B. Mark Fong
Top rated Personal Injury attorney in San Francisco, California
Practice Areas:
Animal Bites,
Birth Injury,
Brain Injury,
Construction Accident,
Medical Malpractice,
Premises Liability - Plaintiff,
Sexual Abuse - Plaintiff,
Trucking Accidents,
Wrongful Death,
Personal Injury,
Civil Litigation
Education Qualification:
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
Practice Areas:
Animal bites,
Birth injury,
Brain injury,
Construction accident,
Medical malpractice,
Premises liability - plaintiff,
Sexual abuse - plaintiff,
Trucking accidents,
Wrongful death,
Personal injury,
Civil litigation
101 Montgomery Street Suite 825San Francisco, California, 94108
First Admitted: 1981, California
Professional Webpage: https://www.minamitamaki.com/attorneys/markfong
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- Asian American Bar Association
- Board member, Chinatown Community Development Center, 2012
- United States District Court, Eastern District of California
- United States District Court, Northern District of California
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
- Donaldina Cameron House, Board of Directors
- Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- California, 1981
- American Association for Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association)
- Medical Consumer Attorneys of Northern California
- Member of the National Trial Lawyers
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
- Medical Malpractice - Negligent Injection: $490,000 Settlement - A 35 year-old unemployed security guard went to the Defendant Medical Center with complaints of abdominal pain. He was admitted to the intensive care unit after being diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. The doctor administered an anti-nausea drug, Phenergan, through an IV. Immediately after injection, the client suffered a stroke, and an MRI showed he had suffered a serious brain injury. The client alleged the Phenegran had been erroneously injected into his artery, rather than his vein, which caused the stroke. The client sued the County and the Medical Center for medical malpractice. Seth Rosenberg and Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Shooting: $105,000 Plaintiff Verdict - Mark’s client was shot in the face by his girlfriend’s father during an argument. The bullet remained lodged in his neck and he required dentures as a result. The defendant’s insurance company denied coverage for the shooting, claiming it was an intentional act. Mark convinced the jury at trial that the shooting was accidental and that the defendant only meant to scare the plaintiff. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Underground Drilling Through Power Lines: $1.15 Million Settlement - An excavation subcontractor was hired to do trenching work for underground fiber-optic lines. The company did not follow proper procedures to locate and mark the underground electric lines near where they were digging their trench, and ended up drilling through the power lines owned by our client, an electrical company. This caused thousands of residents and businesses to lose power. The case settled with a $1.15 million payout to the electrical company. Mark Fong represented the electrical company.
- Slip and Fall at Supermarket: $125,000 Settlement - A 66 year old widow was shopping at the Defendant’s grocery store. There were no floor mats in the produce section, and it had not been swept in over two hours. While in the produce section, she slipped on corn silk on the ground and broke her femur. She was hospitalized and in traction for 57 days. The judge at the time said he had never seen any slip-and-fall case settlement over $100,000 in that county (Lake County). Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Commercial Truck vs. Pedestrian: $5 Million Settlement - A 75 year-old mother of 5 and grandmother of 10 was out for her morning walk. While crossing the street in the crosswalk, she was struck on her left side by a large commercial truck. After striking her, the truck then rolled over the lower half of her body and dragged her approximately 6 feet. She suffered a crushed pelvis and required multiple surgeries, including amputation of her left leg. The defendant claimed our client was not visible to the truck driver but we proved through accident reconstruction and visibility studies that he had to have seen her if he was paying attention. Dale Minami, Mark Fong, Seth Rosenberg and Eunice Yang represented the Plaintiff.
- Dangerous Premises - Door Crushes Boy's Finger: $300,000 Settlement - A three year-old boy accompanied his father to Defendant’s recreational equipment store to purchase ski lift tickets. Defendant’s store was undergoing construction but remained open for business. The boy touched a heavy door which Defendant had left leaning against the wall. It fell, crushing his right index finger. He required several surgeries to repair his finger, which will have a permanent deformity. The case settled for $300,000. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- High Speed Rear-end Collision Involving Multiple Vehicles: $650,000 Settlement - An 85 year old man was driving on the freeway, when the traffic ahead of him came to an abrupt stop. He was able to stop, however the defendant was looking at his GPS device and slammed into the rear of our clients car with his SUV at 65 miles-per-hour. The force of the impact caused our clients vehicle to slam into the car in-front of him, and subsequently the next three cars in front were damaged. Our client suffered an unstable transverse fracture of his T-8 vertebra, both lungs were partially collapsed, and multiple left and right rib fractures. He was hospitalized for 49 days, and required his T 6-11 vertebrae to be fused. Dale Minami and Mark Fong represented the plaintiff.
- Premises Liability - Hot Water at Restaurant: $145,000 Plaintiff Verdict - A three and a half year old boy had hot water spilled on his neck by a busboy in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was over-capacity and there were only two busboys working at the time, which caused them to rush as they filled customers’ teapots. The client suffered deep second degree burns, permanent scarring and depigmentation of the skin on the back of his neck, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Commercial Bus Accident: $225,000 Settlement - A 71 year-old woman, was a passenger on a commercial bus. The bus attempted to pass a rice truck on a two-lane highway when the truck suddenly made a left turn and struck the bus. Mark’s client fractured her leg, separated her shoulder and was hospitalized for 13 days. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Violation of Civil Rights - Police Failed to Follow Procedures: $900,000 Settlement - Represented were the 12 year-old daughter and 3 year-old son of a 31 year-old alcoholic man who died while being detained in Defendants’ jail. Their father had been pulled over by the Highway Patrol and was found to be drunk and carrying loaded guns in his trunk. He remained in the county jail for 40 hours, during which time he suffered increasingly severe symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. The guards, inmates and his visitors all noticed his symptoms, but the guards never called a doctor or nurse to examine him. He suffered a blackout, fell, struck his head on a jail toilet and died of a brain hemorrhage. We established that the guards violated their own policies and procedures for handling persons accused of DUI by placing the decedent in Administrative Segregation rather than the drunk tank, and then failing to monitor his potentially life threatening medical condition of alcohol withdrawl thereafter. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiffs.
- Medical Malpractice - Altered Medical Records: $600,000 Settlement - Our client had been seeing the Defendant optometrist for 10 years for her primary eye care. During that time he fitted her for glasses and performed basic screening tests for glaucoma. Eight months after her last visit she developed glaucoma which required two separate eye surgeries. After being notified of a lawsuit, the Defendant altered the readings in the client’s medical chart to show he had checked her eyes for glaucoma and they were normal. However, the client had obtained a copy of the unaltered medical chart prior to Defendant’s fabrication. Plaintiff sued for medical malpractice, fraud, and intentional spoliation of evidence. Her case settled before trial. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Landlord/Tenant - Eviction: Defense Verdict - The Plaintiffs contended that Mark’s clients, the owners of a mobile home park, were evicting tenants unless they agreed to purchase new mobile homes from them at unreasonably high prices. An inspector testified he made the decision to order all tenants to vacate their spaces due to longstanding sewage and electrical violations. Defendants argued that plaintiff’s eviction was not wrongful, but required by the County. Mark Fong represented the Defendants and obtained a defense verdict for them.
- Medical Malpractice - Patient Jumps from Ambulance: Defense Verdict - An 18 year old psychiatric patient jumped from an ambulance while being transported between hospitals under psychiatric watch due to him being under the influence of drugs. He claimed the EMTs should have kept him from being able to unbuckle himself from his gurney and jumping out. Mark Fong represented the Ambulance Company and the EMTs, who were found not liable for the man’s injuries.
- Dangerous Condition of City Sidewalk: $237,000 Settlement - An 85 year-old man tripped and fell over a section of sidewalk which had become raised 1.5 inches. The sidewalk had been pushed up by tree roots. He suffered multiple facial fractures as a result of his fall. We alleged the dangerous sidewalk condition had existed for years, during which a number of people had stumbled on it. The Americans With Disability Act requires that any vertical offset in a sidewalk greater than ¼ inch must be repaired. Although City workers had made repairs to the water line and inspected the trees at this spot before the accident, no one reported the dangerous sidewalk or made any attempt to repair it before our client fell. Likewise, the owner of the property adjacent to the sidewalk never reported the condition to the city or fixed it themselves. The case settled before trial. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Premises Liability - Trip and Fall from Sidewalk: $125,000 Settlement - The 59 year old manager of a medical research center tripped and fell over a dangerous sidewalk condition in San Francisco. She had caught her foot on a raised section of sidewalk that was caused by the roots of a tree pushing up the concrete. As a result of the fall, she suffered a compound fracture to her left forearm. In 1986 the City of San Francisco passed an ordinance permitting property owners to plant trees along the sidewalk; however those property owners were to be responsible for any injuries caused by the trees. The claim was brought against the property owner of the building where the dangerous sidewalk condition was present and was settled out of court. Seth Rosenberg and Mark Fong represented the plaintiff.
- Taxi Cab vs. Pedestrian: $1 Million Settlement - A 65 year-old retired woman who was hit by a taxi cab while walking in a crosswalk in San Francisco. She suffered traumatic brain injury resulting in vision problems, headaches, cognitive defects, personality changes, depression and difficulties with memory. The cab company claimed the damages were not as severe as we argued and initially refused to pay its policy limits of $1 million. After several mediations, it finally paid its limits. Dale Minami, Mark Fong and Seth Rosenberg represented the Plaintiff.
- Premises Liability - Failure to Provide Security: $315,000 Plaintiff Verdict - Our client was assaulted in front of the front doors of the hotel she was checking into. The hotel’s security did not come to her aid while she was being mugged, and the hotel employees at the front desk failed to assist her despite her yells for help. Plaintiff was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the assault and sued the Defendant hotel and security guard company for providing inadequate security. The jury awarded her $315,006 in damages. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Auto vs. Auto - Shoulder Injury/Surgery: $140,000 Settlement - A 78 year-old man was a passenger in his daughter’s car in an unincorporated part of Contra Costa County. While at a complete stop, the two were rear-ended by a man who had been reaching to find his cigarettes on the floor of his car. While the two drivers were exchanging information, the daughter noticed the smell of alcohol on the man’s breath and called the California Highway Patrol. The man was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. While the daughter who had been driving the car was not injured, the 78 year-old passenger suffered a torn-rotator cuff which required surgery. The defendant driver did not have sufficient automobile insurance coverage, and the policy limits were obtained from him, and the remainder of the Settlement amount was obtained from the man’s underinsured motorist insurance policy. Mark Fong was the lead counsel.
- Defective Product - Burn from Surgical Instrument: $575,000 Settlement - A 43 year-old nurse underwent a gynecological procedure to stop excessive peri-menstrual bleeding. During the procedure, the insulation failed in the hysteroscope (electrocautery) device used in the procedure, resulting in the discharge of stray electricity which caused our client to suffer third degree vaginal burns and psychological trauma. Her case was settled before trial for $575,000. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Medical Malpractice - Negligent Podiatric Surgery: $750,000 Settlement During Trial - A 38 year-old janitor went to a podiatrist for painful calluses on the bottoms of her feet. The podiatrist performed multiple surgeries to the toes on both of her feet. She contended the podiatrist misled her as to the need for surgery. Defendants were sued for negligence, negligent and intentional misrepresentation, fraud, concealment, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery. During cross-examination at trial, the podiatrist admitted he made three falsehoods in the medical records regarding our cilent’s medical condition. The Defendant settled for $750,000 the day before closing arguments at trial. Mark Fong represented Plaintiff.
- Defective Anti-Theft Guard: $300,000 Settlement - Mark's client was a 45 year-old heavy equipment operator for San Joaquin County. His employer bought a new tractor, for which the manufacturer had fabricated a heavy gage metal anti-theft guard which fit over the door. The manufacturer did not give any instructions how to remove the guard or, importantly, any warning that the guard was designed to fold into two pieces as soon as it was taken off the door. As the client was removing the guard for the first time, the top section collapsed on top of him, striking him on top of his head and herniating two disks in his neck. He required spinal fusion surgery. After surgery, Mark’s client returned to work with the County at his former rate of pay, but in a light duty position as he was no longer able to operate heavy machinery. The case settled for $300,000. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Medical Malpractice - Prescription Drug Overdose: $350,000 Settlement - A 70 year-old woman was given a prescription of prednisone for arthritis by her rheumatologist. Instead of writing the prescription for the 5mg per day he intended, the doctor wrote the order for 500 mg, a 100 times overdose. The pharmacist did not question the error or contact the doctor. Due to the overdose of prednisone, the client’s bone density was lowered and she suffered compression fractures to her lower back, ribs, and pelvis, resulting in her becoming housebound. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Cable Car Strikes Pedestrian: $500,000 Settlement - Represented were the adult children of a 76 year old woman who was struck by a cable car while walking across the street near her home in the North Beach area of San Francisco and later died of a heart attack. Several passengers standing aboard the cable car saw our clients’ mother walking slowly in the crosswalk seconds before she was hit and yelled at the operator to stop. The decedent was vision and hearing impaired so did not see or hear the cable car approaching. Plaintiffs sued the City and the cable car operator for wrongful death. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiffs.
- Premises Liability: Summary Judgment for Defendant - Mark’s client, a caregiver, stayed at an 89 year-old woman’s house each night to help her around the house. A chair was kept in the bathroom for the caregiver to sit on while the woman slept. On the day of the accident, two hours before the caregiver was to arrive, the woman tripped over the chair and suffered injury. She sued Mark’s client for negligence on the theory of premises liability. Judgment was granted for the caregiver and her employer before trial based on the ground that they had no right control over what was done with the chair in their absence. Mark Fong represented the Defendants.
- Garbage Truck vs. Pedestrian: $3.5 Million Settlement - A 62 year old mechanic, was struck by a garbage truck while crossing the street near his home. He suffered a fractured skull, brain damage, broken ribs and cognitive defects (personality changes). The defendant claimed our client was partly responsible for the accident by holding an umbrella which blocked his vision and ignoring the approaching truck. We performed a digital reconstruction of the accident which proved the truck driver should have seen our client crossing directly in front of him. We also obtained state of the art MRI imaging of our client’s brain to show the residual brain damage which was the cause of his personality changes, which are likely permanent. Defendants then settled our client’s claim after a series of mediations. Dale Minami and Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Premises Liability - Incident at Major League Baseball Game: $115,000 Settlement - An avid baseball fan who was attending opening day at a Major League Baseball game left her seat to use the restroom during the 7th inning. As she exited the restroom stall, a large metal door came off of its hinges, striking the top of her foot. She sustained nerve damage to her left foot and a rupture of the tarsal plate and medial supporting structures. We alleged the baseball team and owners of the ballpark were liable for negligently maintaining their premises. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Rear-end Collision - Spinal/Nerve Injury: $125,000 Settlement - A retired Marin elementary school teacher on her way to go hiking was rear-ended at a stop sign by another driver who was distracted by her unrestrained dogs jumping around in her car. After the collision, the defendant driver admitted liability. The injuries suffered from the accident were a herniated disc at L4-5, resulting in right-side sciatica. The defendant raised the question of whether the plaintiff’s active lifestyle at her age contributed to her injuries. Based on expert opinion, it was determined that the injuries did indeed arise out of the car accident. The case was settled out of court for $125,000 with the defendant’s automobile insurance company. Mark Fong was the lead counsel.
- Negligence - Student Killed by Tire of Truck Trailer: $1 Million Settlement - Our clients were the parents of a 21 year-old graduate of UC Santa Barbara and a soon-to-be medical student. She was driving on the freeway when the wheel on a commercial truck’s trailer broke loose, flew through her windshield and killed her. The Defendant trailer owner and wheel fabricator disputed who was primarily at fault; however, there was no dispute that cumulatively all defendants were at fault for her death. The company which welded the faulty wheel assembly was uninsured. The case settled for the $1 million policy limits of the trailer’s owner. Dale Minami, Mark Fong and Seth Rosenberg represented Plaintiffs.
- Medical Malpractice - Negligent Knee Surgery: $1.2 Million Verdict - A 33 year-old high school teacher went to an orthopedic surgeon for reconstructive knee surgery on her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). He negligently drilled through the artery and vein behind her knee, causing her to develop an aneurysm which required vascular surgery to restore circulation to her leg and foot. In all, the Plaintiff required three vascular surgeries following the original knee surgery in order to restore circulation to her leg. Expert witnesses testified that our client is likely to require at least one more vascular surgery during her lifetime. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
- Defective Auto Repair - Failure to Re-attach Wheel: $310,000 Settlement - A man had repairs made to his car at an auto repair shop which required that his right rear wheel be removed. After being driven only 100 miles, the wheel came off while the client was driving on the highway, resulting in a three-car accident. The client was rendered unconscious and suffered multiple rib and clavicle fractures as well as an injury to his thoracic spine which left him with some diminished sensation over his torso. The case settled for $310,000. Mark Fong represented the Plaintiff.
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Judiciary Commitee, Bar Association of San Francisco, 2015
- Serves on the board of directors of Chinatown Community Development Center
Honors/Awards:
- AV Rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating for competence and ethics
Educational Background:
- B.A., in Political Science with high honors in 1978 from the University of California Berkeley
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
- Consumer Attorneys of California, Lecturer
- Golden Gate University School of Law, Lecturer
- Faculty, Masters in Trial, The Expedited Jury Trial: A Trial Demonstration from Opening Statements through Jury Deliberation, AMERICAN BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCATES, 2014
Other Outstanding Achievements:
- Named a Northern California Super Lawyer in the Personal Injury category
- Recognized as one of the top personal injury lawyers in the Bay Area
- Listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers for high professional legal standards and ethics, 2006
Industry Groups:
- American Association For Justice
- Asian American Bar Association
- Consumer Attorneys Of California
- Medical Consumer Attorneys Of Northern California
- Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
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