Vegas Litigator

Well….my most recent Short Trial was held today. As I’ve said, it involved two accidents in June and September, 2008.  The Defendant in the first accident contested liability – saying he never struck my client who was walking across the street with a green light.  The Defendant in the second accident admitted fault, but contested damages.

The Jury found in my client’s favor and awarded him damages against both Defendants, but less than he was awarded by the Arbitrator. We’ve still got post Trial Motions to be filed and heard, and it will be a little confusing what with the two accidents, Pre-Trial offers and Arbitration Rules regarding Requests for Trial De Novo.  But, let’s not discuss the technical aspects.

The Trial went smoothly.  No objections until the end when there were some issues regarding the Verdict Form, which while a bit complex, was properly competed by the Jury.

So, now I’m home enjoying a little hot apple cider by a fire with my wife.  Not a bad way to end the day.

I’ve met with the client and prepared him for Trial.  He has a copy of the Exhibits to review to refresh his memory about the two accidents, his injuries and treatment from a few years ago.

In the meantime, other cases continue to move forward.  I’ve got a Deposition tomorrow with an out of State client who came in today to get ready for her Deposition.  That took about an hour to discuss the Deposition process and her Deposition in particular.  Tomorrow’s Deposition will take an hour or so plus some more time to finish getting the client ready and comfortable with the process.

I have a Mediation on Friday that I’ve also been preparing for: going over medical records; getting the client ready for the process; and writing a Mediation Brief for the Arbitrator to read.

On top of all of the case work, life continues on the administrative front as well.  Making sure money is distributed to clients and the office runs as smoothly as possible. Life goes on and it’s good to be busy.

I spent some time this morning working on my Trial Outline for next week’s Short Trial. It’s important to keep it simple so can get through it without having to look at it too much and organized so that I get the important points across to the Jury.

With this case, I have to be able to make sure I cover all of the facts for two accidents – both the facts of the accident as well as the medical treatment for the accidents.

Since there are two accidents in this case, the Defendants will be jointly and severally liable for my client’s damages and injuries that occurred after the second accident UNLESS the Defendants can convince the Jury that the damages can be apportioned. The Nevada Supreme Court decided this office in a case known as Kleitz. You can read this case at Kleitz.

One of the Defendants has retained an doctor to review the medical records and render an opinion on causation and apportionment. Just guess what he says…

It’s always nice to work with ( against) adverse counsel who respect others and the Justice System. This Trial involves two personal injury car accidents. There is no liability in one; liability is contested in the other.

In addition, the law in Nevada calls for joint and several liability for any injuries the Jury finds are related to BOTH accidents UNLESS the Jury can apportion those damages between the accidents.

This makes does somewhat complex Jury Verdict form. This is where cooperative counsel comes in handy. Hopefully, we’ll continue to work together to come up with a( relatively) simple Verdict form that covers all of the various combinations of liable, damages and ( if possible) apportionment.