Uncontested wrongful death trial results in $41M judgment

In a rare, uncontested wrongful death bench trial, the family of a woman brutally murdered by a Hollywood director was awarded $41.6 million when neither defendant nor counsel showed up to court.

"Not something you see often," plaintiffs' attorney Thomas J. Conroy of The Simon Law Group LLP said Friday after the verdict was handed down. Heir to a Toronto real estate fortune, Blake Leibel, 38, was found guilty in 2018 of brutally torturing and murdering his Ukranian fiancé, Llana Kasian, 30. Shortly after the murder in 2016, the Kasian family filed a wrongful death suit in civil court against Leibel. However, he never responded.

As the case neared default judgment, Leibel's civil defense attorney, Moises Bardavid of Encino, filed an ex parte motion in June 2017 seeking leave to respond.

Bardavid said Leibel was held in Los Angeles County Jail's psychiatric ward, suffered from competency issues, and as a result did not have the capacity to respond to the legal notices. Leibel had no knowledge of the lawsuit and relied on his power of attorney and estranged girlfriend Amanda Braun to take care of his affairs, according to the motion filed by Bardavid.

Superior Court Judge Holly Fujie, who was presiding over the case at the time, granted Bardavid's motion.

"Defendant's declaration sufficiently shows he believed Braun and his attorneys to be handling all of his legal matters and did not know of the existence of this civil action," Fujie wrote in her ruling setting aside the default judgment in 2017. Kasian v. Leibel, BC624321 (L.A. Super Ct., filed June 20, 2016).

However, after multiple attempts to delay proceedings, Bardavid eventually filed a motion to be relieved as counsel, and in January 2019, he was excused.

The trial was then transferred to Santa Monica to be heard by Superior Court Judge Bobbi Tillmon. The trial began Feb. 6. However, neither counsel nor imprisoned defendant showed up or responded, and the Kasian family was awarded the uncontested verdict.

"It's a mix of emotions. We're pleased with the outcome as a matter of legal proceedings," Conroy said. "The mother of the decedent flew in from Ukraine, and when it came in, it was very emotional, and she was hit with a lot of feelings all at once."

Conroy said defendant's counsel was fully aware of the suit and had every opportunity to argue at hearings leading up to the trial but failed to do so.

"The defendant had notice. They had the opportunity to appear and defend whatever they felt was necessary," Conroy said.

Law enforcement witnesses said it was one of the worst murders they had ever seen, and they were still traumatized.