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CONFIDENTIAL

Sep. 7, 1996

Real Property
Negligent Construction
Commercial Property

Confidential

Settlement –  $295,000

Judge

Paul D. Fritz

Paul D. Fritz

Court

USDC Central


Attorneys

Plaintiff

Charles R. Messer
(Carlson & Messer LLP)

Mark C. Riedel

Charles R. Messer
(Carlson & Messer LLP)

Mark C. Riedel


Defendant

James R. Wakefield

Patrick A. Long

Brian C. Cuff

Brian C. Cuff

James R. Wakefield

Patrick A. Long


Experts

Plaintiff

Elliot Boone
(technical)

Elliot Boone
(technical)

Facts

On Sept. 26, 1993, a section of overhead electrical conduits, approximately 400 feet in length, fell from the ceiling of the defendant delivery company's Anaheim facility. The conduits were on overhead brackets, which were connected to the roof purlins (beams) by lag bolts. The lag bolts pulled out of the purlins, and some of the wood purlins split during the collapse. The conduit brackets were originally installed in the early 1970s. The defendant electrical contractors attached a second tier of brackets, conduits and wires to the original brackets between 1988 and 1993. The collapse caused a power outage, which shut down the facility for approximately five days, and required a complete replacement and redesign of the conduit bracket system. The plaintiffs, the delivery company and its insurer, brought this action against the defendants, two electrical contractors and an optical cable contractor, based on negligence theories of recovery.

Settlement Discussions

There were no settlement discussions.

Other Information

The settlement was reached approximately one year after the case was filed. The mediation was held on May 15, 1996 before Paul Fritz of Creative Dispute Resolution, Santa Barbara, resulting in the reported settlement.

Length

1 day


#109578

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