News
Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Apr. 23, 1999
$18M Verdict in Air Crash Leads to Malpractice Suit
A Texas-based law firm has been sued for legal malpractice over the loss of a jury trial that resulted in an $18 million verdict against a company that was responsible for the maintenance of a military aircraft involved in a fatal crash.
Raytheon E-Systems, a Delaware corporation that is the successor-in-interest to Serv-Air Inc. and its insurance company, Lloyds, filed suit Tuesday against Robert M. Kern and George S. McCall and their firm, Irving, Texas-based Kern & Wooley. Kern works in the firm's Los Angeles office.
The Los Angeles Superior Court suit claims the lawyers, who were representing Serv-Air, continually said up to and during trial that Serv-Air's liability in the crash was questionable. Certain Participating Lloyds Syndicates and Companies v. Kern et al., BC209005.
The April 17, 1995, crash of the U.S. Air Force C-21A Learjet near Montgomery, Ala., killed two crew members and all six passengers on board.
The crash spawned at least two wrongful death lawsuits brought by families of the deceased against Serv-Air, Learjet and another company. Two were heard together at a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Texas.
Serv-Air was found 75 percent liable. The jury also found the company grossly negligent, warranting punitive damages against only Serv-Air.
An appeal by Serv-Air is pending in the Texas Court of Appeal in San Antonio.
Kern and McCall, hired by Lloyds to defend Serv-Air, repeatedly downplayed Serv-Air's liability, despite evidence uncovered during discovery that demonstrated that the company "failed to adhere to certain policies and procedures concerning maintenance documentation," the lawsuit states.
In addition, the lawyers made settlement before trial difficult to achieve by creating "unnecessary animosity," the lawsuit adds.
Neither Kern or McCall returned messages Wednesday.
The lawsuit also names breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and negligence as causes of actions. It seeks unspecified damages. It was filed by attorneys at Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon.
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Denise Levin
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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