Aggressive Defense Results In Settlement In Wrongful Death

May 3, 2017

This past February, Patton & Ryan answered yet another call to parachute into a case as lead counsel with only weeks to go before trial. A wrongful death action in Seattle, WA, this cause arose out of a tragic incident involving the death of a two-year-old girl while on our client’s premises. Already a difficult case to defend due to the heart­breaking death of such a young child, this case was further complicated by the fact that Plaintiffs had brought three separate actions in which all Defendants would be held liable if found to have been even 1% at fault.

Undeterred, the Patton & Ryan team mobilized and had boots on the ground in Seattle within 48 hours to meet with and prepare key witnesses for trial. Team members in Washington coordinated with the team back in Chicago to draft witness examinations, motions in limine, and to comb through every piece of evidence in the massive file in order to formulate the best possible strategy for trial.

The team’s close scrutiny of the file and all the evidence proved worthwhile when they discov­ered a low-quality surveillance video from the date of the accident that had been overlooked by everyone else. Though Plaintiffs had objected to its introduction into evidence, the tape had been pretty much dismissed by the Defense due to the extremely low-quality nature of the video. Unwilling to leave any stones unturned, the Patton & Ryan team took a closer look and discovered exactly why the Plaintiffs tried to keep this video from the jury – it directly contradicted their version of events.

Armed with this evidence, Patton & Ryan confident­ly proceeded to jury selection. Co- Defendants, however, all settled out immediately after the jury was selected. Based on the recommendations of the mediator involved with these settlements, our client agreed to discuss the potential for settle­ment with the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs, however, came in with an exorbitant and unreasonable demand, which abruptly terminated the settlement discus­sions. The Patton & Ryan team, led by Partner John W. Patton Jr., with assistance from Partner Paul D. Motz and Anthony W. Parker, proceeded to trial.

At trial, Plaintiffs took the position that the accident occurred due to a lack of a gate on the play area entrance because the child was able to run out of the play area and into traffic. To bolster this argu­ment, Plaintiffs retained several liability experts to opine the lack of a gate violated several voluntary industry standards related to design and maintenance.

Using the surveillance footage as a visual aid, John W. Patton Jr. delivered the opening statements, taking the judge and jury on a tour of the events leading up to the tragic accident that claimed the child’s life. Patton walked them through the video from the date of the accident that showed the professional nanny employed by the child’s surviving parents and the child at a play area on the prem­ises of our client’s outdoor mall. The accident occurred when the child left the play area and ran out in front of a passing car.

Although the actual accident was not shown on the tape, Patton & Ryan utilized the video to demonstrate that the actual proximate cause was not, in fact, the lack of a gate on the play area entrance, but was actually the nanny’s complete failure to supervise the child.

Following opening statements, the case abruptly settled when Plaintiffs greatly lowered their demands and requested to settle for our initial offer- which they had previously rejected. Through our tireless efforts, acute attention to detail, and aggressive defense strategy, Patton & Ryan achieved another favorable result for our clients.