Tag: defense verdict

September – 2019

August 11, 2020

Brian D. Kennedy received a successful ruling from the Court of Appeals in case numbers 18CA1108 & 18CA1717 (ann’d 9/26/19). Brian previously obtained a defense verdict in the underlying trial court (2017CV30697). The case involved an altercation on Larimer Street near a nightclub called the Retro Room. Plaintiff asserted claims of battery and outrageous conduct. Plaintiff and Defendant had conflicting versions of the cause of the altercation and who was the initial aggressor.

The Plaintiff appealed arguing the trial court erred by 1.) refusing to admit portions of a police report at trial that included statements of an off-duty officer who witnessed the incident but did not testify at trial; 2.) excluding from evidence (as a discovery sanction) any reference to Plaintiff’s anticipated future career as a pilot in the United States Air Force, the central premise of his damage claims; and 3.) for denying Plaintiff’s motion to stay execution of the cost award against Plaintiff. In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion on any of these issues and affirmed the judgment in favor of Defendant/Appellee.

Colorado Court of Appeals Oral Arguments

December – 2018

December 3, 2018

Karl Chambers tried the case of Grace Stean and Adam Stevens v. Margaret Molloy in a four day trial in Arapahoe District Court.

This action arose out of a motor vehicle accident involving plaintiff’s wife, Grace Stean, and our client, Margaret Molloy.  Ms. Stean claimed that she was injured in the accident, including an alleged mild traumatic brain injury and a cervical facet injury.  Plaintiff, Adam Stevens, was not involved in the accident, but claimed that he suffered a loss of consortium due to his wife’s injuries.  We admitted that defendant negligently caused the accident, but challenged the injuries and damages claimed by Ms. Stean and her husband.  Ms. Stean settled her claim prior to trial and Mr. Stevens elected to litigate his loss of consortium claim.  Our defense was that he did not suffer a loss of consortium.  The jury agreed and returned a defense verdict finding that Mr. Stevens did not suffer a loss of consortium.

October – 2018

October 30, 2018

Frank & Hillary Patterson obtained a Defense Verdict in an October trial over UIM benefits.  The case is Velvet Entz v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Pueblo County District Court, 2016CV030960.  Plaintiff claimed the accident caused serious cervical injuries including a herniated disc, with past medical expenses of $160,000 and an anticipated future cervical surgery at a cost of $140,644.00 – $244,430.  The liability carrier had previously paid its $100,000 in limits.  Plaintiff demanded the full UIM policy limits of $500,000.  The last and lowest offer to settle by Plaintiff was $350,000.

Frank and Hillary disputed causation.  In the trial they admitted plaintiff may have had a slight exacerbation of some pre-accident complaints but denied that the disc herniation or subsequent surgeries were the result of the accident.  They argued that plaintiff had a pre-existing degenerative condition in her cervical spine for which she sought periodic chiropractic treatment in the years preceding the accident and that her post-accident treatment was not consistent with a herniation caused by the accident.  Instead, they argued that the significant herniation at C5-6 occurred 8 months after the accident and it was not related to the accident.

The jury agreed, finding that Plaintiff’s total damages from the accident were $4,300.  Since she had already recovered the liability limits far in excess of that, State Farm owed no UIM payment.

Plaintiff’s treating doctors who testified were Dr. Lloyd Mobley, Dr. Roger Sung, Dr. John Warner, DC and Dr. William Anderson, DC.  The defense expert who testified was Dr. Henry Roth.

April – 2018

June 4, 2018

On April 30, 2018, Brian D. Kennedy tried and won case number 2017CV30697 in front of the Honorable Martin F. Egelhoff, in a three-day jury trial in Denver District Court.

Plaintiff alleged that Defendant attacked him without warning or provocation while he was walking down Larimer Street near a nightclub called the Retro Room, punching Plaintiff in the back of the head and tackling him.  Defendant denied Plaintiff’s allegations and claimed that Plaintiff came up behind Defendant’s wife and groped her buttocks.  When Defendant approached Plaintiff and began speaking to him about the incident, Defendant alleged that Plaintiff charged him and that, in the ensuing scuffle, Plaintiff fell to the ground, injuring himself.

PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY: Michael L. Glaser, Law Office of Michael L. Glaser, LLC

TYPE OF CLAIMS: Assault, Battery, and Outrageous Conduct.

DIRECTED VERDICTS: The Court directed verdicts in favor of the Defendant on Plaintiff’s claim of assault and on all of Plaintiff’s claims for economic damages.

INJURIES AND/OR DAMAGES ALLEGED: Facial bruising, abrasions and laceration, corneal abrasion, concussion, post-concussive syndrome, depression, anxiety, PTSD, headaches, tinnitus, panic attacks, and ED.  Plaintiff also claimed to have wage loss from missed work as well as diminished earning capacity because of his inability to continue a career in the Air force.

SPECIALS: $24,000 in medical expenses, $1,700 in past wage loss and an estimated $750,000 in future income loss.

FINAL DEMAND BEFORE TRIAL: $395,000
FINAL OFFER BEFORE TRIAL: Statutory offer of $65,000.01

PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT WITNESSES:  Laur M. Birlea, M.D.
DEFENDANT’S EXPERT WITNESSES: None.

VERDICT: For the defendant on the Plaintiff’s claims of battery and outrageous conduct.

OTHER COMMENTS: The Court excluded evidence of diagnoseable mental health conditions and treatment, as well as evidence of diminished earning capacity as a sanction for discovery violations.  The Court also limited the testimony of Plaintiff’s physicians based upon inadequate disclosures.  Defendant is seeking costs, as well as an award of attorney’s fees for discovery violations.

April – 2017

April 4, 2017

There have been recent changes to the Rules of Civil Procedure regarding disclosure obligations and discovery requests. Requests for disclosure or discovery must be narrowly tailored and proportional to the needs of the case.  In light of these changes, Frank Patterson recently obtained a favorable Order for his client in a bad faith case precluding extensive discovery of what has come to be thought of as “institutional discovery.” The Order can be reviewed here.

In a declaratory relief action filed by the insurer for failure to cooperate after the insured entered into a Nunn Agreement, Frank Patterson and Lindsay Dunn obtained an order denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The defendants argued that Nunn Agreements are allowed under Colorado law and therefore, cannot be a failure to cooperate. The trial court denied the motion holding that the case law does not automatically allow for such agreements and that an insured may enter into such an agreement when the insurer has acted unreasonably or in the face of a colorable bad faith claim.  This case will have significant ramifications for insurers’ ability to challenge Nunn Agreements.

Karl Chambers obtained a defense verdict in the case of Shaun Olguin v. Louis Chacon dba Louie’s Barber Shop in Boulder County. The plaintiff claimed that he was injured while receiving a haircut at Louie’s Barber Shop and developed a staph infection that required medical treatment, including surgery.  Karl defended Mr. Chacon on the theory that the plaintiff was never in the barber shop on the date that he claimed, but even if he was, the staph infection was not caused by conditions at the barber shop, but rather was due to a pre-existing medical condition that plaintiff had.  The jury returned a defense verdict in favor of Mr. Chacon finding that the plaintiff’s alleged injuries were not caused by any negligence of Mr. Chacon or Louie’s Barber Shop.

November

December 12, 2016

Franklin D. Patterson and Karl Chambers tried and won the case of Nicholas Nelson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company in a 6-day jury trial in El Paso County.

This case stemmed out of a motor vehicle accident on March 20, 2010, when Plaintiff and several companions were returning to their California college from New Orleans. A drunk driver going the wrong way on a California highway hit them head-on. The drunk driver fled the scene on foot but was later caught. Plaintiff was in the back seat sleeping, but was seat-belted.  The force of the collision caused significant internal injuries.  The injuries were immediately life-threatening and he developed a hematoma at the sight of the abdominal wall rupture that grew from softball to watermelon size.  Emergency surgery included pulling his abdominal contents out and searching inch by inch for tears or no-viable tissue.  The surgeons removed large sections of the upper and lower intestines and bowels.

Plaintiff settled his claim against the drunk driver for policy limits of $100,000 and then made a demand for underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance benefits under an insurance policy issued by State Farm to his parents. That policy had $1,000,000 in limits.  A demand for policy limits was made 3 months before the Statute of Limitations expired.  State Farm requested additional information which was not provided prior to suit.  The information was provided within 90 days after filing suit. State Farm evaluated and offered $113,000 to resolve the claim.  After a failed mediation, State Farm advanced the $113,000.  State Farm informed the jury it had evaluated the claim in the range of $113,000-160,000 in addition to the BI limits previously received.
Just prior to the expiration of the Statute of Limitations, Plaintiff filed suit for UIM benefits, and alleging unreasonable delay, bad faith and (later) punitive damages.

State Farm admitted Plaintiff sustained serious, life-threatening injuries, but claimed he had made a remarkable recovery and had not sought treatment for anything since August, 2011.  In fact, he traveled to South America, living and working there for 6 months in 2011-12.  He had worked two lengthy stints in the backcountry for national parks in the Northwest, creating/restoring trails and removing invasive species, which work involved heavy manual labor.  Further, he completed a 1,500 mile bike trip from Oregon to Mexico. State Farm denied he had ongoing or future medical expenses or income loss.

As to the extra-contractual claims, State Farm alleged any delays were caused by plaintiff, through his lawyer-agents.  State Farm alleged that coverage for additional damages was voided due to failure to cooperate, and material misrepresentations made in correspondence about plaintiff’s ongoing treatment.  Plaintiff, through his lawyer-agents, failed over 3 years to return a signed medical authorization as requested under the policy, and failed to respond to requests for related medical information.  (Plaintiff claimed the other records were minor compared to the uncontested injuries, for which plaintiff counsel supplied the records.)  In addition, State Farm asserted material misrepresentations voided coverage because plaintiff counsel asserted that plaintiff had treatment in 2012 when treatment had actually ended in 2011.

DIRECTED VERDICTS: Defendant’s Motion for Directed Verdict was granted on plaintiff’s claims for future income loss ($660,000) and future medical expense ($440,000).

Plaintiff called Dave Torres as a Claims Handling expert.  Following voir dire, the court determined Mr. Torres lacked qualifications to provide an expert opinion. 

The jury returned a verdict for Defendant State Farm on Verdict Form A – Plaintiff failed to cooperate, voiding any additional coverage.  As a result, the jury did not address the remaining claims of UIM damages, unreasonable delay, bad faith or punitive damages.

Hillary Patterson obtained an order for dismissal for a pro se plaintiff’s failure to prosecute and for discovery violations  (Brenda Senna v. Leah Flink, 2016CV115). In retaliation for a separate eviction proceeding, Plaintiff brought personal injury claims on behalf of her children and herself against defendant landlord arising out of a water heater fire where plaintiff alleges she and her children were exposed to carbon monoxide. Plaintiff demanded several millions of dollars in damages, but  failed to make any disclosures and failed to appear at two separate depositions.  By obtaining dismissal, extensive  and unnecessary litigation costs were avoided in defending frivolous and meritless claims.

August

September 14, 2016

Todd Dieterich tried and won the case of Aaron Phillips v. Kyle Smoker, et. al. in a 5 day trial in Denver County District Court. This case stemmed from a multi-vehicle accident on the ramp exiting I-25 North onto I-70 East. As both parties rounded that turn approaching I-70 East, they encountered a pickup truck who had spun out and was sitting parallel to oncoming vehicles blocking traffic. Both parties were behind a third vehicle who braked to avoid the stopped vehicle. Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant was tailgating that vehicle, had insufficient time to stop, and swerved into his lane, striking him and causing him to lose traction and strike the parallel vehicle, strike the cement median and ultimately come to rest in the I-25 South on-ramp where he was struck by an oncoming eighteen wheeler. Defendant alleges that he did change lanes to avoid the vehicle in front of him, but he did so in a safe and prudent manner, and it was the Plaintiff’s excessive speed that caused him to strike the Defendant and the resulting collisions. Plaintiff made claims for neck, back, and shoulder injuries. These injuries allegedly required rhizotomy and facet injections for an indefinite period of time resulting in $1,953,00 in future treatment. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant.

May

September 9, 2016

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Susan Cary, 2015CV30260 was tried by Franklin D. Patterson and Lindsay M. Dunn in Boulder District Court and arose from a Declaratory Relief Action filed by State Farm seeking judicial determination that Ms. Cary breached her contract and voided UM/UIM coverage. Cary filed a lawsuit against another driver following a MVA in December of 2010. The other driver and the owner of the vehicle never answered the lawsuit so Cary obtained a default against them and set a date for a court hearing to establish her damages.  State Farm intervened in that lawsuit to defend its interests per Brekke. Concurrently with the intervention, State Farm was attempting to investigate her claimed injuries and damages.  In February 2015, State Farm denied Cary any coverage or benefits, claiming she had refused to cooperate as required by the policy, as she did not participate in any EUOs, nor did she ever provide medical releases. In November 2015, following an undefended damages trial, a judge in the first case entered judgment in excess of $826,000 (over $1.2 Million with interest and costs) against the other driver. After the judgment entered, Cary demanded State Farm pay her the $500,000 UM/UIM policy limits from the two policies.  State Farm refused to pay because of its prior denial. Against State Farm Ms. Cary claimed damages of over $1,000,000.

VERDICT: For State Farm on all claims. State Farm is seeking costs in excess of $85,000.