Trials Digest





REGULARS

	Front Page - November 1999

	News
		Family law section honors Los Angeles superior court judge
		State Bar dues bills to be sent this month
		Law corporations must file a certificate
		Berkeley attorney receives legal specialist citation

	Trials Digest

	From the President - The bar's reform continues

	Opinion
		Bar redistricting: It's that time again
		A lifeline for the down and out

	Letters to the Editor

	MCLE Self-Study
		Simplifying Legal Fees
		Self-Assessment Test
		MCLE Calendar of Events

	Legal Tech - Web access for visually disabled

	Public Comment

	Discipline
		Ethics Byte - Maintaining confidentiality with a slip-up
		Two Supreme Court cases challenge summary disbarment

TRIALS DIGEST

Roadway causes death
Award: $2,700,840

The negligent repair of a roadway caused the accident in which a big rig lost control and killed a student (Thomas v. State of California, Department of Transpor-tation (Caltrans), Butte County Superior Court).

Baseball pitcher claims surgical malpractice
Award: $6,000,000

A professional major league baseball player claimed he could not resume his career after surgery by a sports orthopedic surgeon (Harris v. Losse, San Diego County Superior Court).

Age discrimination claimed
Award: $517,077

A Kaiser employee claimed older supervisors were replaced with younger, cheaper workers (Woodward v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Inc., Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Real estate sale fraud
Award: $1,328,366

A real estate brokerage company and its agent were found liable for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in the sale of an apartment building (Meruelo v. Ross Towers, Orange County Superior Court).

Lab gives wrong HIV result
Award: $543,379

A lab's testing falsely indicated that an emergency room doctor was positive for HIV and hepatitis (Roe v. Smith Kline, Los Angeles County Superior Court).

Bank's actions allow embezzlement
Award: $614,000

Plaintiff claimed Bank of America's violation of its internal policies allowed plaintiff's employee to embezzle from plaintiff's account (McMillan v. Bank of America, Riverside County Superior Court).

Elder abuse alleged
Award: Defense

An elderly woman claimed her son obtained her house deed by fraud and abused her physically and mentally (Duval v. Stewart, San Mateo County Superior Court).

Chairlift hits skier
Award: Defense

Plaintiff claimed that a chairlift hit her and knocked her to the ground, fracturing her shoulder (Selsby v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Mono County Superior Court).

Contract to ship software repudiated
Award: $2,620,000

Egghead Software was awarded the purchase price it paid less the price paid for units actually shipped (DJ&J Software Corporation v. Casahl Technology Inc., San Francisco 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.