LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, OPERATOR OF BUSES & TRAINS, FOUND LIABLE BY JURY, TO PAY $2,247,000 TO INJURED BUS DRIVER

The Metrolink Train that crashed on Friday, September 12, 2008 in Chatsworth was part of a network of separate independent rail and bus lines that includes the MTA (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) along with other bus and train transportation companies and agencies serving Southern California . News sources are reporting as of Saturday morning that the Metrolink commuter train crashed head on with a Union Pacific freight train going in the opposite direction on the same track. At least 18 so far are reported dead, 135 people injured, many critically injured, and all 12 hospital trauma centers were utilized to care for the accident victims. In other news about injuries and damages caused by transportation companies, The MTA was recently found by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury to be liable for damages in the amount of $2,247,000. The jury determined that a 53 year old driver for the MTA was terminated because of minor disabilities (which he contends were caused by many years of driving for the MTA), and that the MTA did not engage in an interactive process to find a reasonable accommodation so that the driver could continue to work. The jury found the MTA discriminated on the basis of disability in violation of State law. The bus driver was terminated by the MTA just before he was to reach 23 years of service which would have required full payment of his pension. Stephen Allen Jamieson, a partner in the Los Angeles Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson together with his associate Ryan Kroll convinced a Los Angeles Superior Court jury that character counts, even the character of a large company. As Jamieson argued to the jury, “If the MTA had simply cared enough about its long term bus driver to follow the law this honorable man would never have been fired and this case would never have seen this courtroom.” The MTA would not put the bus driver back on the job even though he demanded to go back to work, obtained a release from his doctor to go back to work, and was otherwise qualified to return to work. The jury determined that the driver for the train rail and bus company was entitled to money compensation for his injuries and emotional distress and loss of earnings and loss of pension benefits in the amount of Two Million Two Hundred Forty-Seven Thousand Dollars ($2,247,000). The $2,247,000 verdict for compensatory damages will be included in a judgment that will also award an additional substantial amount for attorneys’ fees and costs of suit. Lead trial attorney Stephen Allen Jamieson, and his lawyer partners, in the Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson, Stephen Warren Solomon, Ralph B. Saltsman, Bruce Evans, and their lawyer associates Michael Akopyan, Julia Sullivan, and Ryan Kroll are pleased to achieve a great result for their deserving client. This was an exceptional result for the client. With over 100 years of combined experience among the lawyers of the Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson they have also achieved many other exceptional results in many areas of the law including, but not limited to, obtaining compensation for people suffering with serious personal injuries, brain injuries, spinal injuries, broken bones, emotional distress, and loss of earnings, resulting from different types of motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, and all types of negligence and intentional actions and omissions, caused by transportation agencies and companies, and others. For more information, log on http://www.ssjlaw.com

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Introduction to the Law Offices of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson

Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson is a boutique law firm with many areas of expertise. The partners, STEPHEN WARREN SOLOMON, RALPH BARAT SALTSMAN, STEPHEN ALLEN JAMIESON and RODNEY BRUCE EVANS, have been profiled many times in legal periodicals as well as popular magazines and newspapers. They host a weekly radio show as well as a weekly television show and provide professional commentary in the press. Their experiences have been the subject of numerous newspaper articles. Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson has collective experience in diverse areas of the law, providing unique benefits to its clients.

The information you obtain at this is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Visit our website at http://www.ssjlaw.com

Teenager Injured in Football Game Receives Jury Award of $7.57 Million for Missed Diagnosis by Treating Doctors

Stephen Allen Jamieson won a jury trial in the amount of $7.57 million dollars on behalf of a 19-year-old who had received a medical treatment far below the standard of care including a misdiagnosis of a bleed on his brain. This case was tried in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Southwest District (Torrance) before the Honorable Lois Smaltz.

In September 1995, the then 16-year-old plaintiff was practicing with his high school football team when he sustained several hard hits to the head from another player. In the evening his parents took him to the Urgent Care Center. The doctor failed to properly diagnose the problem as a concussion. There were no radiographic films done, no CT scan done. The doctor misdiagnosed the problem as dehydration and failed to place any definite limitation of the plaintiff’s participation in football over the next few days.

Two days later, the teenager collapsed on the playing field within a few minutes of the start of the football game. He was later diagnosed with a massive brain hemorrhage and was comatose for a month. He was left with brain damage resulting in loss of function in one arm and one leg and cognitive deficiencies.

Solomon, Saltsman and Jamieson filed a lawsuit for negligence against the school district as well as the doctor, the Urgent Care Center for which he worked, and the hospital that sponsored the Urgent Care Center.

The defendants in this action vigorously litigated this matter. There were over thirty depositions taken. Expert witnesses were required in many different fields such as athletic training, accident reconstruction, biomechanics, engineering and sports of psychology. The malpractice issue required the hiring of medical experts such as a neuropsychiatrists and psychologists. After more than two years, Mr. Jamieson and Stephen W. Solomon settled with the school district for $1,800,000.

Four months later Stephen Jamieson took the case against the urgent care doctor and his employers to trial before a superior court in Torrance, California. The medical issues were perceived by the defense to be the weaker portion of the case, particularly considering that Torrance is a relatively conservative jurisdiction, and that there are inherent difficulties associated with a medical malpractice action (i.e., MICRA limitations).

Therefore, the defense offered only $50,000 prior to trial. After three weeks in trial, Mr. Jamieson convinced the jury to return a verdict in the amount of $7,570,000.

Visit us at http://www.ssjlaw.com for more information.

62-year-old Salesperson Fired for having Leukemia is awarded $582,000 by jury

The jury found that the defendant employer acted with malice, oppression and fraud, thus entitling him to punitive damages.

This was an employment discrimination case that also raised issues involving violations of the American Disabilities Act. It was tried by Stephen Allen Jamieson before a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court. The Honorable Ernest Williams presided over this case.

A 62-year-old gentleman was hired by a beverage company to be a route salesperson in the Los Angeles area. Three months after beginning his new job the plaintiff was diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukemia. At that point in time, he had not yet satisfied his sales quota. He was subsequently fired.

No offer to settle was made prior to the trial. After 1 and ½ days of jury deliberation and after the judge told defendant to settle, the defendants finally made their first offer of $10,000.

The terminated employee rejected the offer. The jury returned with a verdict of $582,000. Based on the unconscionable acts of the employer shown to the jury by Mr. Jamieson throughout the trial, the jury also decided that the employer acted with malice, oppression and fraud, the necessary finding for punitive damages. The case settled the following morning in the courtroom just before the defendant was required to open up its books and records for a determination on the amount of punitive damages. The verdict was paid ten days later.

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2008 ABC Seminar

SSJ Law Conducts Periodic Seminars on topics of interest to Alcohol Beverage Control Licensees and Discretionary Permit Holders at the State and Local levels. Clients and the general public are always welcome. Upcoming and recent seminar is detailed below:

Los Angeles, California - August 21, 2008

2008 ABC Seminar Details
Topics: New Sales To Minors Penalties, New ACB Application Rules And Procedures, "New Director, New Chief Counsel, New ABC?”
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel Map
5711 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90045
(310) 410-4000 (hotel information)
(310) 822-9848 (for reservations)

Fraud Found by Jury Against a Real Estate Broker

Our client, a 52 year-old single woman, purchased a home in a beautiful rural area on a lake north of Los Angeles. The home was in a gated community of many houses that share a lake. When the client purchased the home, the Real Estate Broker and Sales Agent assured the client that the home was in good condition and did not need any major maintenance or repairs.

Shortly after close of escrow the client moved in and started to improve the property by installing a new deck from which to view sunsets over the lake with her toddler granddaughter.

Within a few weeks the toilet started to back up, the sink and shower would not drain and the client called plumbers to fix the problem. At that point, she discovered that this drainage problem had been an issue at the house for many years and no one had disclosed it.

Specifically, the drainage problem was the house did not have a modern sewage system at all. It did not have a sewer. It did not have a septic tank. There was only a dirt pit into which the raw sewage would dump from the drains in the house. When that pit was full, sewage overflowed into the house.

The client then stopped using the toilet and showers while she attempted to find a way to fix it. She did not have any money left to fix it after purchasing the house. For almost a year she communicated with the Real Estate Sales Agent, who assured her that this problem would be fixed. Then, the Real Estate Sales Agent abruptly stopped taking her calls.

During this entire time the client had to go to great lengths to do routine things anyone should be able to do in their home; she either used her neighbor’s bathroom or drove 2.5 miles to the nearest gas station to use their facilities. She showered at the gym each morning.

When her 3 year-old granddaughter visited, she was forced to either use the lawn outside or depend on the neighbor’s good graces for bathroom privileges.

Finally after about a year, the client was able to connect the property up to the municipal sewage system.

Stephen Allen Jamieson and R. Bruce Evans represented the client when she took her case before the Los Angeles Superior Court. At trial, the Real Estate Broker and Sales Agent argued that she did not know about the sewage pit and potential overflow problems. However, the jury disbelieved the Agent.

They found against the Real Estate Broker company and the Sales Agent for professional negligence and in favor of Jamieson’s and Evan’s client for a substantial amount of money. This sum represented the difference in the value of land as sold versus the value of the land as the Agent had represented, along with compensation for the emotional distress our client suffered. The case was thereafter settled for a confidential dollar amount.

Contact us at http://www.ssjlaw.com