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Appreciation isn't just another word for gratitude.
Appreciation is an energy, like gravity, like electricity. Appreciation's tremendous impact has been proven scientifically. Appreciation is above all an obsession with value:
Appreciation works.
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"Winning Tips" is designed especially for lawyers--each month, gain insight on trial strategies, client communications, witness prep and jury behavior from one of the country's foremost trial consultants. |
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CLIENT RESULTS - RECENT CASES WON WINNING CASES (2000 – 2010 only) Dr. Noelle Nelson has been retained on: Michael J. Bidart of Shernoff, Bidart, Darras & Arkin -- $120.5 Million Bad Faith Verdict in Goodrich v. Aetna Gerard T. Carmody and Kelley Farrell of Bryan Cave (St. Louis, Missouri) -- sex and age discrimination defense Verdict in Aten v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- disputed intersection defense Verdict (including $77,000 in costs) in Ceglarz v. Sanders, involving complex issues of permanent brain injury, loss of vision, neuropsychological deficits in memory and concentration, orthopedic injuries and complex neurological injuries. Theresa J. Barta of The Law Offices of Theresa J. Barta -- $3.5 Million Federal Court Verdict in Fontana Products v. Spartech Corporation. Sean M. Burke of Law Offices of Sean M. Burke -- favorable confidential Settlement in a medical malpractice/failure to recognize child abuse case. Ellen A. Pansky of Pansky & Markle for her favorable confidential Settlement in a legal malpractice case. Arnie Schwartz of Mazursky, Schwartz & Angelo -- $2.2 Million Personal Injury Settlement in Makhdoumian v. Fink. Dr. Bruce Fagel of Law Offices of Bruce G. Fagel -- $8.7 Million Medical Malpractice Verdict in Novell v. Halstead. Debra Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- Personal Injury Verdict ruling out causation for knee surgery in Castle v. Fields. Robert S. Gianelli of Gianelli & Morris -- favorable $2.75 Million Settlement in an Insurance Bad Faith case. Matthew B.F. Biren and Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $2.3 Million Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Settlement in Richardson and Martin v. Marathon LeTourneau Company, et al. Thomas P. Beck of Thon, Beck, Vanni, Phillipi & Nutt -- $2 Million Personal Injury Verdict in Leo Cheng v. UPS. Daniel W. Doyle of D'Antony & Doyle -- favorable confidential Settlement in a sexual harassment case involving a minor. James W. McCord of Peterson & Ross -- successful Settlement of a major insurance brokerage malpractice case. Michael P. McNamara and Kirsten Spira of McNamara & Spira -- confidential Settlement in a partnership dissolution case proceeding with a cross complaint for breach of fiduciary duty. Margaret Henry of Law Offices of Margaret Henry -- favorable confidential Settlement in a wrongful termination case involving race and sex discrimination. J. Patrick Jacobs of McNamara & Spira -- successful summary Judgment on behalf of a defendant in a wrongful death case (involving 4 plaintiffs) with multi-million dollar exposure. M. Lawrence Lallande Sr. of Perona, Langer, Beck & Lallande -- $950,000 Settlement in Melaya v. Burgmann, a personal injury case (automobile/truck) involving physical and work-related complications resulting from the near amputation and consequent successful re-implantation of plaintiff's right pinky finger. Dr. Bruce G. Fagel of Law Offices of Bruce G. Fagel-- $2.1 Million confidential Settlement in a Medical Malpractice case. Lawrence A. Goldberg of Goldberg & Goldberg -- favorable confidential Settlement in a Personal Injury case involving a landlord's failure to maintain an apartment window which shattered, injuring an eye surgeon. Roger Clark of Bienstock & Clark -- directed Verdict in King vs. Charter Communications. The court directed verdict at the end of a two week trial in this sexual harassment/ wrongful termination case. Dexter B. Louie of O'Connor, Cohn, Dillon & Barr -- defense Verdict in Sorenson vs. Kace, M.D. et al., a case involving allegations of psychiatric malpractice. Reed E. Schaper of Curiale, Dellaverson, Hirschfeld, Kelly & Kraemer, LLP-- favorable confidential Settlement in a wrongful termination case with claims for income participation and equity interest. Kimberly A. Miller of Miller & Reivitis, and Youngdahl & Sadin -- favorable confidential Settlement in Penry v. Burlington et al., a FELA case. Dr. Bruce G. Fagel of Fagel & Associates -- $12,298,262 Medical Malpractice award in Thompson v. Upland Outpatient Surgical Center, Inc. Roger Clark of Bienstock & Clark -- favorable Settlement in Bibbs vs. Charter Communications, a Sexual Assault, Negligent Supervision case, in which Clark's client Charter Communications didn't have to pay a dime. Veronica Gray of Resnick & Gray -- $3 Million Plus Verdict in Azer/Schainuck v. Fischman et al., an Unfair Business Practices and Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage case. Don Fountain and Joe Reiter of Lytal, Reiter, Clark, Fountain & Williams of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Kevin Meenan of Law Offices of Kevin Meenan in Pasadena, California -- $15 Million Plus Verdict in Mapa v. Dunlop Tire Co., El Monte Ford et al., a Personal Injury case involving an exploding tire. Debra Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- Dismissal after assignment of a San Jose courtroom in Gausman vs. Bruno, a cervical disc herniation with true radiculopathy and scheduled surgery as well as psychological injury case. Philip Michels of Law Offices of Michels and Watkins -- $4.25 Million Verdict in Arce vs. LAUSD, a Wrongful Death of a Child case. Matthew B.F. Biren and Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $3,282,314 Settlement in Mineo v. Monterey Peninsula Unified et al., a Personal Injury case involving a 12 year old boy who lost his eye after he was struck in the face by a golf club swung by another student during golf instruction in their P.E. class. Pamela Thatcher of Law Offices of Pamela A. Thatcher -- favorable Settlement of Elliott v. Pinho, et al., a wrongful death case, in which she successfully negotiated plaintiff's demand down from $1,000,000 to a mere $150,000. Debra Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- defense Verdict in Galea vs. Suleiman, an auto accident where plaintiff had immediate symptoms and neck surgery within 8 months. John M. Feder of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & Zanobini (San Francisco) -- $250,000 Settlement in Pherwani v. Wayburn, an auto accident case with virtually no property damage, where the Delta V was only 1 mph. Linda Bauermeister of Barber & Bauermeister – defense Verdict in Bowen Vs. Federal Express Corporation, in a van/pedestrian case where Plaintiff’s long standing demand had been of $5,000,000. Matthew B.F. Biren and Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $1,438,157.20 Verdict in Hebb v. TUSD, a golf cart/pedestrian accident in which plaintiff arguably sustained a closed head injury causing cognitive problems and seizures. Gerard Carmody and Douglas King of Bryan Cave (St. Louis) -- $75,000,000 Verdict in Biomedical vs. GE Marquette, a breach of contract case. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- defense Verdict in Pensabene v. Aleandri, a rear-end auto accident with a claim of knee surgery and a year off work by the owner of a bakery business. D. Stuart Candland of Law Offices of Craddick, Candland & Conti -- defense Verdict in Keys v. Cartwright, M.D., a medical malpractice case involving an allegation of negligent diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Theresa J. Barta of The Law Offices of Theresa J. Barta -- $1.56 Million Verdict with a confidential Settlement of the punitive phase,in Kohut, M.D. v. Beaver Medical Group,.a wrongful termination case. Pamela Thatcher of Law Offices of Pamela A. Thatcher -- defense Verdict in Thompson v. Jacobs, et al. a wrongful death case involving the suicide of a psychotherapist's former patient. Veronica Gray and Sherry Bilbeisi of Resnick & Gray -- successful Verdict in Gnash v. Webster, a disputed property case, in which their client, Webster, was declared by the court to be 1/2 owner of the property at issue. Thomas P. Beck and Gregory R. Vanni of Thon, Beck, Vanni, Phillipi & Nutt -- successful jury Verdict with ensuing Settlement of $23,250,000in Gibilisco v. Thomason, a personal injury case involving a collapsed conveyor resulting in paraplegia and death. Dr. Bruce Fagel of Law Offices of Bruce G. Fagel-- $675,000 Settlement in Rogers v. a hospital and clinic in San Diego, a wrongful death case. Peter S. Forgie of Law Offices of Forgie, Jacobs & Leonard -- $525,000 Settlement in Shura v. Schwartz, M.D., a dead baby/hysterectomy case. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- $750,000 Settlement in Borgonia v. Jain, an auto vs. auto head-on case involving a “chance” fracture of L2. Theresa J. Barta of The Law Offices of Theresa J. Barta -- unanimous jury Verdict in Ron Charles & Clear Valley Stables v. LA Turf Club (Santa Anita), a case involving an injured horse. It took just 2 hours for the jury to award $330,000, where the statutory offer had been $101,000. Ronald B. Schwartz of the Law Offices of Ronald B. Schwartz (Newport Beach)-- $495,000 Settlement in Faber v. Sequoia Hospital, Duc Nguyen, M.D., et al. (Note: The concurrent case against Aetna was settled under a confidentiality agreement to the satisfaction of the parties.) Clifford A. Blackman of Blackman Legal Group and Bruce A. Bailey -- $3.1 Million dollar ‘package’ Settlement in Jaso v. Kaiser Permanente, in which doctors repeatedly failed to file statutorily required reports about a patient who suffered from lapses of consciousness, the end result being a head-on car accident wherein the passenger of another car was rendered quadriplegic. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- 11 to 1 Defense Verdict (plus costs) in Alterio v. Agudelo, a Superior Court case involving a rear-end collision and an RN plaintiff. Ronald Schwartz of the Law Offices of Ronald Schwartz, Newport Beach, and Shina Goldman -- $1,400,000 Verdict in Granard vs. Calderon, an Orange County Superior Court case involving a woman who suffered brain injuries when a garage door fell off a truck traveling in front of her vehicle. The door struck the plaintiff driver’s side door, causing her injuries. Debra Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- Defense success in Thomas vs. Marshall, an auto accident involving neck surgery, in which plaintiff’s demand was for $350,000. Jurors deliberated for 9-1/2 hours, returning $6,500 for plaintiff. Matthew B.F. Biren and Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $12,000,000 punitive damage Verdict in Doe Food Co. vs. Zurich Ins. Co., following the bad faith verdict against Zurich for having tried to deceive insured food company into believing that the value of recalled product was covered by a limited ($50,000) coverage rather than its $4 million property coverage, and saying the claim was was barred by exclusions when they knew the threshold conditions for their application did not exist. Verdict followed summary judgment for plaintiff on contract issues, which were then settled before trial for $505,000. Steve Heller of the Law Offices of Stephen Heller -- $2.3 Million gross med-mal wrongful death claim in Burrows vs. Henry Mayo Hospital, et al. The court assessed the liability of defendant Barry Herman, MD (OB/GYN) at 40%, Cheryl Cochrane (ER) at 30%, and Henry Mayo at 30%. Defendants Cochrane and Henry Mayo settled during trial for $450,000 and $387,500 respectively. The court's decision as to credits and Dr. Herman's ultimate share of responsibility is pending. Debra F. Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco)-- successful Defense Verdict in Lofrano v. Pizzo, in which her elderly client's car hit both a dog and pedestrian. The client left the scene and when the police located her at home later that evening, the police noted that she had wiped the bumper clean! Plaintiff lost consciousness, and had to be taken by helicopter to the ER. Plaintiff suffered a broken nose which required surgery, a large laceration down to the bone on his forehead, and multiple soft tissue injuries. Plaintiff asked the jury to award $250,000. Gerard Carmody of Bryan Cave (St. Louis) -- $4,100,000 Verdict in MHTC v. KRC Creve Coeur 830, Inc., et al., an eminent domain case involving the taking of property from a shopping center, in which the government’s original offer was $878,000. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) --25th consecutive successful Insurance Defense Verdict, a wrongful death action which was his most difficult trial ever. Plaintiffs were the two small children, age 7 and 9, of a 28-year-old deceased woman passenger on the rear of a Harley-Davidson. Mr. Pave's 5 experts, all with 30 or more years of experience, each stated that they never worked so hard or for so long in any prior trial. Plaintiff asked for $8,677,000.00. The jury deliberated for 1-1/2 hours and returned a 12-0 defense verdict, stating it was very difficult to overcome the enormous sympathy factor but that they were obliged to follow the law. Kathleen Maicher and John Schmoll of Spangler, Jennings & Dougherty, P.C. (Indiana) -- successful Defense Verdict in McCambridge v. Butterfield, a wrongful death medical malpractice case which had already been tried twice: the trial court setting aside the first trial’s jury verdict in favor of the defendant, the second resulting in a hung jury. This was a particularly satisfying win for the defense because the medical Review Panel had found that Dr. Butterfield violated the applicable standard of care when he failed to diagnose onset unstable angina. The third time was indeed a charm. Roger Clark of the Law Offices of Clark & Goldberg -- successful $3,000,000 Settlement during the first week of a scheduled six week jury trial, in Accent vs. Lilly Industries, a product defect case. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- 26th consecutive successful Defense Verdict, a red light/green light traffic dispute in Marin. The claimed injury was a torn glenoid labrum, followed by a surgical repair which caused further damage in a 30-year-old pipefitter's shoulder, precluding plaintiff from engaging in future overhead work. Claimed loss of future earnings was $1.5 million. After five days of testimony, the jury took 13 minutes to return an 11-1 verdict for the defense. The jury rejected the testimony of an independent eyewitness-- a pedestrian who turned when she heard brakes and allegedly saw that plaintiff had the green light. Huey P. Cotton of Cozen O'Connor -- successful confidential Settlement, which happened one week into a federal court trial in Sacramento, in Florin/Inacomp v. IBM, a business case involving breach of contract claims. Matthew B. F. Biren of Biren & Katzman -- $485,500 Verdict in Anak v. Rodriguez, et al., a personal injury case. It was the second highest verdict ever in Judge Farrell’s very conservative court. David J. Myers of the Law Offices of David J. Myers -- $1,000,000 Verdict in Vance v. Mruvka, for breach of fiduciary duty in the operation of a motion picture and TV production company. Debra Bogaards of Pave& Bogaards (San Francisco) ---the equivalent of a successful Defense Verdict for her deceased elderly driver who failed to yield the right of way at a stop sign, causing a scooter operator to undergo 4 surgeries for his patella fracture, as well as femur fracture. The defense initially offered $288,000 for a full liability case, since only the elderly driver had a stop sign, and the elderly driver told the police officer afterwards: "I'm too old to drive." Plaintiff wanted just $25,000 more, so the case went to trial. The jurors awarded only $20,000 in pain and suffering, the total award against the defendant was a mere $35,000. Debra F. Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- successful Defense Verdict in Simonini v. Putzi in Marin County Superior Court. Defendant admitted liability for running a red light. Plaintiff claimed a torn rotator cuff and wanted $150,000. The defense medical expert agreed that Plaintiff needs surgery. Causation of injury was disputed and jurors concurred. Tony Stuart of the Stuart Law Firm -- successful $1,300,000 Verdict in Box vs. Heiman, a legal malpractice case involving an accident on an amusement park ride The case may represent the only successful verdict based on allegations that a fixed amusement ride was dangerously designed. The ride involved was Universal Studios’ “Jurassic Park – The Ride.” David C. Smith of McNamara, Spira & Smith -- successful jury Verdict in Los Angeles County Superior Court for $177,000 in emotional distress damages in a debt collection case, Castillo vs. Fairbanks Capital Corporation. Motion for attorneys’ fees and costs is pending. Thomas Patrick Beck and Gregory R. Vanni of Thon, Beck & Vanni -- $6,656,880 Verdict in Grassi v. UDO, a trip & fall case where the defense claimed that plaintiffs fabricated the facts. The verdict included $1,250,000 for the loss of consortium claim. There was no finding of comparative fault. Michael Sutton of Sutton and Murphy -- favorable defense confidential Settlement in a a personal injury case involving a scald incident. The case settled after three days of jury selection and prior to opening statements. Matthew B.F. Biren & Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $1,200,000 Jones Act Verdict in Mraz v. Catalina Channel Express, awarded in a binding Court trial. The case involved claims that the plaintiff injured her back in two separate accidents and that she sustained bilateral carpel tunnel injuries and a shoulder injury as a result of continuing trauma caused by an ergonomically unsafe work environment J. Patrick Jacobs of McNamara, Spira & Smith -- successful jury Verdict in Moe (cross-complainant/defendant) vs. Keas (cross-defendant/ plaintiff), an indemnity cause of action. Arrested for felony drunk driving, Mr. Moe purportedly admitted to the Sheriff that he ran a red light. It was proved that the Sheriff had been untruthful about the admission; Jacobs’ accident reconstructionist prevailed on a timing sequence. All damages that had been paid to the negligent free passenger were recovered ($609,000). Greg Amundson of Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman -- successful settlement in Workman vs. POMA, in which he reached a 5-figure settlement down from a long-standing 7-figure demand. Matthew B.F. Biren & Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $8,105,000 Settlement (parties confidential) of a 16 year old girl who sustained a closed head injury causing cognitive deficits after falling from a Psycho Swing -- a portable amusement ride -- as a result of her harnass not being properly clipped to the ride's frame. Matthew B.F. Biren & Marc J. Katzman of Biren & Katzman -- $450,000 Settlement in Meislin v. Villegas for a plaintiff who sustained a brachial plexus palsy in a collision accident between his bicycle and a dump truck which while staging for a construction project was illegally stopped in a bike lane. Scott A. Edelman of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher -- $106,000,000 Jury Verdict (Santa Ana Federal Court) in Intertainment vs. Franchise, in which the jury ruled that Franchise Pictures had engaged in fraud by inflating movie budgets: $77,000,000 of the award was for compensatory damages, $29,000,000 for punitives. Shelley Kramer of Muhar, Roberts, Fama, Kramer & Monty (San Francisco) -- successful $1,737,500 settlement in cross-action for contractual indemnity arising out of Parks v. UPS, et al. Matthew B.F. Biren of Biren & Katzman -- $508,000 Jury Verdict (Santa Barbara) in Linen ‘N Things, for a 69 year old plaintiff who sustained brain damage as a result of micro strokes caused by a small package falling off a shelf at defendant’s store, striking her in the head and causing a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm to leak blood, which was surgically resolved without complication. Gerard T. Carmody and Kelley Farrell of Carmody MacDonald PC (St. Louis) -- successful confidential Settlement (post focus group), involving an Internet distribution of pornography by high school students amongst themselves, and an ill-advised “investigation” by school authorities resulting in an unwarranted expulsion. Steve Heller and Shayne Heller LaChapelle of The Heller Law Firm (Calabasas) -- $1.25 Million Settlement of a personal injury case in Lassen County. One of the challenges in this case was establishing the value of the case either at trial or settlement. There have only been about 15 civil cases tried to verdict or settled in the last 10 years in this small county. Matthew B.F. Biren of Biren/Katzman -- $1,882,050 Riverside Verdict in Perez vs. 24 Hour Fitness, where the plaintiff sustained a neck injury necessitating a 3 level fusion when the backboard of an incline bench press broke. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- successful Defense Verdict in Synchef vs. Najma International Inc. , in which plaintiff claimed severe injury from an accident in which plaintiff’s Cadillac was clipped by a Ford van delivering dry cleaning. Plaintiff was an undisputed “eggshell,” with a severe spondylotic condition and extensive and severe degenerative osteoarthritis. The jurors concluded that plaintiff kept critical information away from his own Drs., and that defense’s Drs. had superior data from which to determine causation. The demand was consistently $1,100,000. Defense is now seeking costs of $35,000. Gerard Carmody and Kelley Farrell of Carmody MacDonald P.C. ( St. Louis ) -- $2,300,000 unanimous Verdict in State of Indiana v. Kimco of Evansville, Inc., an eminent domain case involving the taking of property from a shopping center, in which the State’s offer was $58,000. In addition to the $2.3 million verdict, the shopping center is due $896,860 in interest from the State. John M. Feder & Ronald H. Rouda of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & Zanobini (San Francisco) -- $18,026,205.80 Jury Verdict in Alice Mowatt v. City of Los Angeles, et al., in which plaintiff, a 19 year old English tourist, suffered severe brain injuries when struck by an SUV while crossing at night in a marked pedestrian crosswalk. During voir dire the State of California (owner of the road) settled for $1,500,000 and the driver paid the policy limits of $100,000 plus a personal contribution of $75,000, leaving the City of Los Angeles as the only defendant. The case was extremely challenging as defense argued that the safety record of the road was quite remarkable - 164 million cars had driven through the area with only two prior pedestrian accidents, neither of which showed any indication that there was a dangerous condition at the crosswalk. Scott Feldmann of Crowell & Moring LLP -- successful Defense Verdict in Newhope Corporation, et al. v. Yamaha Electronics Corporation USA, a distributor termination case asserting promissory fraud and promissory estoppel. Nonsuit granted. Newhope and its co-plaintiff sought $4.5 million in compensatory damages, plus punitives. Other Japanese companies settled when Newhope made demands, but Yamaha refused on principle to settle. Gerard T. Carmody and Dave Luce, of Carmody MacDonald P.C. -- successful Defense Verdict in LaMonte Young, Sr. v. American Airlines, a race discrimination case involving the use of hate-related speech during a verbal altercation between employees. The plaintiff, an African American, admitted calling a coworker an offensive term based on sexual orientation. Plaintiff claimed that his Caucasian coworkers used race-related hate speech, but plaintiff’s claims could not be corroborated. Plaintiff was terminated and the coworkers received lesser discipline. American had recently enhanced its rule against the use of hate speech to require automatic termination regardless of length of service or work record. Jurors described the case as very difficult given the severity of the discipline plaintiff received. A. Barry Cappello, Matt Clarke, & Dugan Kelley of Cappello & Noël, LLP -- $41,000,000 Jury Verdict (Santa Barbara Superior Court) in Core Wealth Management LLC vs. Ronald Heller, et al, in which the jury found that the defendants breached their employment contracts, engaged in a conspiracy to misappropriate Core Wealth's trade secrets, and misappropriated trade secrets related to the financial management industry. The defendants never made a settlement offer. Nancy C. Elliott and Dan J. Keefe of Helsell Fetterman (Seattle) -- successful Defense Verdict in a medical malpractice action in which a 50 year old female plaintiff alleged permanent disability, ongoing medical problems, and need for multiple medications for the rest of her life, because of a general surgeon's failure to properly perform a total thyroidectomy in 1999, and failure to preserve any parathyroid glands. The jury deliberated for one hour 15 minutes and returned an unanimous defense verdict after an eight day trial. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) in Jordan vs Nguyen, a bumper-to-bumper parallel parking "tapper" morphed into a major 12-day jury trial in San Francisco, resulting in a unanimous Defense Verdict in less than one hour. Plaintiff was in end-stage kidney and liver failure and had multiple, serious medical conditions. In short, plaintiff was dying and could succumb at any time. The ER visit showed "typical low-speed rear-ender" results, but plaintiff later began suffering myelopathic symptoms in all four limbs and was rushed to emergent surgery to avoid quadriplegia. Medical specials were some $300,000. Plaintiff asked the jury for $800,000 to $1 million, due to plaintiff's shortened life expectancy. The defense cost bill is now being contested at $124,000. The pretrial demand was $800,000 and the offer was $4,000. Don Fountain and Joe Reiter of Lytal, Reiter, Clark, Fountain & Williams of West Palm Beach, Florida, -- successful Confidential Settlement reached in a product liability case after Mr. Fountain and Mr. Reiter rested their case and before the defense put any witnesses on the stand. Debra F. Bogaards of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- successful Defense Verdict in Jansen v. Valle, a three car rear-end collision with plaintiff’s Volvo Coupe sandwiched in the middle. Plaintiff claimed cervical neck strain, low back pain, extremity numbness and tingling, shoulder pain, nausea, dizziness, and brain injury. Plaintiff asked for $800,000, largely due to her cognitive impairment and inability to work again. The jury awarded $22,948, which is below the jurisdictional limit of the superior court, so defense costs are being pursued. Plaintiff spent over $50,000 in expert fees and costs. Joseph Antonelli of the Law Office of Joseph Antonelli and Kevin Barnes of the Law Office of Kevin Barnes -- successful Verdict in Mutuc v. Huntington Memorial Hospital. The class members won a landmark decision in the class action wage and hour lawsuit against Huntington Hospital. Judge Mac Laughlin awarded the class members $32.8 Million and ruled that the hospital unlawfully lowered the rate of pay of all class members who primarily worked 12 hour shifts. The court held that the hospital intentionally devised a pay plan that paid an artificially reduced rate of pay to all class members. Matthew B.F. Biren of Biren & Katzman -- $3.7 million Verdict in Pomona, on an automobile accident case in which defendant swerved, allegedly in response to being cut off by a phantom vehicle, into the car plaintiff was a passenger in, causing it to go out of control and roll and plaintiff to be ejected, resulting in a brain injury – despite defense claims that plaintiff was a malingerer, based on failed neuropsych symptom validity tests and sub rosa film. Donna W. Low and John R. Garner of Low, McKinley, Baleria & Salenko LLP (Sacramento) --successful Defense Verdict in a medical malpractice case, wherein plaintiffs’ experts testified that Plaintiff was suffering from an acute myocardial infarction when he presented to the ER, as evidenced by the EKG ordered by the triage nurse, that Defendant Physician should have seen the EKG and consulted with a cardiologist before discharging Plaintiff, and claimed that the failure to diagnose an acute MI at the time was a substantial factor in Plaintiff’s current condition. Plaintiffs’ counsel asked the jury to award Plaintiffs $1,234,000 in general and special damages. Brett Carter and Larry Smith of Benson Bertoldo Baker & Carter f-- $4.78 million jury Verdict in Las Vegas. Wrongful death of a 56 y/o female in an motor vehicle collision with a Mojave Electric driver, survived by her husband of 33 years and her 4 adult children. Mojave van failed to stop at a 4 way stop, striking decedent’s truck as she attempted to execute a left turn. Driver of van was unable to say whether he did or did not stop at the stop sign. One witness said he stopped, another said he did not. Jury found 100% against the Mojave driver. Robert M. Pave of Pave & Bogaards (San Francisco) -- successful Defense Verdict in Helm vs. Hong, a bicycle-auto dispute in which defendant made a legal right at a stop sign, plaintiff ran through his stop sign and hit defendant's front fender at a right angle. Plaintiff blamed defendant for not keeping an eye out for Halloween pedestrians and, thus, not seeing plaintiff's bicycle. Contested on both liability and damages. Mr. Pave is proud of finding and tracking down 26 inconsistencies in plaintiff's medicals, which although the details bored his all-GenXer jury, allowed him to find the 3 really relevant ones which were vigorously presented in opening statement. Opening statement, according to debriefed jurors, was what won the case. David Battaglia of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher -- successful Defense Verdict in Fiber Technology Corporation v. Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, a breach of contract case. FTC sued Parsons for $11.2 million based on the allegation that Parsons breached a contract with FTC to purchase 608 water tanks for a U.S. government Iraqi reconstruction project. Alternatively, FTC alleged that Parsons failed to negotiate in good faith in order to reach a final purchase contract for the tanks. After more than three years of litigation culminating in a five-week trial, the jury returned in just two days with a verdict finding that Parsons had not breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and that Parsons should pay nothing to FTC on its breach of contract claim. Joseph Antonelli of the Law Office of Joseph Antonelli and Kevin Barnes of the Law Office of Kevin Barnes -- successful Verdict in Mutuc v. Huntington Memorial Hospital, wherein after 12 days of trial, a judicial decision was made in favor of the plaintiffs, the Mutuc Class, imposing liability on defendant for failure to properly pay straight time and overtime wages to a group of 12 hour employees. The parties reached a $60,000,000 Settlement Agreement and Stipulation prior to trial of the Mutuc phase II and prior to certification of the Kiely action. The Settlement Agreement received preliminary and final approval by the court. The settlement class consists of all non-exempt hourly employees. The defendant hospital illegally reduced the hourly wages of the 12 hour employees whenever the employees worked shifts of 10 hours or more. There were no meaningful settlement offers before trial. A. Barry Cappello and Leila Noël of Cappello & Noël - successful Verdict in Gottesman v. Cathedral Oaks Tennis, Swim and Athletic Club, et al. The firm represented the parents of a four-year old boy who drowned during his first day at summer camp. The jury returned a verdict of $13,885,466 in compensatory damages and an additional $2,341,039 in punitive damages. Thomas P. Beck and Gregory R. Vanni of Thon Beck Vanni Callahan & Powell – successful $7,250,000 Settlement after answering ready for trial. The case was challenged on both liability and damages, as the three clients (adult front seat passenger and two small girls in rear seat) were passengers in a vehicle that made a left turn in front of oncoming traffic. The driver of plaintiff’s vehicle was an illegal alien, did not speak English, was never a licensed driver, and did not have insurance. On top of that, she was convicted of a felony for child endangerment as a result of this accident, due to seat belt and infant car seat issues. Michael Haight and Jay Kenyon of Henness & Haight (Las Vegas, NV) -- unanimous verdict of $3.51 million after 5 ½ hours of juror deliberation, in favor of 60 year-old Roger Johnson, and against JP Flexibles, a New Jersey corporation, as a result of serious right hand injuries Mr. Johnson suffered when the defective high pressure paint hose he was using burst and injected paint into his right hand. Defense counsel argued at trial that Mr. Johnson saw the rupture and intentionally covered it with his bare right hand so as not to "make a mess." Gerard T. Carmody and David H. Luce, of Carmody MacDonald P.C. (St. Louis, MO) -- successful Jury Verdictrepresenting Tamko, a building supply company, versusa former employee, an independent roofing contractor and its owner, all of whom had profited from a kick-back scheme which took advantage of the company's generous product warranty. In addition to the actual damages of $242,565.65, the jurors awarded $275,000 in punitives against the individuals, which considering public feelings about corporations these days, was particularly gratifying. Dr. Noelle Nelson regularly works with trial lawyers all over the country via telephone, email and in-person consultations. To book a consultation with Dr. Noelle Nelson, or if you have questions regarding her services, please contact Dr. Nelson. Email: nnelson@dr.noellenelson.com Tel: 310-589-4923
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© 2008 Noelle Nelson all rights reserved