Congratulations to the team at Lederer & Nojima and in particular attorney Seema Bhatt on this recent jury verdict. A Santa Monica jury awarded the plaintiff, a 21 year old dishwasher $275,000 for injuries and damages sustained as a result of an accident that occurred when he was bicycling across an intersection on a sidewalk, going against traffic on the wrong side of the street, against a flashing red “DON’T WALK” sign just before being struck by the defendant’s truck.
The jury found the defendant 75% at fault for his failure to properly confirm that he could safely turn right on a red light where obstructions partially blocked his view of the plaintiff’s travel path. The plaintiff’s team took the high road and admitted some fault for the accident yet the defendant continued his refusal to accept any responsibility or fault for the accident all the way through trial.
The plaintiff sustained a fractured leg requiring surgery and will require a future surgery to remove the hardware in his leg. The defendant’s insurance carrier, Farmers, saw fit to only offer $6,500 while the plaintiff was demanding only a fraction of the jury’s ultimate award to settle the case before trial.
Lederer & Nojima, LLP is based in Los Angeles and handles all types of injury claims on behalf of citizens throughout southern California. Both founding partners David Lederer and John Nojima began their legal careers defending insurance companies and bring keen insight on insurance defense tactics in their representation of injured individuals. To read more about other outstanding case results by the firm, click here.
It is a privilege and pleasure for Advocate Capital, Inc. to support the important work done by trial lawyers who aren’t afraid to challenge big insurance carriers by allowing our civil jury system to decide what fair compensation for injuries caused by negligence is.
Senior Vice President