Honors and Awards:

• American Board of Trial Advocates, rank of advocate

Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Verdicts and Settlements:

• Jury verdicts and settlements in which Rockne Onstad was lead counsel or primarily responsible for the verdict or settlement AVIATION CASES $13,650,000.00 settlement for two U.S. Army pilots who sustained serious spinal injuries in Iraq when an Apache Longbow helicopter they were piloting lost directional control due to a defective intermediate gearbox and crashed. $9,200,000.00 settlement for two wrongful deaths on account of a defective carburetor on a Cessna aircraft that caused a crash immediately following a take-off. $4,300,000.00 jury verdict for wrongful death due to pilot negligence in a Beech 99 commuter airliner.  The pilot attempted to take off without remove the control lock pin off of the controls and crashed on takeoff. $3,235,000.00 bench verdict for brain injury to check pilot in a Lear 35 caused by the negligence of an FAA check pilot who allowed the pilot being checked to make a second V1 cut, resulting in a high speed ground loop on take-off.  Verdict was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. $1,900,000.00 jury verdict for wrongful death due to pilot negligence in a Bell helicopter.  The pilot attempted to fly in instrument flight conditions when he was not qualified to do so and lost control and crashed. $1,700,000.00 settlement for a U.S. Army pilot of an Apache helicopter who was burned during a refueling incident due to a defective refueling nozzle that resulted in a ground explosive fire. $1,300,000.00 settlement for an U.S. Air Force pilot of an RF-4 on account of a defective micro-switch that allowed flares to be fired inadvertently causing a loss of control resulting in a crash. $1,000,000.00 settlement for an U.S. Air Force pilot of an RF-4 on account of a defective fastener hole on the wing torque box that caused a wing to come off in flight resulting in a crash. $750,000.00 settlement for wrongful death of man killed when a Hughes 269C helicopter sustained an engine failure and crashed on account of the defective aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter following a power failure. PRODUCT LIABILITIY CASES (non-aviation) $6,800,000.00 settlement for a woman who sustained a brain injury on a defective water slide at a water park. $3,500,000.00 settlement for a man who sustained a spinal cord injury in a pick-up truck rollover that was cause by a defective suspension component. $2,500,000.00 settlement for arm amputation on a six year old boy caused by a defect on a farm tractor's guard for the power take off. $2,300,000.00 settlement for minor on account of spinal cord injury sustained when he was thrown off of a defective Honda three-wheel all terrain vehicle. $2,000,000.00 settlement for a woman who sustained a brain injury on account of a defective catheter and glue used to embolize a arterio-venous malformation in her brain. $1,000,000.00 settlement for a man who sustained a brain injury that was caused by a defective pad on a crawler crane crawler track. $615,000.00 settlement for the wrongful death of a man thrown out of a bass boat on account of a defective stick steering system. $500,000.00 settlement for the wrongful death of a man who was pulled into a hay baler on account of defective design. $360,000.00 jury verdict for a deputy sheriff whose Colt 45 pistol discharge in his holster hitting him in the foot due to a defective design of the half-cock notch on the hammer. Vehicular Collisions $2,900,000.00 settlement for a woman who sustained a spinal injury when hit from the rear due to the negligence of the other driver. $1,400,000.00 settlement for spinal injury caused by a vehicular collision that resulted from driver negligence. $500,000.00 settlement for man who sustained multiple trauma in a vehicular collision. Obstetrical Malpractice $4,980,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by a family practitioner failing to timely respond to fetal distress. $3,850.000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by labor and delivery nurses failing to timely notify the obstetrician of fetal distress. $2,200,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by an obstetrician negligently failing to timely respond to intrauterine growth retardation and pre-eclampsia. $2,000,000.00 settlement for wrongful death of a woman due to a registered nurse anesthetist negligently placing an endotracheal tube into her esophagus and not her tracheal during an elective Cesarean section. $2,000,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by obstetrical negligence in the use of forceps during a delivery. $2,000,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by obstetrical negligence in failure to timely respond to intrauterine growth retardation and uteroplacental insufficiency. $1,400,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by group B streptococcus due to obstetrical negligence in failing to screen the mother and treat during labor. $1,150,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by group B streptococcus due to obstetrical negligence in failing to screen the mother and treat during labor. $1,060,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by obstetrical negligence in attempting a breech delivery on a preterm baby. $1,000,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by a family practitioner negligently failing to timely respond to intrauterine growth retardation and pre-eclampsia. $960,000.00 settlement for a baby on account of cerebral palsy caused by failure of nurse practitioners negligence in failure to timely respond to intrauterine growth retardation and uteroplacental insufficiency.  $925,000.00 settlement on account of wrongful death of baby who suffered severe anoxia due to failure to timely respond to fetal distress. $900,000.00 jury verdict for wrongful death of baby who was born with thick meconium in his mouth and was not suctioned before his chest was delivered, causing thick meconium to be sucked back into his lungs.  The baby delivered in the labor room attended by nurses who negligently failed to be prepared for the delivery. $750,000.00 settlement for wrongful death of a baby who died from severe brain damage caused by asphyxia during the birthing process due to being stuck in the head with the local anesthesia being intended for the mother. Non-Obstetrical Malpractice $3,000,000.00 settlement for man who sustained a cauda equine syndrome on account of neurosurgical malpractice. $2,300,000.00 settlement for a brain injury sustained by a man on account of anesthesia malpractice. $1,400,000.00 settlement for a man who sustained a brain injury on account of neurosurgical negligence. $1,300,000.00 jury verdict for wrongful death of a man cause by emergency physician negligence in failing to recognize septicemia. $1,300,000.00 settlement for child for visual impairment caused by hospital newborn nursery negligence in over oxygenating a premature baby causing retinopathy of prematurity. $1,200,000.00 settlement for brain injury sustained by a child undergoing a cardiac catheterization caused by the negligence of a pediatric cardiologist for proceeding when it was inappropriate to proceed. $1,167,000.00 settlement for wrongful death of man who died of a heart attack after negligently being sent home from the emergency room by an emergency medicine physician after being misdiagnosed and being told there was nothing wrong with his heart. $1,100,000.00 settlement for woman whose stage 1 breast cancer was not timely diagnosed allowing it to progress to stage 4 on account of a radiologist negligently interpreting a mammogram. $1,000,000.00 settlement on account of the wrongful death of a woman who died from complications of a general surgeon failing to appropriately respond to a bile leak following a laparoscopic gall bladder removal. $1,000,000.00 settlement on account of the wrongful death of a woman who died from complications of a general surgeon failing to appropriately respond sepsis and shock following a stomach stapling procedure. $800,000.00 settlement on account of wrongful death of man who died as a result of a general surgeon negligently failing to timely respond to his going into shock following an emergency appendectomy.  $770,000.00 settlement for woman whose breast cancer was not timely diagnosed due to gynecologist negligence in failing to obtain a biopsy that was indicated by a mammogram report.  Her cancer advanced from stage 2 to stage 3. $750,000.00 jury verdict for woman whose gynecologist negligently pushed a trocar through her iliac artery during a laparoscopic exploratory pelvic procedure which necessitated a major surgical procedure to repair the damage. $700,000.00 settlement for woman who sustained a spinal cord injury on account of hospital nurses negligent failing to report to her physician that she was developing neurologic symptoms, which caused a delay in diagnosing and treating a hematoma that was developing next to her spinal cord. $670,000.00 jury verdict for man whose bladder cancer was negligently misdiagnosed by a urologist, which allowed the cancer to advance from a stage 1 to a stage 3. $660,000.00 settlement for woman whose breast cancer was not timely diagnosed due to radiological negligence in properly reporting mammogram results to her gynecologist.  Her cancer advanced from stage 1 to stage 2. $588,000.00 jury verdict for a man who developed macular edema following cataract surgery that was negligently performed by an ophthalmologist. $570,000.00 jury verdict for a man who sustained a cauda equine syndrome on account of nurses failing to report to his surgeon that he was developing symptoms of spinal cord compression.  He had a hematoma forming that was causing pressure on his spinal cord. $500,000.00 settlement for child for visual impairment caused by hospital newborn nursery negligence in over oxygenating a premature baby causing retinopathy of prematurity.  Other settlements $2,650,000.00 settlement for wrongful death of parents for teenage girl, whose parents died in a fire in a hotel on account of negligence on the part of the hotel for the fire alarm system not functioning. $2,300,000.00 settlement for man who sustained a spinal injury in a construction accident when too much concretes was being poured too fast which caused a scaffolding collapse. 

Educational Background:

• B.A. Microbiology, University of TexasJ.D. University of Houson