Duerson’s case is unique beyond the circumstances of his suicide. Since 2006, he had served on the six-member panel that considered claims for disability benefits filed by former N.F.L. players.

Although individual votes are kept confidential, that board has been sparing in awarding benefits, including those for neurological damage. Duerson himself told a United States Senate subcommittee in 2007 that he questioned whether players’ cognitive and emotional struggles were related to football.

The N.F.L. has altered its approach to concussions in recent years, changing rules to help limit them and revamping how concussions are handled when they occur. But those efforts cannot turn back the clock for players who sustained irreversible damage decades ago.

Marie Rita Kennedy-Lebar said in a suit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that VW and its affiliates have known about but failed to fix headlights that sporadically shut off, exposing drivers to significant danger. The problem occurs in Audi vehicles equipped with an optional high intensity gas discharge headlamp system with xenon bulbs.

VW claims the high intensity gas discharge headlamp systems are superior to halogen headlights, a less expensive option for VW vehicles, because they produce a greater amount of light, consume less power and are intended to last longer.

But while touting the superiority of the product, VW has known that the systems suffer from intermittent failures due to an underlying systemic problem, the suit says.

Kennedy-Lebar is represented by lawyers from Seeger Weiss LLP, including associate Scott George.

“We think it’s going to be a pretty big litigation,” agreed Chris Seeger, a principal at Seeger Weiss, a New York-based personal injury law firm.

DePuy sold about 93,000 ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems and ASR XL Acetabular Systems. The company has reported that about 12 percent of patients required revision surgery within five years after implantation.

…

Seeger said the problem appears to be with the metal-on-metal design of the device, which “seems not to adhere well in the hip joint.”

“The problem is that if there’s a surgical revision required, the whole thing has to be re-done,” he said. “That’s a nasty, messy surgery.”

Five years later, the tragic story of the Windsor Wildcat’s deadly bus crash still strikes a cord. National and especially local news outlets have picked up the story of this first verdict awarding damages to three victims of that terrible accident. You can read some of that coverage below.

Windsor Star: “Windsor Wildcats win court battle” (March 10, 2010)

“The verdict demonstrates how seriously the jury was moved by the experiences of having witnessed the deaths of their close friends and teammates,” said Wildcats’ lawyer Moshe Horn. “While these courageous young women and man were fortunate to have survived the crash, their lives haven’t been the same since.”

Windsor Star: “Windsor Wildcats win court battle – Cash cap for crash under appeal” (March 11, 2010)

“We do not understand why Canadian law should apply in a motor vehicle accident in New York,” said lawyer Marc Albert. “We are so confident that New York law applies here, that we think we will prevail.”

Gault said, to her, the monetary sum is irrelevant. “No amount of money is ever going to change what happened.”

Law360: “Jury Awards $2.25M Survivors Of Deadly Bus Crash”

“This probably has been the most painful testimony I’ve seen in my 16-year career as a trial lawyer,” Horn said. “The verdict demonstrates how seriously the jury was moved by their experiences of having witnessed the deaths of their close friends and teammates.”

CBC News: “$2.25M for players, coach in 2005 bus crash”

“Admission of liability in this first phase of trial by the defendants was a significant development toward the resolution of years of litigation,” said Chris Seeger, lead trial attorney.

The remaining eight victims are expected to have their cases go to trial in the coming months, said the law firm.

“These were among the less serious of the injuries suffered among our clients,” said Moshe Horn, who represented Labadie, Gault and Mailloux. “This is a tremendous result.”

Montreal Gazette: “Injured hockey players win compensation fight”

“The verdict demonstrates how seriously the jury was moved by the experiences of having witnessed the deaths of their close friends and teammates,” said Wildcats’ lawyer Moshe Horn. “While (they) were fortunate to have survived the crash, their lives haven’t been the same since.”

Canadian Press: “N.Y. jury awards millions to Windsor Wildcats hockey players after deadly crash”

Lawyer Moshe Horn says the jury heard from his clients and their families and recognized the victims “went through real trauma.”

All three suffered orthopedic injuries and were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the crash on Interstate 390.

A truck driver and three bus passengers were killed when the bus carrying the team rear-ended a tractor-trailer that was parked on the side of the highway near Rochester in January 2005.

“This was not easy,” Horn said.

“These people went on the stand and really, really laid bare all of the pain they’ve been through. It took a lot of courage.”

Petersborough Examiner: “N.Y. jury awards millions to Windsor Wildcats girls’ hockey players, coach after deadly crash”

“We will be involved in future cases and some of those involve more significant injuries and deaths. There are major cases coming up… These kids have been permanently scarred emotionally from this. Five years later, you see what a monstrous emotional impact this continues to have with them.”

Democrat and Chronicle: “3 injured in 2005 bus crash on I-390 win $2.25 million in lawsuit” (March 10, 2010)

Democrat and Chronicle: “Bus crash victims awarded $2.25 million” (March 11, 2010)

“We believe the jury did the right thing here and awarded a sum commensurate with the very significant physical and emotional injuries,” said Marc Albert, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “Some suffered significant brain injuries. Some suffered extremely serious orthopedic injuries. Several girls had both legs broken and required multiple surgeries and are permanently disabled,” Albert said.

Rochester Business Journal: “Jury awards $2.25M to 3 victims of ’05 crash”

Livingston County News: “Bus crash victims awarded $2.25 million”

Buffalo News: “3 injured in 2005 crash to get $2.25 million”

London Free Press: “$2.25M in damages awarded in Bus Crash”

WCAX Vermont: “NY jury awards $2.25M to bus crash victims”

WHAM, Channel 13: “Jury awards $2.25M to bus crash victims”

Slam Sports: “Jury awards milions to Windsor hockey players”

Republished from 2005

Windsor Star: “Reducing the Odds”

What was a 24-year-old doing at the helm of a charter bus that could carry as many as 55 passengers?

Windsor Star: “‘There is no way’: Tears flow for crash victims”

“It’s a huge loss to our organization as well as our community … this affects so many people,” said Kevin Beaudoin, president of the LaSalle Minor Hockey Association.

Windsor Star: “Police probe driver fatigue: Hockey team bus crash kills 4; Wildcats coach, son, 13, player’s mother killed”

It’s “unbelievable” more than four people weren’t killed when a bus carrying a Windsor Wildcats women’s hockey team and their relatives was sliced in half, from the front to the rear, after veering off a highway here and slamming into a parked tractor-trailer, say police.

Windsor Star: “Comfort new hire: Bus driver started working charters last month”