Attorneys Crivello - Carlson S.C.

Biography:
Donald H. Carlson serves as President and Chairman of the Board for Crivello Carlson. He is also privileged to serve as national counsel for one of the country’s leading manufacturers of boilers and water heaters, as well as working with several multi-national companies on contract disputes, product performance issues and products liability claims.

Don has tried well over 100 jury trials and has successfully handled matters for clients across the country. As lead trial counsel for a manufacturer of many of the world’s largest mobile cranes, he successfully defended the company in the Miller Park Baseball Stadium crane collapse litigation in which it was alleged that the company’s crane was defective; at the conclusion of the trial, the court ruled that the crane was not defective as a matter of law and a co-defendant was found responsible for approximately $100 million in damages. Recently, Don tried an action in Iowa in which a two-year-old child sustained third degree burns over 60% of his body in a flammable vapors incident; the jury returned a verdict absolving the client of any liability.

Don also recently obtained a summary judgment for the manufacturer of starting blocks in an action brought by a high school sophomore who sustained cervical injuries as the result of striking the bottom of the pool during a swim practice leaving him a quadriplegic.

He also has successfully defended a boiler manufacturer in a three-month asbestos trial in New Jersey in which the decedent died of mesothelioma, and he settled a $1 million fire case during trial in Mississippi for less than the cost of continuing the trial. In one of the few dioxin cases believed to be tried to verdict, he successfully defended a manufacturer of the herbicides 2, 4, 5-T and 2, 4-D.

Over the years, he has prevailed in cases brought against manufacturers of truck steering gears, truck axles, heart valves, pacemaker leads, punch presses, electrical controls, forklifts, power tools, thermostatic gas controls, boilers and water heaters. Additionally, he obtained a summary judgment dismissing an action brought against the designer of a water treatment plant by a municipality in Michigan.

A summary judgment motion Don obtained in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania saved his client from the costs of a one-year trial and exposure to $90 million in claimed damages. The State of Pennsylvania Transportation Building in Harrisburg was found to be contaminated with PCBs. The building was demolished and the State sought damages from a manufacturer of PCBs as well as against construction chemical companies, which allegedly used them in their products. On the morning of trial Mr. Carlson, for the fourth time, implored the court to grant his client’s summary judgment on the grounds that PCBs found in caulking compound had migrated from another source; the motion was denied. When the judge took the bench the next morning he reversed himself and granted the motion. The ensuing year long trial against the remaining defendants resulted in the jury returning a verdict against a co-defendant for approximately $90 million.

In Virginia Don obtained a summary judgment motion for a water heater manufacturer in a case in which a baby sustained second and third degree scald burns to 90% of her body, as well as significant damage to internal organs. The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the dismissal.

In Illinois a guest in a motel sustained significant brain damage from carbon monoxide poisoning. An action was brought against the owner of the motel, which then sued the boiler manufacturer. After a three-week trial the jury awarded the plaintiff over $3 Million in damages, found the motel 100% at fault and absolved the boiler manufacturer of any responsibility.

Don works with a variety of businesses on commercial issues as well as helping them with products liability claims. In a Minnesota matter, he successfully brought and settled an action on behalf of a construction chemical manufacturer against a leading software company after finding the defendant represented it had designed and had ready to install a fully integrated system, when the evidence appeared to demonstrate otherwise.

In a significant reported case, he convinced the Wisconsin Supreme Court that it would be inappropriate to hold a corporation, which merely purchases assets of another liable for the torts of the predecessor.

Don is aided and supported by a great group of attorneys and paralegals that have the knowledge and experience to make the results obtained for clients possible.