Confidential
Settlement – $1,000,000Judge
Court
L.A. Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Darren M. Harris
(Spray, Gould & Bowers LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
Stephen C. Wexler
(technical)
Wayne H. Lancaster
(technical)
Marc O. Yoshizumi
(medical)
Richard H. Andersen
(technical)
Stephen P. Grifka M.D.
(medical)
Facts
On March 6, 2002, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the plaintiff arrived at the defendant's premises near the baseball field. The plaintiff then walked from the baseball field to the men's restroom located in the gymnasium. When he walked out of the men's restroom toward the parking lot to drive home, he was struck by the baseball in the right eye. At the time of the incident, the school's baseball team was practicing and participating in drills. One of these drills involved hitting baseballs off a batting tee into the fence and cage netting. Due to the deteriorating condition of both the fence and the netting, a baseball was hit from a batting tee, flew through a hole in the fence and netting, bounced on the pavement and crushed the plaintiff's right eye and eye socket. As a result, the plaintiff lost complete vision in his right eye, suffered numerous facial fractures, permanent nerve damage and facial numbness and will soon lose his right eye. The plaintiff has undergone two intense surgical procedures in an attempt to save his eye. Both surgeries were unsuccessful. One of his treating doctors also recommended a surgical procedure for the facial fractures and to alleviate the numbness and pain in the plaintiff's face.
Settlement Discussions
The defendants served a C.C.P. Section 998 offer for $750,000. The plaintiff lowered his initial demand from $2.5 million and served a C.C.P. Section 998 offer to compromise before trial for $1.3 million.
Injuries
Loss of vision in right eye, numerous facial fractures, facial numbness, loss of right eye in the future and loss of past earnings and future earning capacity.
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