Confidential
Settlement – $1,250,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Santa Monica
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Gary A. Dordick
(Dordick Law Corporation)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Kenneth A. Solomon
(technical)
John Peter Gruen
(medical)
Cynthia Lynn Chabay M.D.
(medical)
Richard H. Andersen
(technical)
Raymond G. Schultz
(technical)
Defendant
Peter Dyck
(medical)
Gene Bruno M.S., C.R.C., C.C.M., C.D.M.S.
(technical)
Michael S. Adams
(technical)
Kenneth L. Pearl B.S.M.E.
(technical)
Facts
On Jan. 27, 1995, plaintiff, a 32-year-old Israeli martial arts instructor, was the driver of a motorcycle westbound on Wilshire Boulevard going through the intersection at Whittier in the city of Beverly Hills. Plaintiff No. 2, a 33-year-old nursing student, was a passenger on the motorcycle. Defendant was operating a Jaguar eastbound on Wilshire and stopped at the intersection of Whittier. Defendant was making a left turn. The plaintiff was proceeding straight through the intersection. Defendant had a left turn arrow. Plaintiff admitted to driving between 35 to 40 mph in a posted 25 mph zone. Plaintiff admitted to braking with the rear brake of the motorcyle only. Both plaintiffs and defendants' experts agreed that if plaintiff driver had been traveling at the posted speed limit, he could have stopped before impact. Further, both experts agreed that if plaintiff had braked the motorcycle properly using the front and rear brake, the plaintiff could have stopped the motorcylce before impact. The plaintiffs brought this action against defendant driver based on a negligence theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Plaintiff passenger: Prior to answering ready at trial, defendants offered $250,000 and plaintiff passenger's demand was in excess of $1 million. Defendants offered $500,000, plaintiff dropped her demand to $1 million and then the case ultimately settled for $750,000. Plaintiff driver: Defendants made a statutory offer to plaintiff driver in the amount of $50,000. Prior to trial, plaintiff's trial counsel lowered plaintiff's demand to $250,000. On the first day of trial, the trial judge recommended a settlement in the amount of $125,000 which plaintiff agreed to accept and defendants rejected.
Specials in Evidence
$60,000 $170,000 $43,500
Damages
Plaintiff passenger claimed medicals of $163,686.10 and lost earnings which were disputed.
Injuries
Plaintiff passenger claimed she suffered a fractured pelvis and internal bleeding. Plaintiff driver's injuries consisted of fractured L1 vertebrae and L5-S1 disk injuries that may require disc fusion.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately three years after the case was filed. Defendants settled with plaintiff passenger prior to trial for $750,000. The case proceeded to trial between the motorcycle driver and defendant. The case was trifurcated. The first phase of the trial was liability, the second damages and in the third, defendants were seeking indemnification and contribution from plaintiff for the $750,000 paid in settlement to the passenger. The jury found defendant to be 95 percent responsible and the plaintiff 5 percent contributorily negligent. After the liability phase of trial, defendants settled with plaintiff driver for $500,000, plus payment of court costs. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: A settlement conference was held on Oct. 29, 1997, before the Hon. Hiroshi Fujisaki resulting in settlement of the passenger's case.
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