Plaintiff, an elderly Luxor customer that tripped over a telephone pole down-guy wire and incurred over $800,000 in medical bills, sued the utility company along with the Luxor and Mandalay Resort Group (collectively “Luxor”). Throughout the case, the Luxor denied liability for the accident. Knowing a large verdict was a significant risk, the utility company negotiated a favorable $300,000 settlement with Plaintiff for his entire claim and concurrently issued a $199,000 Offer of Judgment to Luxor who rejected the utility company’s Offer of Judgment. The case proceeded to trial solely on the issue of whether the utility company was entitled to recover some or all of its settlement payment from the Luxor.
During the six-day jury trial, trial attorney Adam Springel used electronic evidence to present the jury with historical ariel photographs and construction records related to the accident site to show the jury how the Luxor, not the utility company, actively caused Plaintiff to trip on the utility company’s down-guy wire. After less than two hours of deliberations, the jury unanimously agreed with the utility company’s position, returning a verdict that the Luxor was actively negligent in causing Plaintiff’s injuries. This finding legally shifted the entire liability for the utility company’s settlement payment to the Luxor. Having beat it Offer of Judgment at trial, the utility company also sought to recover its attorney’s fees and expert fees during post-trial motions. While those motions were pending, the Luxor settled with the utility company for $585,000.
To learn more about this case, please contact Adam Springel.