Results

RESULTS

• $7.675 Million jury verdict in a police pursuit case. This was the largest single verdict ever rendered against the Los Angeles Police Department.


• $7.6 Million settlement for a 33-yr. old man rendered paraplegic by a Los Angeles City owned and maintained palm tree.


• $5.4 Million verdict in an armed robbery case in front of a Costco warehouse store.


• $4.175 Million jury verdict in a veterinary malpractice involving fraud and concealment action. This is reported to be the largest veterinary malpractice verdict in U.S. history.


• $2.4 Million settlement for a minority owned U.S. distributor discriminated against by a foreign manufacturer and its U.S. representatives.


• $2.175 Million settlement for Japanese Corp. cheated by a giant U.S. Electronics Corp.


• $1.1 Million verdict for the adult son of a disabled veteran killed by Los Angeles Police Department.


• $1.1 Million settlement in a Ford/Firestone product defect/negligence case involving a door to door magazine sales crew.


• $820,000 Arbitration Award in a medical malpractice action which included the first recovery for pre-death-loss of consortium in a medical malpractice-wrongful death action under the California MICRA law.


• $700,000 verdict in the killing of mentally disabled man by Long Beach Police Department.


• $168,240 for the adult children of a mentally ill woman shot by Long Beach Police Department.

RECENT VERDICT AND SETTLEMENT

• $1.5 Million settlement in an excessive force wrongful death case against the County of Los Angeles, where police officers claimed victim was armed and attempted to pull the gun.


• $1.3 Million settlement in an excessive force wrongful death case against County of Riverside where victim was a suspect of home invasion/ robbery.


• $1.4 Million settlement in medical malpractice case for botched radiofrequency ablation.


• $500,000 settlement for a mentally ill woman shot by Los Angeles Police Department in her apartment who was charged and prosecuted for assault on police officer.


• $500,000 settlement in an excessive force wrongful death case against County of Los Angeles on behalf of undocumented immigrants.


• $500,000 for employees working in a sporting goods warehouse for various labor violations.


• $300,000 jury verdict in car accident case in Orange County in a case defense offered $17,000.

CASES THAT HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD

• Cross-walks, flashing yellow lights to be put around elementary schools so the children can safely cross the street in Beverly Hills

The Case: Elementary school children exited gates from playground in the middle of the block. No marked cross walks were provided. The school attendant charged with monitoring the exit left before the playground was cleared. Open gate was unattended. Many teachers had complained of screeching tires heard from that area. Plaintiff, a second-grade child was run over and dragged when he attempted to cross the street when another child told him about a birthday party from the other side of the street. The result was a seven figure settlement.

• ER standards for accessing injuries, trauma transfer policies, communication standards and several other policies and procedures for handling incoming patients at King -Drew Medical Center and all other County Hospital were changed with CAPS (Corrective Action Plans);

The Case: A 26 yr. old man taken to ER with gunshot wound in the rear upper thigh. There was an entry wound but no exit wound. He was deemed non-critical by the nursing staff and left on a gurney in the ER for several hours. After his sister repeatedly reported to the nurses that his condition was worsening, an ER surgeon was summoned. He determined that there was internal bleeding and ordered radiology. It was determined that the trajectory of the bullet was upward and to the left and had lacerated a kidney, part of the liver and was found next to his heart. He was immediately taken to surgery where his injuries were repaired. He was still in critical condition. The surgeon contacted the ICU and they informed him that there were no beds available at that time. The surgeon wrote in the chart that the patient should remain in the ER until there was a bed available in the ICU. A resident changed the order to have the patient transferred to the floor. The surgeon, before leaving the ER at the end of his shift, checked the patient and the chart and canceled the Resident’s order and underlined the portion that the patient not be transfer until there was an ICU bed available. A second resident changed the order and said the patient was ordered to be transferred to the general care floor. When contacted by the ER nursed regarding the transfer the floor nurse, after getting the patient’s vital signs refused the transfer because there was insufficient staff to handle such a critically ill patient. A supervisor was contacted and the patient was taken to the floor, where he died before the next morning. The ICU surgeon who had called to find out where the patient was because he had a bed which had been available for hours awaiting the transfer, rushed t the bedside, but it was too late.

• Medical and Nursing Care policies and treatment for Los Angeles County Juvenile In-Custody Kids. 4 CAPs. 1. Revision of the treatment criteria for the minors. 2. Revision of the reporting for the minors. 3. Revision of the requirements for information provided to medical consultants outside the facility. 4. Revision of the procedure for documenting the medical status of the minors.

The Case: A 14-yr. old boy was sent to Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center, a Los Angeles County juvenile custody facility, for truancy and the violation of his parole for an offense charged when he was 11 years old. He was sentenced to 14 days. Within the first 4 days he repeatedly complained of nausea, vomiting and general malaise. He was given Motrin and told to lie down. Over an 8 day period his symptoms got worse. His Mother and Father each complained that their son’s complaints were not being properly addressed. On the 13th day he had a fever and a doctor at LA County USC medical center was called. The Custody nurse when describing the boy’s symptoms, left out that they had been worsening for 9 days. Later that day the boy became comatose and was rushed to County Hospital where he died of meningitis encephalitis, subdural empyema, brain herniation and a sinus infection.

• The City of Long Beach policies and practices for handling people with mental disorders and use of bean bag shotguns;

The Case: Angela Byrd vs. City of Long Beach – Trial; Marcella Byrd, a 62 The City of Long Beach Police Practices for use of Less than Lethal weapons Byrd vs. City of Long Beach – trial. Mentally ill schizophrenic 62-year-old woman goes into a grocery store and walks out without paying. The store owner goes after her and wrestles the cart away. Marcella returns to the store and leaves with a butcher knife. Long Beach PD is called and responds with at least 7 officers. The follow Mrs. Byrd on foot and in patrol cars yelling for her to put the knife down. Mrs. Byrd responds by grimacing at One of the officer in a patrol car. She continues to walk for 4 blocks. The LBPD have set up a blockade at the corner of the street. Marcella Byrd stops at the corner. 3 officer and a Sargent with a bean bag shotgun leave their patrol car and block her path standing less than 15 feet from where she stops. The sergeant fires one bean bag at her legs. Mrs. Byrd becomes agitated and another bean bag is shot at her legs. Mrs. Byrd raises the knife and 7 shots are fired. Four of the shots strike Mrs. Byrd killing her instantly. As a result of the verdict, Long Beach PD changed the distance requirement for officers approaching a person with a knife, changed the policies for handling the mentally ill by not yelling at them, contacting the mental health unit and changing the distance for officer changed the location of the body where the beanbag shotguns are aimed.

• Major Drug Company policies for defending and paying damages for Doctors who are sued for prescribing their drugs;

The Case: Debbie Friedman v. CONFIDENTIAL – A Jewish cantor with a psychiatric disorder was put on 2 psychotropic medications. The drug levels were not properly monitored and she developed tardive dyskinesia. The disease was caused by the interaction of the two drugs. One of the drug manufacturers had an unwritten agreement to pay for the defense and any damages for injuries to patients who were prescribed the drug. This allow the doctors to hand out the prescriptions without any consequences. The manufacture agree to stop this immoral practice and resulted in the only settlement by the manufacturer for the particular psychotropic drug.

• Chemical Manufactures policies of not testing their “inert ingredients, among many other.”

The Case: A gardener was using an herbicide to kill all the weed on two vast group of properties. The weed-killer was marketed as safe for such use and the gardener was not wearing a mask. He developed multi organ failure and was permanently disabled. It was found that the surfactant (the ingredient that allowed the plant to absorb the active ingredient) had never been tested for its toxicity. The result was a six-figure settlement and the testing of the surfactant. The only settlement by the manufacturer for the use of its herbicide.