Republic Western Insurance Company v. Broan Manufacturing Company Inc., et al.
Published: Mar. 2, 2004 | Result Date: Oct. 23, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: T020429C Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Nevada Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Paul S. White
(Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP)
Brian E. Turnauer
(Freedman & Taitelman LLP)
Defendant
Peter A. Dubrawski
(Haight, Brown & Bonesteel)
Experts
Plaintiff
Raymond Pietila
(technical)
Randall Chord
(technical)
Defendant
Cyrillis Holmes
(technical)
Robert Bena
(technical)
Robert B. Witter
(technical)
Facts
The subject suit involves a fire that was discovered on Feb. 18, 2000 at approximately 11:45 p.m. at the Donner Lake Village Resort. The plaintiff was the casualty insurance carrier for the Donner Lake Village Report. It occurred in a two-story apartment building. The specific apartments are numbered 144 and 145 on the first floor, and 244 and 245 immediately above on the second floor. The bedrooms in the individual units have ventilator fans as well as separate lights and heaters. The plaintiff maintained that the source of the fire was the exhaust fan in unit No. 144 on the first floor. The fan that was the subject of the litigation was a ventilator fan designed to move air out of a bathroom. The fan was in use for approximately 24 years prior to the fire without incident or complaint. The fire was investigated by the Truckee Fire Protection District which resulted in a finding that the fire started in the space above the bathroom of unit No. 244 with the exact cause remaining undetermined. In spite of this, the plaintiff maintained its position that the fan in the bathroom of unit No. 144, below unit 244, was the cause of the fire.
Settlement Discussions
The defendant offered C.C.P. Section 998 of $75,000; the plaintiff demanded C.C.P. Section 998 of $200,000.
Other Information
The case was settled post trial with plaintiff paying defendant's cost bill including expert costs.
Deliberation
one hour
Length
five days
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