Continental Casualty Company v. Penhall Company
Published: Jun. 20, 1998 | Result Date: May 1, 1998 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC100583 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Rodney Du Bois
(technical)
Edward Okil
(technical)
Defendant
Carol A. Arieff
(technical)
Facts
This was a property damage subrogation claim arising out of the Jan. 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake. Plaintiff Continental Casualty Co.'s insured, Murray Gribin, was an art collector who had artwork stored in two storage units in a self-storage facility that was located under the Santa Monica Freeway bridge that spanned La Cienega Boulevard and Venice Boulevard. The bridge collapsed onto some of the storage units during the earthquake. Caltrans, acting under the governor's emergency declaration, hired defendant Penhall Company to demolish the collapsed bridges at this location. Although no one was allowed to go under the collapsed bridges, efforts were made when practical to allow movers to come and move materials out of the storage lockers. Although artwork was removed from both of Gribin's storage lockers, some of it was damaged and other pieces were either totally destroyed or lost. The plaintiff payed its insured over $800,000 for the damaged, destroyed and lost art work. The plaintiff brought this action against the defendant based on a negligence theory of recovery seeking to recover a portion of what it paid to its insured.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand for $450,000 reduced to $100,000 after plaintiff's key witness became incapacitated and unable to testify during the first week of trial. The defendant offered $75,000, later withdrawn (per the plaintiff, after the plantiff's key witness became ill).
Damages
The plaintiff claimed damages of $782,440.62 paid to insured for damage, destruction, and loss of art work.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately 3+ years after the case was filed.
Deliberation
one to two days
Poll
9-3
Length
eight days
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