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Client Alert

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February 11, 2016

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Client Alert
 
Written by: Lynn Rivera and Paul Caleo
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Contact Information

 

 
Lynn Rivera
(775) 398-3065
 
Lynn Rivera represents national corporations in complex tort, personal injury and large loss cases involving claims of products liability, premises liability and negligence.
 
           Full Biography
 
 

 

 
(510) 835-6809
 
Paul Caleo is one of the firm's premier trial lawyers who has extensive experience in complex tort, personal injury and large loss cases involving claims of products liability, premises liability, government and public entity defense, construction site accidents and trucking/motor carrier accidents. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  • Oakland
  • Los Angeles
  • San Francisco
  • Nevada
 
Burnham Brown Excludes Experts From Testifying at Trial on Hedonic Damages and Safety Issues, in Traumatic Brain Injury Case, Las Vegas, Nevada
Burnham Brown Attorneys, Paul Caleo and Lynn Rivera, won several pretrial Motions in Limine when the trial court excluded Plaintiff's primary liability safety expert and also her expert economist. The trial court ruled these experts were unreliable and failed to employ reasonable methodology in forming their opinions. The victories were particularly notable since Plaintiff's highly experienced hedonic damages expert, Dr. Stan Smith had never before been excluded as an expert in a Las Vegas trial.
 
In this negligence and premises liability action, Plaintiff alleged over $16 million dollars in damages arising from a traumatic brain injury and a cervical fracture allegedly sustained from a product that fell from a retail display.  Specifically, Plaintiff alleged $475k in past medical damages, $300k in future medical damages, and over $15 million dollars in damages for loss of earning capacity, loss of household services, loss of guidance services, loss of family relationship, and loss of enjoyment of life (hedonic damages).   
 
Plaintiff's counsel was determined to take the case to trial and refused to present a  demand under seven figures. Plaintiff's case hinged on two experts, namely, a safety expert, Dr. Joseph DeMaria, to prove liability, and a well-known expert economist, Dr. Stan Smith, to prove damages.  Both experts had repeatedly provided expert testimony in the Clark County venue.  During oral argument, Ms. Rivera convinced the trial court that both experts should be excluded.  After oral argument on the issue, the trial court was so convinced that Dr. Smith's testimony should be stricken that it declined Plaintiff's Counsel's request to hear voir dire from Dr. Smith so that it may reconsider its ruling.  
 
The exclusion of Dr. Smith's testimony eliminated a $15 million dollar damages component from the case.  The exclusion of Dr. Joseph DeMaria's testimony on display design undermined Plaintiff's theory of liability.  Ultimately Plaintiff abandoned her effort to obtain a multimillion dollar verdict and instead accepted a much smaller confidential settlement.      
 
At Burnham Brown, we do things differently.  We are guided by the principal that action leads to results. Our goal is to resolve our client's cases at under assigned value as quickly and efficiently as possible.  We are trial lawyers but realize that litigation presents risk and may not always be the quickest, efficient, or most cost-eff ective mechanism for resolution.  We advocate for our client's position and make significant and repeated efforts to negotiate an early resolution to eliminate the risk to the client and resolve the litigation quickly. When an opponent takes an unreasonable position during negotiations, we do not concede but continue our advocacy for cost-effective resolution.   We are always prepared to take a case to trial if necessary.  At Burnham Brown, we have a proven track record of favorable results on behalf of our clients in litigation in California and Nevada. 
 
 
 
 
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advise