Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorneys Robert Glassman, Tom Schultz, and Jonathan Davidi obtained a $11,045,000 jury verdict at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys for motorcyclist Grady Dillon who suffered serious injuries following a collision with a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) vehicle.
Mr. Dillon was riding his motorcycle in downtown Los Angeles when DWP employee Manuel Medina, driving a department-owned van, made an unsafe, left hand turn directly into Mr. Dillon’s path of travel. Unable to avoid the DWP vehicle, Mr. Dillon collided with the van resulting in serious and extensive injuries including numerous fractures to his pelvis, ribs, left wrist and right foot, as well as a lacerated spleen. Mr. Dillon was hospitalized for 12 days and underwent two major surgeries on his pelvis and wrist. He later transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility where he remained for nearly four months. In the years that followed, Mr. Dillon underwent three more surgical interventions for his injuries including a lumbar fusion and a wrist osteotomy. Only 38 years old at the time of the crash, Mr. Dillon faces a lifetime of ongoing pain and physical limitations as a result of the collision.
Despite a video clearly showing that Mr. Medina was at fault for the collision and Mr. Medina’s own testimony during his deposition that he did not look left before turning, the DWP denied all liability for the collision at trial, claiming that Mr. Dillon was at fault because he was driving his motorcycle 59 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour speed zone.
The jury disagreed and found Mr. Medina and the DWP 100 percent at fault for the collision, and awarded Mr. Dillon $11,045,000, including $9,500,000 for his past and future pain and suffering.
“The City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power fought us every step of the way,” said Mr. Glassman.”They asked the jury to award our client nothing and find him 100% at fault for a motor vehicle collision that was not his fault. We are thankful the jury got it right and delivered a just verdict based on the evidence and their common sense.”
The City of Los Angeles was represented at trial by Seymour B. Everett III and Silvia Schaffer of Everett Dorey LLP and represented in the case by Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, Deputy City Attorney Joseph Graven, and General Counsel for Water and Power, Julie C. Riley.
Mr. Dillon was also represented in the case by co-counsel Nina Sargsyan of Downtown L.A. Law Group.
IN THE NEWS
