CLIENT VICTORIES

Vanessa Espinosa was a 22-year-old college student with a promising future.

In June 2020, a reckless CalFire captain sped his fire truck through a red light into an intersection, broadsiding Vanessa’s car, killing her.

For four years the State of California denied liability, claiming its driver was following CalFire procedure and was not at fault. They further argued that Vanessa contributed to her death because she was under the influence of marijuana and was distracted by her phone.

Through expert forensic analysis and deposing several witnesses, Heinrich Law discovered:

• Multiple eye-witnesses, including a retired Napa County sheriff, observed the CalFire captain driving recklessly immediately before the incident.
• Vanessa was not impaired and was not distracted by her phone.

48 hours before trial was scheduled to begin, the State of California suddenly reversed course and admitted 100% liability for the incident.

The case settled for $15 Million.

While shopping at a Grocery Outlet store in San Francisco, Carol Baron tripped over a “U-boat” product stocking cart platform that was negligently left in an aisle. She fell forward hard onto her outstretched arm, causing a severe humerus fracture as well as biceps and rotator cuff tears requiring a complex surgery. Ms. Baron continued to live with severe pain and dysfunction for years after the injury, even though her surgery was technically successful. She was ultimately diagnosed with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (“CRPS”).

Heinrich Law sued the operator of the store, J&A Seven Wonders Corp, and the parent company, Grocery Outlet, Inc. Subsequently, Altair Law joined Heinrich Law and tried this case to verdict.

The defendants claimed that Ms. Baron caused her own injuries by ignoring an obvious hazard, and that Grocery Outlet had no liability because it had no operational control of the store.

Winning this case hinged on two essential developments:

• We assisted the Plaintiff in securing an accurate diagnosis of CRPS, which was more severe than her initial diagnosis. Therefore, the value of her damages was much higher than originally believed.

• Grocery Outlet argued its contract with J&A clearly stated that J&A was an “independent operator” and there was no joint venture as it had no authority to influence store operations. However, document requests and depositions of J&A owners and operators coupled with Grocery Outlet executives revealed that Grocery Outlet’s business practices were opposite of what was outlined in its contracts, and, in fact, it exercised control over operations of the J&A store.

A San Francisco jury found J&A and Grocery Outlet jointly liable for our client’s injuries and damages.  It assigned 80% fault to the Defendants for the accident; and 20% comparative fault against Ms. Baron.  The jury awarded the Plaintiff $6.6 Million, reduced to $5,280,000 for her comparative fault.

Following trial, the parties entered into a binding settlement for $5,780,000.

Heinrich Law’s client, a three-year-old girl, suffered catastrophic third-degree burns to her chest after spilling scalding hot chocolate at an upscale family restaurant and resort near Yosemite.  Heinrich Law argued that the restaurant knew the drink was intended for a 3 year old and therefore should have never served it scalding hot. Management of the restaurant placed sole blame for the incident on the parents, arguing it was up to the them to ensure the beverage was cool enough for their daughter to safely drink.

Heinrich Law successfully filed the case in Marin County, over the objection of defense counsel, who insisted the case had to be filed in Tuolumne County. Winning the motion to keep the case venue in Marin proved critical to winning this case. Following the completion of several rounds of written discovery, eight depositions, a defense medical examination, motion work, and two rounds of mediation, the case settled shortly before trial for $3.75 Million. Heinrich Law is thrilled to have been able to bring justice to this deserving family.

Heinrich Law’s client slipped and fell due to an extremely slick floor that had been negligently maintained. The incident caused the client severe lumbar spine and hip injuries. The client was in pain, faced significant medical expenses and was unable to work. The property owner and contractor denied liability and refused to settle.

Our investigation and case work up, which included the completion of over twenty five (25) lay and expert witness depositions, proved negligence stemming from the use of a cleaning product that was incorrectly applied to the floor.

We took the case to trial. After the first witness testified, the defendant made a $3.5 million settlement offer that our client agreed to accept.

A Sheriff barreled through a red light, crashing into our client’s car causing him to sustain a traumatic brain injury. For two years, the Sheriff’s department blamed our client. A trial was scheduled. We knew we needed incontrovertible proof that the Sheriff was at fault and our client’s injury was severe.

Through our dogged investigation, use of experts and advanced technology, we proved our case.

We shifted the Sheriff’s position from blaming our client for the accident and refusing to settle, to offering a $3 million dollar settlement the week prior to trial.

Roy Jackson was a sewer maintenance worker for the city of Pacifica. He was working in the course and scope of his employment when a driver, distracted by a child in the rear seat of her vehicle, struck him in the middle of an intersection.  As a result of the accident, Mr. Jackson became disabled.

The adverse driver was insured with Farmers Insurance. Farmers argued Mr. Jackson failed to place sufficient warning cones in the intersection to ensure their driver could see him. They further argued that their insured was not responsible for Mr. Jackson’s degenerative conditions or exacerbations.

Heinrich Law won this case by a vigorous cross examination of Defendant driver Spignola; hiring a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who proved Mr. Jackson’s disability was a direct result of this incident; and researching, interviewing, and later deposing Mr. Jackson’s former supervisors and co-workers, proving that he had very few limitations on his ability to work prior to being struck by Ms. Spignola.

Following several years of litigation, and with a trial date on the horizon, Mr. Jackson’s case finally resolved for $2.5 million dollars, a significant increase from Farmers opening offer at mediation of $325,000.