Martinez et al. v. Silva et al.

Los Angeles County

Superior Court Judge Patrick T. Madden

Plaintiffs' Lawyers: David A. Rudorfer, Tom Schultz, Panish, Shea & Boyle LLP

Defense Lawyers: Lisa N. Shyer, Proctor, Shyer & Winter LLP; Peter J. Gates, Gates, O'Doherty, Gonter & Guy LLP

A trial that netted a bereaved family $6.3 million for the death of 74-year-old Armando Martinez, killed by a vendor's van moving in reverse at the Whittier Uptown Association Farmers Market in 2016, had an impact larger than the award, said plaintiffs' attorney David A. Rudorfer of Panish, Shea & Boyle LLP.

Society's valuation of an elder's life was also on trial, he said, because the market's insurers, seeking as usual in such cases to discount the wrongful death of those over 65, contended Martinez's family should be given far less.

The outcome will likely encourage other older plaintiffs and show underwriters that such cases have significant value, Rudorfer said.

"The jury recognized the value of elderly people," said Rudorfer, who represented Martinez's wife and two adult daughters, with whom Martinez had an extremely close relationship.

The Whittier Uptown Association and driver Maria Acuna, who was delivering eggs from La Bahn Ranch she planned to sell at the market, admitted they were negligent in causing the fatal collision.

Rudorfer and co-lead counsel Tom Schultz also had to persuade the jury to allocate a significant portion of responsibility to the Uptown Association if his clients were to collect, because like many farmers market vendors, the driver had only $100,000 in insurance.

The panel placed 99.5 percent of the responsibility for the death on the association. Martinez et al. v. Silva et al., BC617733 (Los Angeles County Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 6, 2016).

Defense lawyer Lisa N. Shyer of Proctor, Shyer & Winter LLP disputed that the market and its insurer undervalued the deceased.

Speaking of Rudorfer and his firm, she said, "They've been on a media crusade to make this a socioeconomic issue, but that wasn't the point of the trial. What was aberrational was the the jury found the association 99 percent responsible for Mr. Martinez' death."

Shyer said she made a fair offer in court.

"I suggested a million dollars," she said. "I certainly didn't argue that because he was an older Hispanic man, his life was less valuable."

The case also serves to warn farmers markets to put better safety standards in place, Rudorfer said.

"I've handled three similar catastrophic market cases," he said.

"Farmers markets typically are disorganized operations, and operators typically try to blame vendors for problems," he added. "So both that and the value of an elderly life were involved here. I've got to say, I'm proud of this one."

-- John Roemer