice claim. Obstetrical negligence during delivery when doctor encountered shoulder dystocia and utilized excessive traction causing brachial plexus injury to child. Joel established that the defendant attorney allowed the case to be dismissed and failed to reopen it in a timely fashion. Defendant attorney testified during deposition that if he ever had another medical malpractice case enter his office he would refer it to Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder. Air Crash in Dubrovnik, Croatia: Confidential settlement reached by several families represented by KK&B arising out of the crash of a military 737 plane carrying a United States Commerce Department delegation to Croatia. The estates sued Jeppesen Sanderson and Jeppesen Gmbh, the world's largest manufacturers of aeronautical charts and maps, based on the defects and inaccuracies contained on the map that misled the pilots thereby contributing to the crash. Witt vs. St. Vincent Medical Center, 252 Conn. 363 (2000): The Supreme Court of Connecticut, in a unanimous decision, expanded the continuing course of treatment doctrine allowing victims of medical malpractice to sue after the expiration of the statute of limitations where the physician fails to disclose information relevant to the patient's treatment. |