James P. Carey

In the early morning hours our client was traveling to work with a friend when they came upon some headlights that appeared to be in their lane. It was dark, raining and foggy.  A garbage truck had pulled into the wrong lane and was actually facing toward our client as he approached.  Our client understandably thought that someone was in his lane and he was blinded by the headlights so he veered off the road to the right, driving into a ditch striking a telephone pole. Our client and his passenger got out to inspect the damage to their car, which was minimal.  Another vehicle who also thought that the garbage truck was a vehicle coming at him in his lane and did exactly the same thing that our client did and hit our client as he was getting back into his vehicle. 

Our client, a young man, was working on the roof of the Lakeville High School in Lakeville, Minnesota. A 4' x 8' sheet of plywood covering a hole in the roof was not properly secured and he fell through the hole, approximately 30 feet to the concrete floor below. Our client suffered serious orthopedic and brain injuries, ending his career as a union roofer. Jim Carey settled his case for $2.5 million.

Jim Carey represented a Chisago City woman who was badly injured when her car was t-boned at an intersection by a vehicle that ran a stop sign. She received significant injuries including a traumatic brain injury and PTSD and was unable to return to work after the accident.

Our client was slowing on a rural highway intending to make a left turn when he was rear-ended by a semi tractor-trailer. The intersection where the accident occurred is located outside Winthrop, Minnesota and the roads were straight and level for miles approaching the intersection. Apparently the driver of the semi was on his radio and had looked away from the road for a few seconds and when he looked up, our client’s vehicle was stopped right in front of him. The semi was traveling approximately 60 mph and wasn’t able to stop in time to avoid hitting our client.

Our client and her friend were returning to their Wisconsin college after a visit with their families when the driver lost control of their SUV due to slippery roads. They crashed into a bridge overpass pillar and both girls were killed at impact. The student that our firm presented was survived by her parents and one adult sibling. Jim Carey settled the case for $1.3 million.

On a clear summer evening, two boats were on a parallel course, both moving very fast. A jet boat testing its speed passed a fishing boat and made a U-turn so it was on course for a head-on collision. At the last moment, both boat operators attempted to avoid a collision but it was too late. The fishing boat flew into the air, did a barrel roll and landed upside down. Three people lost their lives and others were seriously injured. Jim Carey represented one of the injury victims as well as the family of one of the deceased passengers.

A surgeon performing a kidney stone surgery on our client failed to diagnose and treat an infection that was discovered in her pre-op physical. When he did the surgery, the infection spread and caused her to suffer amputation and disfigurements to her fingers and toes.

Our client was traveling northbound on Highway 65. A semi hauling a load of lumber was traveling eastbound on 221st Street in East Bethel, Minnesota. Highway 65 is a divided highway. The semi truck driver had a stop sign and there is a yield sign in between the lanes of Highway 65. The truck driver didn't see our client coming down the highway so he pulled out. Our client struck the semi tractor and became embedded under the truck. Our client was transported by helicopter to HCMC and was in a coma for 10 days. His injuries included a concussion, brain injury, broken jaw, broken left hand and fractured cheek bone. He spent almost a month in a rehabilitation center after he was released from the hospital. Our client was disabled and was unable to work after the accident ever again.

Our client, a 23 year old temp worker, was operating a Heim press. He placed the piece of metal in the press, manually activated the press and after it cycled, reached in with his right hand to remove the piece of metal. The press automatically cycled, catching our client's hand, crushing it and causing an amputation of four fingers on that hand.

Jim Carey represented a man who worked for a Recycling Company that contracted to demolish a large machine in a particle board factory building in Cook, MN. The machine was 3 stories above ground and 2 stories below ground. Our client was using a cutting torch to cut out the supports holding up a 26,000 pound plate that was located on the ground floor of the machine.

Our client was going to a friend’s cabin in northern Minnesota. He was riding his motorcycle and was following his friend who was driving an automobile. Our client was making a left turn and another driver came up from behind him and started to pass in a No Passing Zone and struck the rear of his motorcycle. Our client was thrown off the motorcycle approximately 30 yards. He was airlifted from the scene to North Memorial Hospital. Our client was wearing a helmet when the accident occurred.

A Coca-Cola Bottling Company employee was exposed to an ammonia release when he cut into some pipes that were not properly drained to make a repair. Because of the exposure, our client experienced an onslaught of medical issues including shortness of breath, an enlarged heart, reduced oxygen intake, fatigue, pneumonia, chest pains and many other ailments.

On a summer morning at 5:40 am, our client was driving to work. He was traveling eastbound on Interstate 94 in St Paul, MN when he was struck in the rear right side of his Chevrolet Silverado pick up. The impact caused our client to violently strike the cement median and then his vehicle rolled several times. His truck was a total loss as a result of the accident. 

Our client was driving his snowmobile on a trail in Itasca County when he was struck by another snowmobile heading the opposite direction. The driver that hit our client had been drinking at a local bar and was intoxicated at the time of the collision. His BAL was .204, over two times the legal limit, and he was arrested and prosecuted for operating a snowmobile under the influence of alcohol.

A car driven by a teen-age girl carrying her two friends were heading east on Highway 23 in Quamba, Minnesota and a pick up was approaching them headed west. As they got closer to each other, the left front tire of the pick up blew out and the driver of the pick up lost control. He veered violently to the left and crossed the center line and hit the car head on. The force of the impact knocked the car into the ditch. The driver of the car was killed as a result of the collision and her two friends badly injured.

Our client was riding his motorcycle in Plymouth, MN and he slowed down for a set of railroad tracks.  As he slowed down, the vehicle behind him rear ended him and we believe the motorcycle ended up underneath the vehicle and was pushed forward under the car quite some distance.

Our client was hired to work as a subcontractor on a garage project. While working on scaffolding, the subcontractors, including our client, were positioning sheathing on the first level of the roof. While working 12-15 feet off the ground, the scaffold pulled free from the wall causing our client to fall to the ground, landing on his feet.  As a result of the fall, our client fractured both heels, had screws and plates placed in his right heel, fractured both ankles and fractured two bones in his lower right leg.

Our client is a hardworking cement mason living in northern Minnesota who was riding his Harley Davidson one spring day. He does not remember the facts of the accident. According to the accident report, our client was traveling westbound on a city street; the defendant driver was traveling eastbound from a parking lot onto the same roadway. The defendant driver failed to yield the right of way and turned in front of our client's motorcycle, causing the collision. Our client sustained a broken tibia and fibula with rod and plates surgically placed. He had a shattered hip socket that required surgery to insert screws and plates. Our client's medical bills exceeded $180,000.

Our client was returning to the Twin Cities from a week-end in Northern Wisconsin. She was hit head on when another vehicle crossed the center line and came into her lane on a rural two lane highway.  Our client was not able to avoid the collision.  She received fractures to her back, sternum, knee and 2 breaks in her right leg.  Unfortunately, the driver who hit our client was killed. 

Our client was making a left turn from a freeway exit.  The light for cars turning on the exit ramp turned green and the first car in line made its turn.  The second car started to go then stopped, our client was in the 3rd car and he stopped also and was hit from behind twice. 

Our client was an electrician who was wiring electric fans into the ceiling of a 20 foot high walk-in cooler at a Cub Foods store that was being built. He was walking across the top of the cooler to talk to one of the other workers. The area was poorly lit and our client came across a step ladder lying on the floor. He pushed the ladder aside and fell into an un-barricaded hole. Our client fell approximately 20 feet onto a cement floor, landing on his feet. As a result of the fall, our client's right ankle was fractured, his right hip was fractured and he had fluid on the knee.

Our client, a 52 year-old woman, was diagnosed with a thyroid condition and prescribed medication by her treating physician. She filled her prescription at her local pharmacy but the pharmacy erroneously gave her a cancer drug rather than the thyroid medication.  She suffered from symptoms as a result of not taking her prescribed thyroid medication and also suffered pain and a multitude of additional symptoms as a result of taking the cancer drug. Of significant importance, our client suffered mental anguish because she had experienced similar cancer-like symptoms years earlier when she was treated for ovarian cancer.

Our client was one of three passengers in a vehicle, the driver was driving recklessly at high speeds and he lost control of the vehicle and struck an SUV head-on. Our client was knocked unconscious and sustained severe head injuries.

Our client was a young woman who suffered severe pain and lost her ability to play competitive soccer as a result of negligent spine surgery.   The defendant orthopedic surgeon used 14 pedicle screws at multiple levels of the spine as part of the attempt to fuse the spine to correct our client's scoliosis.  For the next two years, the client suffered chest wall pain and positional headaches until another orthopedic surgeon ordered imaging of the spine by CT scan.  The CT imaging revealed that 12 of the 14 screws were misplaced, making it necessary for our client to undergo another spine surgery to remove all of the screws and replace them in proper positions.  During this revision surgery it was discovered that the misplaced screws had not only been causing chest wall pain, but also injured the dura to the extent that spinal fluid was leaking which was the explanation for the headaches.  In addition, the defendant failed to remove spinal facets which resulted in failure of the fusion at 2 levels.

Our client was a farmer who injured his shoulder and neck while lifting a heavy farm device. He was referred to a neurosurgeon in South Dakota and later underwent a left anterior cervical diskectomy and C6-C7 fusion at a surgical center.

Our client and his wife were riding their motorcycles on a two-lane highway.  Our client was the lead motorcycle and his wife was riding behind him.  They met 5-6 cars going the opposite direction and the 3rd car in that line of vehicles drifted over into our client's lane.  Our client swerved to avoid the car, but it struck the side of his motorcycle with the driver's door area.  The driver that struck him continued on and didn't stop. Our client's wife stopped and the two people in the car right behind her stopped and asked what had happened.  She said that her husband had been hit by a car that kept going.  The people in that vehicle then turned around and found the vehicle that had struck our client a short distance down the road. The driver was trying to change a flat tire sustained in the accident.  When the police arrived at the scene, they arrested the driver, who was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Our client, a 21 year old man was hanging out with friends on a deck. As he leaned back against the deck railing, the railing gave way and he fell off the deck, 20 feet to the ground. As a result of his fall, our client received serious spinal injuries and is a paraplegic.