» 2021

Ehrlich Law Firm obtains affirmance of $3.5 million personal-injury judgment

Qaadir v. Figueroa (2021) 67 Cal.App.5th 790, review den. Nov. 10, 2021 Quaadir suffered back injuries in a truck accident and obtained a $3.5 million judgment. On appeal, the defense urged the Court of Appeal not to follow the rules for proving medical-expense damages adopted in Pebley v. Santa Clara Organics, an appeal handled by Jeffrey I. Ehrlich. The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment and rejected the attack on Pebley, choosing instead to follow it. The insurance industry then urged the California Supreme Court to grant review to overturn Pebley or to depublish the Qaadir opinion. The Ehrlich Law Firm opposed review. The California Supreme Court denied review and left the opinion published. Read More

$11 million judgment affirmed

Garcia v. Tri-Modal Distribution Services, Inc. (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 17, 2021, No. B297452) Plaintiff’s husband was killed when the van he was riding in collided with an improperly parked big-rig truck. The appellate court held that the defendant had waived all of the points it raised on appeal by failing to properly preserve them at trial. Read More

$10 million judgment affirmed in a published opinion

Zuniga v. Cherry Avenue Auction, Inc. (2021) 61 Cal.App.5th 980. Plaintiff was injured and her husband was killed while setting up a booth at a swap meet when a 28-foot pole holding an advertising banner came too close to an overhead power line. The owner of the swap meet was held liable for negligence for renting vendor spaces under the power lines without taking any precautions to avoid electrocutions. Read More

$3.4 million personal-injury judgment affirmed in a published opinion

Hernandez v. Jensen (2021) 61 Cal.App.5th 1056 Plaintiff was hired by defendant to provide in-home care to defendant’s parents. Defendant knew that her father kept loaded guns in his home, but she made no attempt to see whether they were stored safely and did not warn plaintiff about them. Plaintiff suffered serious injuries when a loaded gun stored in a closet fell over and discharged. Read More