Confidential
Settlement – $302,500Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Burbank
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Herbert A. Painter
(technical)
Ross Kinman
(technical)
Jerry A. Ramsey
(technical)
Daniel A. Capen
(medical)
Joyce Elaine Pickersgill
(technical)
Gene Bruno M.S., C.R.C., C.C.M., C.D.M.S.
(technical)
Franklin Kozin
(medical)
Defendant
Karen Carlyn R. Taylor
(technical)
Stuart H. Kuschner
(medical)
Gregory W. Sells
(technical)
Donald H. Alvarado
(technical)
Facts
On April 10, 1992, the intervenor was involved in an automobile accident when he swerved into a freeway cement retaining wall and then a metal guardrail in an effort to avoid debris which was flying off of a vehicle being towed by the defendant employee of a corporate defendant. The intervenor then retained a workers' compensation lawyer to file a workers' compensation claim on his behalf and an attorney to represent a personal injury claim to the defendants' insurance carrier. Several months later, a paralegal in the attorney's office negotiated a settlement with the carrier for $15,500, without ever obtaining consent from the intervenor. The intervenor was told by the paralegal that this was all of the money that was available and based on that representation signed a release and accepted the settlement funds. The release included a provision (never negotiated) that if any liens arising from the accident were presented to the carrier, the intervenor would have to indemnify the carrier for the total amount of those liens. The plaintiff workers' compensation carrier later filed an action against the defendants to recover the amount of the workers' compensation benefits it paid to the intervenor. The corporate defendant then cross-complained against the intervenor for the $15,500 that the intervenor had already received, in order to prevent a double recovery. The intervenor then intervened in the action, claiming that the release was null and void and that not only should he not be liable for the subrogation claim, but should be entitled to recover appropriate damages from the defendants, including their insurance carrier, which was named a defendant-in-intervention, despite the earlier settlement and release.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $500,000. The defendants made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $50,000.
Specials in Evidence
$33,893 $45,000 $491,854 (disputed)
Damages
The plaintiff claimed $500,000 in damages.
Injuries
The intervenor (a diamond setter) sustained a right (major) wrist injury which required two surgeries to repair the triangular fiber cartilage and to excise the right tisiform bone. He later developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) in his right wrist.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately three years after the case was filed. It settled while trailing before Judge Charles W. Stoll. Matthew Biren's firm bought the workers' compensation lien and thereafter represented both the workers compensation carrier, as well as the individual intervenor, who had received workers' compensation benefits following the accident. The intervenor's workers' compensation case had closed by the time of trial and the amount of that lien was $189,000. (Per the carrier, the carrier had offered to pay the amount of this lien a year before the final settlement. Per counsel for the intervenor, the carrier never offered more than $50,000 on the workers' compensation lien prior to the settlement.)
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