Sosa v. DJI Technology Inc.

Personal Injury

Los Angeles County

Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern

Plaintiff’s Lawyer: Gary A. Dordick, Law Offices of Gary A. Dordick ALC

Defense Lawyers: James T. Catlow, Doherty & Catlow; Rhett P. Warriner, Inglis, Gower & Warriner LLP

In October, a Los Angeles County jury awarded a $31 million verdict to a man hit by a car as he jaywalked near Los Angeles International Airport.

Due to his dark clothing and crossing outside a crosswalk, the jury found him 65 percent responsible, but plaintiff Cesar Sosa still won $11 million to cover his past and future medical costs, lost wages, and noneconomic damages.

Gary A. Dordick, who represented Sosa, said the biggest challenge of the case was constructing it entirely from the defense witnesses’ perspective. Sosa’s memory was compromised by the accident.

“I was put in a position where I had to find errors and inconsistencies in the defense testimony about how the accident occurred, and that was our only way to prevail at trial,” he said. “The entire case had to be made on cross examination of the defendant and one adverse eye witness.”

Defendant Michael Shabun’s employer, DJI Services LLC, was found vicariously liable for the accident because Shabun was returning from a business trip when the collision occurred. Sosa v. DJI Technology Inc. et al., BC614908 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed March 25, 2016).

Sosa suffered a traumatic brain injury, multiple bone fractures, and had his left leg amputated.

Dordick said that cases featuring a devastating injury present high-pressure situations.

“When representing a catastrophically injured plaintiff, the goal is to obtain the medical care they need for the rest of their life and it makes the stakes in the cases so high because if we lose, they get denied medical care,” he said.

“Winning the case will enable my client to get the care he will need for the rest of his life, which is a wonderful thing for me to be able to do as a lawyer,” he added.

According to Dordick, a motion for a new trial by the defense was denied. That ruling is being appealed by DJI.

Shabun and DJI were represented by James T. Catlow of Doherty & Catlow and Rhett P. Warriner of Inglis, Gower & Warriner LLP, respectively.

According to Catlow, DJI has reached out about a mediation in addition to its appeal.

— Andy Serbe