Ken Peterson and Jessica Diotalevi obtained a win for Schwing America, Inc. in a product liability case alleging that defects in a concrete placing boom caused major back and ankle injuries to Plaintiff. Plaintiff sought over $2 million in damages. The jury awarded total damages of less than $600,000 and apportioned only 25% of the liability to Schwing. Under a fee-shifting offer Schwing served before trial, Plaintiff will have to pay most of Schwing’s trial and expert costs.
Given a design issue, Schwing could not escape liability. Ken and Jessica were able to keep damages low by attacking Plaintiff’s damages claim and passing off most of the blame to the co-defendant, the owner and operator of the placing boom.
The case, heard in Los Angeles Superior Court, is captioned Ildefonso Vivanco and Gina Vivanco v. Merli Concrete Pumping and Schwing America, Inc., et al.
