Why We Sue

These litigation reports appeared in the September issue of the California Bar Journal. Can you imagine what the United States would be like if there were not remedies for civil wrongs ... if lawyers did not represent clients to enforce those remedies?

Vehicle deaths
Verdict: $15,000,000
Despite knowledge of the recall for defects, a car rental company rented two sisters in their twenties a PT Cruiser, resulting in their deaths in a ball of flames when the engine caught fire (Houck v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co., Alameda County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Lawrence P. Grassini).

Hypoxic brain injury
Settlement: $1,700,000
Patient allegedly suffered brain damage, followed shortly by death, as a result of negligence on the part of her anesthesiologists prior to a kidney transplant (Yerikyan v. Lee, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Bruce G. Fagel).

Fatal fall
Settlement: $17,000,000
A fall from a defective balcony left a hotel guest with multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury (Greer v. Confidential, Confidential Venue, Plaintiff attorney: Nicholas C. Rowley).

Bicyclist killed
Settlement: $2,750,000
Twenty-two-year-old college triathlete was struck and killed on her bicycle by a big rig while on a training ride on a narrow mountain road (Payne v. Almaguer, Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Gary A. Dordick).

Propane explosion
Settlement: $4,850,000
Fifty-nine-year-old high school teacher was fatally burned when two 100-pound propane tanks exploded in the back of his pickup shortly after being refilled (Confidential v. Durnall & Campora Propane Inc., San Joaquin County Superior Court, Plaintiff attorney: Timothy G. Tietjen).

Professor Carl Bogus wrote about such things in a book published a few years ago.  If you're interested in why litigation is "good for America," pick up a copy of his book. Why Lawsuits are Good for America: Disciplined Democracy, Big Business, and the Common Law (Critical America)