• We persuaded a Kern County trial court to grant summary judgment in a juvenile brain injury case.  Plaintiff suffered a helmet-to-helmet head impact in a high school football game.  The impact ruptured bridging veins in his skull, creating a life-threatening subdural hematoma.  Plaintiff asserted that our client, the private ambulance company providing standby EMS services at the game, delayed taking him to the hospital thereby worsening his medical outcome.  We presented unrebutted epidemiological evidence that the alleged transport delay (at most a few minutes) in the three hour run-up to decompressive craniotomy did not cause any difference in medical outcome. The trial court's dismissal was affirmed in a published decision, Abraham Sanchez v. Kern Emergency Medical Transportation Corporation (2017) 8 Cal.App.5th 146.

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• In a widely publicized incident Sherri Wilkins, a substance abuse counselor (and herself a recovering addict), consumed alcohol on the premises of her employer and our client, Twin Town Treatment Centers.  She drove off the Twin Town premises and proceeded to strike a pedestrian, Phillip Moreno, with her car.  Wilkins continued driving for over two miles with Moreno embedded in her windshield.  Moreno died, and Wilkins was convicted of murder. Moreno's father sued Twin Town for wrongful death, alleging that Twin Town had failed to properly respond to Wilkins's relapse, and had negligently provided her a place to imbibe.  Plaintiff further alleged that Wilkins's use of a car was required by Twin Town at the time of the incident.  A Los Angeles trial court granted our summary judgment motion brought on behalf of Twin Town.  The trial court's dismissal of the action was affirmed on appeal.  Moreno v. Twin Town Corporation (Cal. Ct. App., June 26, 2018) 2018 WL 3121446, as modified on denial of reh'g (July 19, 2018), review denied (Oct. 10, 2018).

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• During a 2017 jury trial, we convinced a Pasadena trial court to grant nonsuit after Plaintiff rested his case. Plaintiff lived in a common interest development. He alleged that he was injured when he slipped on water that entered his bathroom as a result of a broken sprinkler located in an adjacent common area. Plaintiff claimed our client, the landscape maintenance company, was negligent in inspecting and maintaining the sprinkler. After Plaintiff rested, we brought a motion for nonsuit, arguing that Plaintiff had failed to introduce testimony sufficient for the jury to conclude that the maintenance company had breached a duty of care. The trial court agreed, and granted the motion. The dismissal was upheld on appeal.  Charles Abounassar v. Stay Green, Inc., et al. (Cal. Ct. App., Oct. 31, 2018) 2018 WL 5629895.

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