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Rear-end fatality Award: $1,961,899 A driver stopped for a red light was killed in a fiery explosion after being rear-ended by a tractor-trailer whose driver was under the influence of methamphetamine (Huie v. Southland Sod Farms Inc., Orange County Superior Court). Unfair business practices Award: $15,180,000 An attorney breached his ethical duties when he acted in a dual capacity as counsel for a billboard company and shareholder/ attorney for a competing business (Outdoor Media Group Inc. v. Fisher & Associates, Los Angeles County Superior Court). Medication overdose Award: $6,000,000 A 44-year-old patient received two competing sets of post-surgical pain medication, leaving her a quadriplegic (Confidential v. Confidential, San Francisco County Superior Court). Bad faith Award: Defense A manufacturer sued its insurance carrier for bad faith refusal to cover all of its losses in a fire in a manufacturing facility (Metawave Communications Corp. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., San Francisco County Superior Court). Falling gate Award: $1,032,399 A 43-year-old employee sustained serious injuries when a steel gate at the building in which she worked collapsed on her as she attempted to open it (Lee v. Pak, Los Angeles County Superior Court). Legal malpractice Award: $34,810,972 A law firm was held liable for missing a filing deadline to recover fees wrongfully paid by its client to an unlicensed talent agent (Blanks v. Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Los Angeles County Superior Court). Racial discrimination Award: $2,422,159 A white police officer accused of police brutality claimed that he received harsher disciplinary measures than his African-American partner in the incident (Morse v. City of Inglewood, Los Angeles County Superior Court). Liposuction negligence Award: $1,162,500 A 39-year-old woman sustained a perforated bowel during a liposuction procedure that required 17 surgeries to repair (Confidential v. Confidential, Los Angeles County Superior Court). Collapsing chair Award: Defense A 63-year-old shopper at Home Depot claimed severe head injuries as a result of sitting in a pneumatic piston chair that tipped over, causing her to hit the cement floor (Hetrick v. Home Depot U.S.A. Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court). Editor's Note: California Bar Journal publishes this abbreviated summary of important trials in California provided by Trials Digest Publishing Inc. For a free, complete trial report on any case listed, call 510-420-1800. |
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