We also represent clients in damages-based suits. Our experience and knowledge in personal injury litigation has enabled us to expose claims of inflated or fraudulent damages in a considerable number of cases.
- Obtained defense verdict in a damages-based lawsuit. During closing argument, the Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to return a $12 million verdict to compensate the Plaintiff for injuries allegedly sustained to her cervical and lumbar spine, her inability to work as a result of the wheelchair accident, and her pain and suffering. The jury returned a defense verdict in less than two hours. Despite enormous medical bills and several years of palliative care, the jury felt that the numerous inconsistencies in the Plaintiff’s medical histories and the clear medical evidence of no demonstrative injury outweighed the Plaintiff’s subjective complaints.
- Represented a commercial airline in which the jury returned a verdict holding RKC’s client responsible for the minor property damage to the Plaintiff’s wheelchair, but finding them wholly relieved of any responsibility for the Plaintiff’s alleged injuries. The Plaintiff was a quadriplegic who claimed injury as a result of improper handling during multiple transfers while a passenger. Despite the Court allowing the issue of punitive damages to go to the jury, RKC successfully convinced them that the airline’s conduct did not warrant the imposition of punitive damages. In addition to persuasive liability testimony that the care rendered to the Plaintiff by our employees was exemplary, evidence involved impeachment of the Plaintiff and his physicians on the origin of his medical complaints. The Plaintiff’s attorney asked the jury to return a verdict in excess of seven figures.
- Jury returned a verdict in favor of RKC’s client in a negligence action brought by a postal worker allegedly struck by one of the airline’s vehicles. The postal worker claimed he sustained cervical disc herniations requiring epidural injections, disc nucleoplasy, and a surgical fusion. He demanded more than $650,000 in damages but came away with nothing after RKC disproved the soft tissue injuries alleged.
- Achieved a favorable verdict in an action involving the alleged improper handling of a disabled passenger resulting in claimed soft tissue and other injuries. At trial, the passenger demanded an award far in excess of $1 million. However, the jury returned a verdict for less than $3,000 as a result of RKC’s discovery and exposure of the passenger’s exaggerated and nonexistent injuries. The minimal award was also further reduced based on the evidence that RKC presented proving the passenger was comparatively negligent.
- Obtained a verdict in favor of our client by convincingly bringing the Plaintiff’s extensive pre-existing injuries and multiple prior accidents to the jury’s attention. The Plaintiff asked the jury to return a verdict in the amount of $12 million to compensate her for personal injuries including several herniated discs in her cervical and lumbar spine as well as for lost wages resulting from a wheelchair accident in Japan. During trial, the RKC defense team put forth evidence of the Plaintiff’s five prior motor vehicle accidents, prior lawsuits in which she sought damages for the exact same injuries as well as audio clips of the Plaintiff during a contemporaneous worker’s compensation proceeding in which she blamed her injuries on an unrelated worker’s compensation incident. Our investigation, discovery, and presentation of this evidence proved crucial to the favorable outcome obtained. The jury returned a defense verdict in less than two hours.
- A passenger filed a lawsuit under the Warsaw Convention claiming the airline subjected her to criminal arrest, prosecution, and detainment by improperly labeling baggage containing 65 pounds of cocaine as belonging to her. We moved for summary judgment on grounds that this was neither an “accident” under the terms of the Warsaw Convention nor did the passenger suffer any “bodily injury,” thus precluding her claims. The passenger initially demanded an amount in excess of $10 million, but later settled for the Warsaw limits after we filed our summary judgment motion.
- The Plaintiff demanded an exorbitant amount from the airline for injuries, allegedly sustained when he was handcuffed and duct taped to his seat after being accused of disrupting his international flight. Our investigation revealed that the passenger suffered no permanent physical injuries as a result of being handcuffed and all he could prove was some minor cuts and bruising. We successfully convinced the passenger that the Warsaw Convention precluded him from recovering any of his claimed emotional injuries because they did not stem directly from the minor physical injuries he allegedly suffered. As a result, the passenger settled his claims against American Airlines for a minimal amount.
- Our extensive litigation experience also includes thorough investigation and discovery in cases in which the Plaintiffs claimed inflated damages. We have handled cases in which we have uncovered direct evidence of fraudulent claims, severely understated post-accident income, prior lawsuits dismissed for fraud and inconsistencies in medical records and evidence of drug abuse.
Educating Our Clients
RKC attorneys have lectured regularly on the topics of Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, particularly to the risk departments of our airline clients. Topics included “Litigating Claims Under the Warsaw Convention;” “Montreal Convention: Changes with the Replacement of the Warsaw Convention;” as well as “E-Discovery: New Discovery Requirements in the Technology Era.”
