Multimillion-Dollar Settlement of High Profile Wrongful Death Without Lawsuit

In January 2004, DRR's clients' daughter was killed in a freak accident.  The case attracted national attention and was the subject of numerous newspaper articles and television reports. 

DRR's clients were heartbroken as a result of the loss of their daughter; they were also angry that a known hazardous condition had been allowed to persist unchecked.  Initially, the clients wanted to sue all possible defendants, ranging from a public utility to a municipality to public safety workers, and had expectations of hundreds of millions of dollars potential damages.  

DRR worked with the clients in several ways.  First, it counseled them on how to deal with all of the media attention.  As a consequence, their privacy was protected and they were allowed to come to terms with their daughter's death outside the media's spotlight. 

Second, DRR helped to educate the clients about their legal situation.  Although outsized personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice awards are reported all of the time, there are many factors which impact the size of these awards, and oftentimes particularly egregious cases may not have the same potential for high damage awards as other cases that appear less significant.

Third, DRR conducted numerous meetings, in person and by telephone, to help its clients talk through their objectives.  As it turned out, these particular plaintiffs were less interested in extracting a stiff monetary settlement than they were in finding other ways to honor their daughter's memory.  As a consequence, the strategy for helping them to achieve their goals was substantially different than it would have been had their objective been to achieve a record wrongful death settlement.

DRR helped to formulate a novel approach.  Instead of initially engaging a lawyer and bringing a lawsuit, DRR, on the clients' behalf, contacted the public utility that was responsible for the accident and began a dialogue with it.  Instead of threatening the utility with a lawsuit, DRR offered an opportunity to join with the young woman's parents to embark on a program that would prevent future accidents. 

The potential defendant, understanding both its weak legal position and the fact that it risked further regulatory investigation of the facts that caused the accident, along with more public outcry, was receptive to the opportunity to resolve the situation in a non-traditional way.

As a consequence, the case was settled in less than one year.  In addition to an outstanding monetary award (the "New York Times" reported that the award was comparable to the settlements awarded to the victims of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center), a $1 million scholarship was set up in the name of the victim and most importantly, the utility agreed to undertake certain prospective actions that could not have been achieved had DRR's clients pursued a traditional lawsuit strategy.

The Divor ce Dile mma

 

What to do when a client reports that her husband has told her that he wants to end the marriage--and that she should begin divorce proceedings?  This is a not uncommon scenario and one that was recently reported to DRR with one important variation?  DRR's client did not want a divorce and wanted the opportunity to attempt reconciliation.  Nevertheless, DRR's client had significant assets that needed protection in the event of a contested divorce proceeding.  DRR's challenge was to protect its client's interests while at the same time not creating an atmosphere of antagonism that would make reconciliation impossible.

The first thing DRR did when approached by its client was to engage in an open-ended discussion with the client about her marriage.  This discussion allowed the client to vent her feelings and anger, from which it was possible to have an open discussion of the realistic possibility that a reconciliation could be achieved.  From this discussion, DRR learned about some unique factors in the client's situation, including unusual property ownership issues which could have a material impact on the ultimate division of the couple's assets. 

Ultimately, DRR helped the client devise a strategy that required her to begin to take some actions to protect her property interests.  At the same time, by refraining from immediately bringing divorce proceedings, she was able to pursue a reconciliation.  DRR screened numerous family law attorneys and accompanied her to several interviews, which resulted in the selection of an attorney who the client had confidence in--and who had the skill and experience to properly handle the special issues of this particular case--in the event that the reconciliation did not occur. 

The Return of the Prodigal Son

In this situation, DRR's clients were the parents of a child with a history behavioral and learning problems--along with a streak of rebellion.   After a prolonged absence and very little communication, the parents were contacted by their son a few days before Christmas.   He had been arrested in a Midwest city and was being held in a federal detention facility.   He had only been allowed one phone call to his parents and reached out to them for help.   The parents were justifiably concerned and also at a loss because they had no contacts in the city where their child was being held.

DRR has worked with some of the leading criminal defense attorneys in the nation and immediately reached out to its network to locate appropriate counsel.   Through a series of referrals, DRR was quickly able to locate a former US Attorney who had worked side-by-side with the team of lawyers who were assembling the case against DRR's clients' son.   When selecting a lawyer in a criminal matter, a key consideration is that lawyer's reputation in the local community because who represents a defendant may often be as important as the facts in the case.   In this case, the lawyer DRR located was on a first-name basis with the US Justice Department lawyers, so he was able to quickly intervene and obtain several concessions--including a special Christmas Eve visit--which might not otherwise have been available.  

DRR can't take credit for some of the serendipitous facts that helped this case to have such an outstanding outcome, but the lawyer who represented the young man sent a letter to his client setting forth ten things that he should be forever thankful for, one of which was that his parents knew somebody who was able to get the right lawyer for him!