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Town of Los Angeles should pay practically $50 million to a person who has been in a coma since he was hit by a sanitation truck whereas crossing a road in Encino, a jury determined Thursday.
Kamran Hakimi, now 61, was in a crosswalk at Hayvenhurst Avenue and Ventura Boulevard final August when the sanitation truck struck him. Hakimi had a inexperienced mild, and the driving force made an “unsafe proper flip,” based on Hakimi’s attorneys.
A handlebar on the entrance of the truck hit Hakimi’s head and flung him to the asphalt, the place he hit his head, the attorneys mentioned. Hakimi briefly stood and flashed a thumbs up earlier than shedding consciousness.
“Mr. Hakimi’s life, and the lives of his household, are without end modified as a result of negligence of a Metropolis of Los Angeles worker,” mentioned Rahul Ravipudi, one in all Hakimi’s attorneys. “This verdict upholds the dignity of the life Mr. Hakimi loved earlier than this tragedy and we’re grateful to the jury who fastidiously thought of all of the proof and offered Mr. Hakimi with the means essential to get the upper stage of care he so desperately wants.”
Hakimi is a father of 5 and labored in actual property earlier than the crash. In October, his attorneys filed a lawsuit towards town in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom.
Town admitted that the driving force did not yield to Hakimi, based on Hakimi’s attorneys. However at trial, town “disputed the damages suffered by Mr. Hakimi, arguing that his life expectancy was restricted and that the worth of his non-economic damages, together with ache and struggling, emotional misery, and lack of enjoyment of life, was minimized as a result of he was in a comatose state,” Hakimi’s attorneys mentioned.
The jury ordered town to pay Hakimi $48.8 million, together with $25 million for future ache and struggling and $10 million for future medical bills.
The decision, which comes as town continues to wrestle with escalating authorized legal responsibility payouts, was bigger than any single payout by town within the final two fiscal years, based on knowledge offered by the Metropolis Lawyer’s Workplace. Town can nonetheless attraction.
One other Hakimi lawyer, Brian Panish, mentioned the case by no means ought to have gone to trial, blaming Metropolis Lawyer Hydee Feldstein Soto for refusing to settle the case.
“Town lawyer selected to pressure this case to trial, rejected all cheap settlement proposals … There have been many cheap proposals made by an unbiased mediator chosen by town,” Panish mentioned.
Feldstein Soto, by her press workplace, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Panish echoed arguments made by plaintiffs’ attorneys who’ve mentioned that Feldstein Soto’s authorized methods have contributed to rising authorized legal responsibility prices. They declare that Feldstein Soto has taken instances to trial that she ought to have settled, leading to greater verdicts if town is discovered liable.
Town paid out a complete of $289 million, its highest legal responsibility prices ever, within the fiscal yr 2025.
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