Recent Successful Mediation Results

AUTO v. AUTO - NEGLIGENCE

SETTLEMENT: $600,000.00
COURT: San Joaquin
MEDIATOR: George Shelby
ATTORNEYS: Plaintiff - Michael D. Goforth Defendant - Christian Green (Law Office of Samual Grader, Sacramento)

FACTS & CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff family of four was returning to the Bay area from a short vacation in the Sierra foothills. During heavy rain, the 21-year-old daughter was driving with her 1996 Toyota T-100 on SR 120 westbound with her 17-year-old brother. The Toyota was being followed by a 1987 Honda Civic being driven by the father, 45 and the mother, 40. The daughter's right rear tire blew out, forcing her to pull over and stop on the right asphalt shoulder. The father followed his daughter's lead to the shoulder and stopped five to ten feet directly behind her. The passengers got out of the vehicles and waited in the rap approximately 20 minutes for AAA road service, which had been called. Within seconds of the parties' reentering their vehicles, defendant, driving a 1992 Nissan pickup loaded with pool chemicals lost control of his truck and slammed into the Honda, injuring the husband and wife. The Honda was propelled into the Toyota which contained the children.

INJURIES: The husband, a stocker/checker for Safeway Stores, sustained a herniated cervical disc, facial lacerations, cognitive difficulties and depression. The underwent an anterior cervical diskectomy and interbody fusion at C5-6 which was performed by Dr. William Matthews. Since that time, the husband continues to experience chronic headaches, neck pain, and depression. Both of the children sustained soft tissue injuries.

The wife sustained soft tissue injuries and emotional distress.

SPECIALS IN EVIDENCE: MEDS, $70,000
(husband); $9,000 (wife); $3,500
(Daughter)l $5,435 (son); LOE. $90,000
(husband); $2,500 (wife); $1,000
(daughter).

MEDIATION: The case settled following a one-day mediation.

AUTO v. TRUCK - NEGLIGENT AGRICULTURAL BURN

SETTLEMENT: $450,000.00
COURT: Butte Superior
MEDIATORS: Mike Minard & Gary Ott, Mediation Center of the North Valley, Chico, California
ATTORNEYS: Plaintiff - Michael D. Goforth (Goforth & Lucas, Concord) Defendants - Ronald K. Iverson, Jr. (Rich, Fuidge, Morris & Iverson, Inc., Marysvale) for Defendant farmer. Claude W. Vanderwold (Law Office of Claude W. Vanderwold, Sacramento), for Defendant trucker.
MEDICAL EXPERTS: Plaintiff - Robert Lieberson, M.D., Oscar Abeliuk, M.D., Jerald Goldman, M.D.

FACTS: During the afternoon of October 24, 1996, plaintiff, a 28 year old cashier/clerk, sustained nasal and facial trauma, skull fracture, and brain injury when the automobile he was driving slammed into a Ford double-axle tractor and flatbed trailer, which was obscured by a thick blanket of smoke emitting from the defendant farmer’s agricultural burn.

The subject accident occurred on a two-lane paved highway, which runs north and south through Butte County’s flat agricultural land. At approximately 2:30p.m. on October 24, 1996, defendant farmer and several of his employees commenced burning rice stubble while the wind direction was light out of the southeast. As the burning progressed over the next several hours, the wind speed picked up to approximately 15 to 20 miles per hour and shifted, causing thick smoke to blanket the roadway.

Defendant farmer was not using signs or flaggers to alert north or southbound traffic.

Defendant trucker was travelling northbound toward the smoke cloud, pulling a 46-foot, 2-axle flatbed trailer carrying a 7½-ton field tractor. Defendant trucker entered the smoke cloud and slowed from the posted 55-miles-per-hour speed limit to between 7 and 15 miles per hour due to poor visibility.

Plaintiff, who was seat belted and travelling northbound, slowed as he approached what he perceived to be a shifting curtain of smoke. He was not aware of the smoke-obscured presence of defendant trucker’s big rig. While plaintiff was reducing his speed, he struck defendant’s trailer bed.

CONTENTIONS: The plaintiff contended that defendant farmer, who was issued a notice of non-compliance for violation of California State and Safety code 41700 by the Butte County Air Quality District, was negligent per se for allowing smoke to drift onto the highway.

Plaintiff further contended that defendant trucker was not trained regarding emergency procedures in situations involving smoke drift and that the trucker’s entering the smoke cloud presented an unreasonable risk of harm to northbound traffic.

Defendant farmer contended that he had a valid agricultural burn permit and that flaggers or warning devices were not required by law and were not necessary.

Both defendants contended that the plaintiff violated CVC 22350 providing that a person shall not drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed that is greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, and traffic. Both defendants further pointed out that, according to medical records, plaintiff admitted he had smoked "one half of a marijuana cigarette one hour prior to the incident."

INJURIES: The plaintiff suffered multiple facial lacerations, numerous maxillofacial fractures, and frontal sinus fractures, which had disrupted components of the ethmoid bone and cerebral bone plates. Cerebral spine fluid (CSF) was leaking through plaintiff’s fracture sites saturating his nasal passages. Plaintiff underwent a lumbar drainage catheter placement and bitemporal craniotomy to repair the CSF leak. Plaintiff further claimed loss of smell, diminished taste, and lifelong potential for seizures.

DAMAGES: The plaintiff claimed medical bills of approximately $90,000.00. Plaintiff also claimed a $20,000.00 wage loss, plus damages for pain and suffering.

MEDIATION: A one-day court-ordered mediation resulted in the reported settlement.

OTHER INFORMATION: The settlement was reached approximately eight months after the case was filed. Defendant farmer paid $435,000.00. Defendant trucking company contributed $15,000.00.

Classroom Violence

Attorney Michael D. Goforth continues to take exceptional risks, achieving unexpected success with personal injury cases. Mike’s success in resolving controversial cases has frequently been reported in the press. Most interesting was the case of Janette Villalpando, in which Mike was successful in getting a payment of $100,000.00 from the assets of a criminal perpetrator. At first, monetary recovery for our client seemed hopeless. Our high school aged client had suffered the trauma of being repeatedly stabbed in the back and neck and doused with gasoline while sitting in her classroom. There was no legal liability on the part of the school district or elsewhere. Mike nevertheless persuaded the insurance covering the attacker’s residence to pay $100,000.00 to Janette. We are all very proud of Mike for that result, which came about because he just wouldn’t quit. His successful opposition to early motions to dismiss the lawsuit by the opposing attorneys kept the case alive, against all odds.

Under California Civil Code Section 1714, parents have financial liability for the willful and malicious acts of their minor children. In view of the vicious nature of some gang related attacks, we enforce these cases relentlessly by serving legal process on the parents of gang members involved in violent attacks against our young clients.

Liability Clear But Never Admitted

Recently, Christopher R. Lucas fought the big fight against Exxon Oil Company. Exxon was denying liability for the near suffocation of two workers. Our clients, both sand blasters, had their air supply shut off to a smoke-filled tank in which they were working. The two men suffered black outs and lung injuries followed by post traumatic stress. Although post traumatic stress is very often dismissed by insurance companies as not being a serious claim, by means of good medical expertise and investigation, Chris was able to persuade Exxon to settle each case for six figure amounts on the eve of the trial. Because phobias prevented one of the workers from returning to work in enclosed areas, extensive vocational rehabilitation was a condition of settlement with Exxon for that client.

In the Exxon case, settlement was aided by court referral to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which was done just days before trial. Such alternatives are indispensable adjuncts to modern litigation, as we explain in our ADR article.

Blaming The Victim:
Callousness Leads To Apologies

Mike and Chris worked jointly in the case of Yu Ling Kung, a diminutive and shy postal carrier who was brutally attacked by seven large dogs (with names such as "Czar" and "Thor"). The seven dogs were being allowed to roam loose around the grounds of a residence in Oakland, to which Yu Ling regularly delivered the mail. "Thor" had previously injured two other mail people.

After the attack, which received extensive television coverage, the dogs’ owner’s neighbors perversely rallied to the defense of the owner. The owner’s friends and neighbors packed an animal control hearing and even hooted and jeered at Yu Ling Kung, despite the fact that Yu Ling had been mauled and bitten literally from head to toe.

Ultimately, however, Yu Ling’s case settled for over six figures, paid by the dog owner’s insurance carrier. Most of the neighbors later realized that they had been engulfed in a tide of anti-victim hysteria, and subsequently offered sincere apologies to our client. These realizations were the result of witness depositions conducted by Mike and Chris as part of the civil discovery process in that case.

Remember to consider the source of the much promoted, currently fashionable disdain for the ancient concept of victim indemnification. Facts and figures don’t support the claim of a litigation explosion, as Court filings are down. And with this largely unsympathetic mind-set, dedicated and skilled attorneys are needed more than ever.