Benjamin R. Zimmermann
Securing some of the largest personal injury verdicts in Massachusetts for his clients.
31 St. James Ave.
10th Floor
Boston, MA 02116
Biography
Ben Zimmermann’s success for his clients stems from his proven record at trial. In his over twenty years of practice, Ben has secured some of the largest personal injury verdicts in Massachusetts, including seven and eight figure verdicts in medical malpractice, construction site, defective products, motor vehicle and airline negligence cases. In one year alone, Ben obtained two of the largest personal injury/wrongful death jury verdicts in Massachusetts, including a $20.6 million wrongful death verdict against Toys “R” Us for a defective pool slide – an award which was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in its landmark opinion, Aleo v. Toys “R” Us, Inc. Ben and his partner David McCormack obtained a $30.55 million medical malpractice verdict for the family of a child injured at birth, one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Massachusetts history. With results like these, Ben has routinely been named as one of the Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers, and has been inducted as a Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and International Academy of Trial Lawyers and in 2023 selected to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers.
Ben’s career and practice has been dedicated to the litigation and trial of personal injury cases, with an emphasis in the areas of defective products, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, and premises liability. He has also litigated, tried, and handled the appeal of cases aimed at obtaining insurance coverage for injured clients where coverage is disputed. Ben is a member of numerous bar organizations and committees, and is a regular lecturer at continuing legal education programs and to area law students.
After graduating from Fordham University School of Law in 1999, Ben took a position in the litigation department of a large firm in New York, but quickly realized that he wanted to represent individuals in the courtroom. Presented with the opportunity, Ben joined SUGARMAN as an associate in 2000 and became a principal of the firm in 2007. Ben has served as SUGARMAN’s Managing Partner since 2013.
Significant Cases
Trucking Accident: Fuel Truck Rear Ends Vehicle in Slowed Traffic
Settlement on behalf of young husband and father who was struck from behind by a fuel truck during the morning commute towards Boston. The impact of the accident was severe and the plaintiff was diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage and two compression fractures in his lumbar spine. Although he did not undergo surgery, the plaintiff was rendered totally disabled from his physical job and still suffers from his injuries. After pre-trial motions were decided, SUGARMAN attorneys were able to resolve the case just days before trial.
SUGARMAN obtains one of the largest reported medical malpractice settlements in Massachusetts for 2022
Substantial recovery in medical malpractice for a 14-year-old girl and her parents when, following removal of a benign brain tumor as a toddler, several doctors at a major Boston hospital failed for years to order any imaging studies to monitor the patient for recurrence of a brain tumor. While going without an MRI for over four years, the tumor recurred in the patient and grew undetected, resulting in permanent neurological injury requiring lifelong medical care. The case, which was one of the top 3 reported medical malpractice settlements in Massachusetts for 2022, resolved just before trial after SUGARMAN attorneys successfully limited the scope of the testimony of the defendant physicians’ medical experts at trial.
Verdict in labor and delivery medical malpractice case
Following a two-week trial in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, SUGARMAN Principals Benjamin Zimmermann and David McCormack obtained a $30.55 million jury verdict on behalf of a child who suffered permanent and catastrophic brain injuries during his mother’s labor and delivery at a Boston hospital. The jury agreed that the nurse responsible for monitoring the baby’s heart rate and well-being during labor had failed to ensure that the baby was responding appropriately and that the nurse’s failure to comply with the standard of care resulted in the baby’s severe oxygen deprivation going undetected. The jury awarded damages for both the young boy and his parents.
Jury verdict for Massachusetts woman injured on operating table
An Essex County jury sitting in Newburyport rendered a verdict in favor of a 42-year-old woman who suffered significant neck injuries at a hospital in Lynn, MA, after being positioned on an operating room table for routine surgery. After she was anesthetized and medically paralyzed, her unsecured head fell off the table resulting in permanent nerve damage to her neck.
Wrongful death following crush injuries to forklift operator
Pre-trial settlement on behalf of children of a middle-aged temporary worker who was crushed to death between the forklift he was operating and a metal shelving unit in a South Shore warehouse where he had been assigned to work by his staffing agency.
Jury verdict for worker who fell through unguarded opening at construction site
A Middlesex County jury returned a 7-figure verdict on behalf of worker injured after falling more than 20 feet through an unguarded opening on a construction project at the Natick Mall. The defendant general contractor had claimed that the opening had been guarded and that the plaintiff had somehow gained access through it without the general contractor's knowledge. Through painstaking investigation and work immediately following the accident, Sugarman's attorneys were able to prove to the jury at trial that the general contractor had made up the story and had added guarding after the accident. The case was one of 10 largest jury verdicts reported in Massachusetts in 2011.
Education
- J.D., Fordham University, 1999
- B.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 1996
Bar Admission
- Massachusetts, 2000
- New York, 2000
- U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals (First Circuit), 2009
Affiliations
- Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys
- American Association for Justice
- Massachusetts Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2023-2024
- “Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers”, 2013-2024
- “Massachusetts Super Lawyers,” Law and Politics, 2011-2024
- “Massachusetts Super Lawyers, Rising Stars,” Law and Politics, 2005-2010
- “The Best Lawyers in America”, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, 2010-2025
- “The Best Lawyers in America”, Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs, 2019-2025
- “The Best Lawyers in America”, Lawyer of the Year – Medical Malpractice, Plaintiff 2022 and 2024
- Boston Magazine Top Lawyer 2021, 2023-2024
- “Wicked Good Bostonian #9”, The Boston 100, 2017
- Knox vs. Schechtl Maschinenbau GmbH, et. al. 1:17-cv-11144-GAO (2019)
- Kirkwood-Boulter, et al. v. Massachusetts General Hospital, et al., 35 Mass. L. Rptr. 38 (2018)
- Aleo v. Toys "R" Us, Inc., 466 Mass. 398 (2013)
- Nna, et al. v. American Standard, Inc., 630 F. Supp. 2d 115 (2009)
- Hooper v. Davis-Standard Corp, et al., 482 F. Supp 2d 157 (2007)
- Quincy Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Quisset Properties, Inc., 69 Mass. App. Ct. 147 (2007)
- Morgan v. Lab. Corp. of Am., 65 Mass. App. Ct. 816 (2006)
How SUGARMAN Can Help You.
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We will listen carefully to you.
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We will advise you regarding your potential case and the relevant law.
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We will investigate for you and bring legal proceedings if appropriate.
SUGARMAN lawyers know that the damage done to lives by injury can be profound, yet often difficult to quantify or describe. And those effects last a lifetime. Our personal injury lawyers have the experience and resources to make a powerful case by developing the evidence and using expert consultation and testimony in order to prove your claim at trial. Just as important, we represent the injured and their families with special regard for the social, mental and emotional issues they face.