That big trial in Judge Kathleen Delaney's courtroom that last week's open thread was buzzing about ended yesterday ... and it wasn't pretty for our friends over at ATMS. Plaintiff's attorneys David Fassett, Dennis Prince, and Theodore Williams landed a $13 Million verdict against defense counsel Bruce Alverson and Karie Wilson.
On a side note ... ATMS possibly has world's worst website. What year were those pictures taken?
Our tipsters say that plaintiff's counsel had a $1 Million OOJ on the table, but Alverson was shooting for a defense verdict. Ouch, $13 Million plus fees and costs has got to hurt. We don't see things looking up for ATMS associates anytime soon.
The facts have something to do with plaintiff having his leg run over by a heavy-haul truck that was transporting an excavator ... feel free to enlighten us in the comments.
The open thread has a pretty good play-by-play as to what went on throughout the week. Just ignore the tinfoil asshat ... we've already dispatched our black helicopters to his house. He was easy to find.
Meanwhile, let's all have a moment of silence for the poor young associate who will undoubtedly be ritually sacrificed in the basement of the ATMS building as a result of this loss.
Congratulations to the plaintiffs' bar!
(Thanks Tipsters!)
Funny I spoke to some of the jurors after the trial and they thought Bruce Alverson was Insulting. They found his use of posterboards, instead of powerpoint, to be pathetic. Best of all, they thought Kerri Wilson was a big joke - one juror said "why the hell was she even out there?"
ReplyDeleteThe jurors also said the more they heard Bruce Alverson speak, the more money they wanted to award to the Plaintiff. They said if the Plaintiff's counsel asked for $50 million, they would have awarded it. They hated Bruce and loved Plaintiff counsel. Pretty amusing.
ReplyDelete8:16/8:20: Dennis-stop gloating.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Dennis.
ReplyDeleteSomeone send Bruce a bottle of Patron.
ReplyDeleteRumor is that Dennis was seen at the Masserati dealer yesterday afternoon. Can't wait to see the new ride.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to lose like Alverson - come with your red pointer - draw circles on a poster board - talk softly so no one can hear your stupid comments - tell stories about can beef stew - call the Plaintiff by the wrong last name and then later call him a Dr. - don't bring a power point presentation bring your finger paintings - have your funkies bring pictures of someone at the zoo that have nothing to do with the case (what a joke) - and last become a human who thinks nothing can touch them and only cares about the money and I am not talking about that special quarter in court!!
ReplyDeleteIn light of the underlying facts, how did this end up in front of a jury? Sounds like ATMS muffed this one all along.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that ATMS associates don't even have a profile picture for their profiles. Only the partners do. I haven't sampled a lot of other firms' websites but this is the first time I've seen a firm website do that.
ReplyDelete@9:55:
ReplyDeleteTheir assocaite turnover is so high they don't have time to take and upload the pcitures before someone leaves!
Did not see Ted Williams any were in the trial, Dennis Prince and Richard Englemann along with David Fassett tried the case.
ReplyDeleteI guess when Alverson tells the plaintiff to "suck it up" and call him rancid meat that spoiled a pot of stew that need to be thrown out you get your ### handed to you.
This verdict is entirely fair based on this poor guys injuries. His leg is completely mangled, probably should have just cut it off. His balls are mess up too- something abotu scar tissue in his thigh affecting them. He was only 25 when this happened and was an athlete. Their only defense was that he was talking on his cell phone when the improperly registered, improperly supervised massive piece of equipment rolled him over.
ReplyDeleteThe client came to Ted Williams originally and Ted took him over to Fassett. Ted did all the worker's comp stuff. Ted didn't try the trial but he did stuff behind the scenes. It was only Dave and Dennis that actually tried it. Dave and Dennis did an amazing job, they are fantastic Trial Attorneys. Nonetheless, Ted served a crucial role in the whole scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteI saw ATMS defeat plaintiffs in a similar case almost 10 years ago. I felt bad then, but plaintiffs counsel was just completely unprepared. It was a massacre.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see ATMS get crushed.
The case is St. John vs. Shirley, et al., 07A540492
ReplyDeleteCrushed like Plaintiff's leg, baby!
ReplyDeleteIsn't getting run over by a heavy hauler akin to being caught by The Mummy? How the hell does that happen? Maybe Alverson should have used that analogy instead of the beef stew one.
ReplyDeleteThe steamroller scene in A Fish Called Wanda.
ReplyDeleteSome real Wile E. Coyote-Roadrunner shit! ACME Heavy Haulers.
ReplyDeletethe injury was a "de-gloving" where his skin was pulled off his leg from his hip to his ankle, leaving all of the muscles in his leg open and exposed. nasty injury.
ReplyDelete"the injury was a "de-gloving" where his skin was pulled off his leg from his hip to his ankle, leaving all of the muscles in his leg open and exposed. nasty injury."
ReplyDeleteWhat retard defense counsel lets that get in front of a jury in this county. Good night.
I like Richard Engelman
ReplyDeletei think 12.9 mill was for his balls. ps - troy fox would have asked for 50 mill.
ReplyDeleteI like Bruce Alverson.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
LeAnn Sanders
troy fox would have "de-gloved" opposing counsel and gotten $50 million
ReplyDeletewho the hell is troy fox? I'll tell you who he is, the biggest doughbag in the city.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the amount of the specials? Heard they were millions
ReplyDelete(3 or 5 million by some accounts).
What was the policy? What were the offers to settle? I am sure the Plaintiff would rather have his leg and privates back.
As I understand it, the verdict was as follows:
ReplyDeletePast Meds: 450,000
Future Meds: 2,200,000
Past Wages: 140,000
Future Wages: 2,200,000
Household: 200,000 (?)
Past P&S: 1,500,000
Future P&S: 6,500,000
I watched the trial almost every day. Dennis was amazing. He owned the courtroom and the jury. Also, while Dennis and David were in front of the jury, don't forget Dennis’ law partner Englemann was the one behind the scene. Who is Ted Williams and where was he? I never saw him. Maybe he was the female paralegal setting next to Dennis?
The female paralegal was Pam. She's Dennis' bad ass trial paralegal!
ReplyDeletehaha that's funny. Ted's not a female paralegal lol - Ted did the worker's comp stuff for the Plaintiff and he did some other stuff behind the scenes. Ted is a great guy - must be one of the nicest people I've ever met. He originally signed up the client and took him over to Fassett. He watched some of the trial. But you're absolutely right Mr. Engelmann did lots of stuff behind the scenes as well and obviously did a fantastic job.
ReplyDeleteBruce Alverson is obsessed with rotten beef stew. That's all he kept talking about in his opening and closing statements. Maybe someone should send him some rotten beef stew, he obviously needs some.
ReplyDeleteThe defense must not have been thinking straight.
ReplyDeleteHere are some pictures of a forearm degloving injury:
http://www.orthogate.org/cases/hand-and-wrist/degloving-forearm-injury.html
DO NOT FOLLOW THE LINK IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH
Ouch.
Ive never seen such nasty hateful people. It's no wonder attorneys have such a bad rep. There are now two victims here, the injured plaintiff and the "I got screwed over" defendant.
ReplyDeleteThis whole string makes me glad I don't do personal injury law--plaintiffs or defendants. It is such a jackpot mentality. I'll take a nice juicy civil litigation dispute between two rich dudes or corporations anyday over this shit anyday.
ReplyDeleteWe Lawyers tend to overstate our own role in cases. The case was about the PLAINTIFF and his awful injuries. What did the DEFENSE really have to argue or work with? Dennis Prince is a terrific lawyer who was organized and did a good job. A good PLAINTIFF'S attorney gets it to the jury. DEFENSE attorneys are sometimes forced to defend awful cases because the carrier does not think the case is worth the demand. As Mayor Goodman said, "A LAWYER IS NOT CLIENT."
ReplyDeleteIn reading all these comments, one thing was left out--Mark St. John. He is one fantastic kid and is disabled for life. He offered to settle for the insurance policy limits of one million but the trucking company and the insurance company told him to f*** off. So he had no choice. So I don't feel sorry for the defendants, Mark was willing to be fair. He got justice and he deserved justice. Good for Mark, Dennis, David and Richard.
ReplyDelete7:06 - Really? I've done corporate and defense work in small doses and I find it dull, petty and unnecessarily brutal between opposing counsel. Especially if you ever have California firms in a case.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess at the end of the day you can just shrug and say, "ok, it's just money." Which is probably less stressful on some levels than having a guy do 20 years if you mess up.
This entire thread bothers me. The Plaintiff's attorneys, who by all accounts had a very easy and compelling case are touted as awesome while the Defendant's attorneys, who had a clear up-hill battle are called pathetic and a big joke. Bruce Alverson is no dummy. If the insurance company didn't want to settle for policy limits and, after being informed of the adverse verdict range, wanted to move forward, what was defense counsel supposed to do? I guess its possible that defense counsel didn't give the insurance company a realistic view of the case, but none of us know that. Instead, everyone is just bashing defense counsel.
ReplyDelete8:58 said it best. Mark St. John is a great guy and both the insurance company and defense counsel treated him like crap. He offered to settle for a million and, following the advise of defense counsel, the insurance company denied the offer. Defense counsel screwed up bigtime, there is no doubt about that. Bruce Alverson didn't think it was such a great case, he was going for a defense verdict nd he thought he could get it. If he thought it was a great case he would have told the insurance company they better accept the million offer. But he didn't. No doubt about it defense counsel screwed up and Plaintiffs counsel hit a home run.
ReplyDeleteCan someone tell me exactly what happened to the good plaintiff's private parts? Please don't tell me his nuts got de-gloved too! That's $100 million in my book.
ReplyDeleteWith the plaintiff being awarded a large amount, fact remains that Paul de Long heavy haul owner did not feel responsible and continue to drive their rigs without permits as stated by the owner himself in court.
ReplyDeleteIf you want justice for Mark, the next time you see one of their trucks on the road, call to verify if they have a permit for the load. If they don't, turn them in.
This should just be the beginning of their nightmares.
Kerri Wilson should consider being a behind the scenes person for her firm. I was there majority of the trial and I couldn't hear her talk...not an effective attorney if you cannot communicate.
ReplyDeleteBruce Alverson is no dummy alright. If he can sit in a courtroom and bill $5K each day, whether he has a chance to win the case...wouldn't you do the same thing?
ReplyDeleteNo doubt that Dennis Prince is a great atty and a decent human being. He had a good case and did what he was hired to do, vindicate his clients rights. Alverson and the defendant have a right to defend themselves and have a jury determine who is right and who is wrong. However, you can defend your rights without cheap shots and personal attacks against a horribly injured person. In nearly 20 years litigating on both sides on the aisle, I have found Alverson and his minions interested in one thing and one thing only---billing as much as possible without regard to reason or rationality. While there are some good folks who escaped that firm, I find I simply cannot trust ANYONE who has worked there for more than a year.
ReplyDeleteInsurance companies and banks are the institutional evils of our age. They claim the nature of the business requires such heartless evil, but we all know that lobbyists for these businesses made it exactly what it is today. The banksters begged for and received bubbles, and the insurance companies begged for and received competition-crushing mandates.
ReplyDeleteOff to summer camp with all of them. I don't like Obama, but I also sometimes wish he'd heed his staffer's advice and look to Mao for inspiration. Mao knew how to handle bankers.
Alverson and his minions are definately interested in only one thing: billing. They don't care what kind of a job they do on anything.
ReplyDelete12:10 that is just untrue! I was hired at ATMNS (now ATMS) years ago. I was an out-of-state law school grad who found it difficult to find a job in Las Vegas having not yet passed the NV bar back when it was only offered once per year. I had a wonderful mentor when I was there and was given just enough responsibility that I didn't screw things up as a new attorney. I just don't get the hatred for ATMS. Sure, I didn't make millions, but I learned alot. Enlighten me. Why do people hate ATMS so much?
ReplyDelete7:32 above is absolutely correct. She is like a mouse. Nobody can hear her. Definately not much of a trial attorney. I wouldn't have her defend my dog.
ReplyDeleteWow. Did March 7, 11:32 am just call for the mass murder of bankers?
ReplyDeleteWow...Bruce Alverson should have attended the CLE on Friday at the Golden Nugget. A panel of six civil judges all stated that if you don't have a power point, you will lose the case before you start. Poster boards...I am sure the jury was impressed.
ReplyDelete9:55 p.m./March 7th
ReplyDeleteWhose CLE was it and which judges attended?
Some years ago, attended a seminar called something like "Masters of the Courtroom" which emphasized technology. They made the point that the camera angle changes many times in a 60 second commerical. So you have to entertain jurors. Jurors like most people no longer read. They must be constantly entertained. There were two problems during the seminar. The first was one technology demonstration did not work on "Opening Statements" and the other was that one of the judges said half the demonstrations which were shown constituted inadmissible evidence and impermissible argument. I guess you have to have a "beef stew" plan B.
The problem with these outlandish verdicts is that PLAINTIFFS' now beleive their case is worth many seven figures when all that it is a six figure case. Makes it harder to settle. I guess the good old days of one defense verdict after another are long gone for the defense. This case will push the envelope to new extremes. Can you imagine prejudgment interest, attorneys fees on the OJ, and costs. My gosh. I bet that number will start looking like 17 or 18 million. There is going to be an appeal for sure.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is being injured myself or worse yet having a worker's compensation case. If it is a negligence case, my fear is the carrier will want the jury to decide it. You then have to hope your attorney has done everything as well as Dennis Prince and David Fassett. Or that the witnesses will testify as planned, i.e. the doctors and not bury your case. You hope you get a jury sympathetic and not too stingy. Maybe this will cause more cases to settle.
This "fine" piece of defense work is typical of incompetent defense attorneys in Las Vegas these days. They all want to "hero" the case. I'm making plenty beating the crap out of these guys who offer nothing then get burned for 10 times the policy limits. They don't seem to care b/c they are paid hourly, but I've seen defense firms collapse over this type of case. I doubt ATMS will (hell, they are collapsing anyway), but these attitudes have to get stopped. If we had a law passed that defense attorneys, though paid hourly, had to wait until the case resolved to get paid we see a lot of early, reasonable settlements...not this type of ridiculous stonewalling that is going on right now.
ReplyDelete@ 1:37
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing about the "de-gloving" injury that the Plaintiff sustained, I do not think $13 million is outlandish.
I think anything up to about $25 to $30 million would be fair.
If I were the defense, I would pay that amount without question. If this goes to another jury, the verdict might be over $50 million the next time.
Just imaging having your skin ripped off your entire leg.
Ouch.
@ 4:15 Are you kidding? I'm guessing you've never done insurance defense work.
ReplyDeleteIf defense counsel didn't get paid until the case settles, COUNSEL may want to settle faster, but they don't cut the settlement checks. Your proposed scenario makes it more likely for cases to linger in court for years. What is the incentive for an insurance company to settle? Then they would have to pay the Plaintiff AND the defense attorney!
You'd be able to find plenty of defense firms that would take Arb cases, but very few that would take cases to defend parties in cases where the meds exceed about $25k. How is that justice for the defendant? Aren't they entitled to competent representation too?
@3:29,
ReplyDeleteATMS... ATMS is evil. Evil right down to their cold black hearts which pump not blood like yours or mine, but a thick black viscous fluid.