$30 Million Verdict Upheld On Appeal
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (May 27, 2008) — A $30 million dollar verdict arising from a construction accident in Carson, Calif., on Oct. 4, 2001 was upheld on appeal (Cases #TC015917 and #TC016248) today by the Second Appellate District in the California Court of Appeal.
“On behalf of our client, we are delighted with the decision,” says Los Angeles trial lawyer James L. Pocrass. “Our client’s life was devastated by the accident. He’s had multiple surgeries on his neck and back, must take 29 medications a day, lives in constant pain, and has more than $183,000 in medical bills with more to come. Obviously, he has not been able to work since the 2001 accident.”
“The $3.4 million our client was awarded will not give him his life back,” Pocrass continues. “It will give him financial security and the ability to take care of his medical and physical needs.”
During the construction of four-million gallon, 60-foot sewage tanks, the scaffolding began sinking and collapsed. Construction workers plunged through the air onto wet cement and exposed steel spikes of rebar. The construction accident was a disaster, with more than a dozen construction workers seriously injured, including one who was impaled by a spike of rebar through his stomach.
A metallurgist from the Aerospace Corporation, a technical arm of the Department of Defense, was retained by the California Occupational and Safety Administration to investigate the cause of the accident. Various engineering experts testified for the plaintiff that welding defects in the frames provided by Harsco Corporation were the cause of the collapse. Harsco Corp. provided 99 percent of the shoring frames on the collapsed tank.
During trial the jury assessed fault percentages as follows: the engineer that designed the shoring, 3 percent; Harsco Corp., the shoring supplier, 75 percent; Kiewit Pacific Corp., the general contractor, 0 percent; Quality, a shoring erection company, 7 percent; and DYK, Inc., a shoring erection company,15 percent.
Interview Requests
Jim Pocrass and Tony De Los Reyes each have more than 30 years experience of successfully representing clients who have been injured due to the carelessness or negligence of others.
Articulate, down-to-earth, and photogenic, Jim and Tony are available for media interviews, comments, or background for stories. They are particularly able to speak to such civil law issues as:
- Airplane crashes
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To arrange to talk with either Jim Pocrass or Tony De Los Reyes, please contact their legal marketing representative Geri Wilson or call 626.487.2235.