Confidential
Settlement – $550,000Judge
Court
Maricopa Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
John P. Kelly
(medical)
Dorothy Fune
(technical)
Gerald Rosenbluth
(technical)
Frederick F. Marciano
(medical)
Facts
On Aug. 29, 1998, the plaintiff wife, a 33-year-old trainee manager, and her husband rented two jet skis from the defendant rental store in anticipation of an outing at Canyon Lake. The jet skis were manufactured by the defendant manufacturer. The next day, the plaintiff wife and her family were using the jet skis on the lake. One of them stalled/ would not start. While being towed to shore, the plaintiff wife attempted to start the jet ski again. The plaintiff husband heard a loud explosion and, out of the corner of his eye, saw his wife fly through the air and land in the water, sustaining injuries. The plaintiff wife and her husband brought this action against the rental store and the jet ski manufacturer based on strict liability (unreasonably dangerous product defect), negligence and loss of consortium theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a settlement demand for $1.2 million. The defendant manufacturer/rental store made a joint settlement offer of $100,000.
Specials in Evidence
$120,000 $1 million $31,000
Injuries
The plaintiff wife claimed she sustained a compression fracture of the T12 vertebrae and a fractured ankle. The plaintiff husband claimed loss of consortium.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately eleven months after the case was filed. A mediation was held on Sept. 8, 1999, before Stephen Scott, resulting in the reported settlement.
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