Confidential
Settlement – $190,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Robert B. Owens
(Owens & Gach Ray)
Experts
Plaintiff
Richard C. Warner
(technical)
David Alessi M.D.
(medical)
Michel Lavesque
(medical)
Marshall Grode
(medical)
Defendant
Richard Pazzo
(technical)
Facts
On Sept. 19, 1993, the plaintiff, a 45-year-old legal secretary and movie extra, was working as an extra on a movie set on location inside the lobby of the defendant's newly constructed office building. The lobby consisted of a large open expanse of glass including skylight glazing. The plateglass windows are approximately 11 to 12 feet in height and each pane is 5+ to 6 feet wide. There were no decals or signs posted on the windows or other materials such as plants on the floor to warn pedestrians that they were windows and not a walkway. The plaintiff was told to go to an outside trailer to change her wardrobe. She walked in the direction of a window thinking it was the open walkway of the building leading to the courtyard. In so doing, she struck her face on a plateglass window. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendants based on premises liability and negligence theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand for $300,000. The defendant made a settlement offer of $100,000.
Specials in Evidence
$21,000 $20,000
Injuries
The plaintiff alleged that she suffered an anterior skull fracture causing a cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) leak, severe headaches and neck pain. The plaintiff claimed that she had endoscopic surgery with complete ethmoidectomy to close the CSF leak and physical therapy for her neck.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately two years and three months after the case was filed. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: A settlement conference was held on Nov. 11, 1996 before Judge Curry. It did not resolve the matter.
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