The Light in My Heart

by Jerry Rosendorn

  The events of that day still haunt me. Lior was only thirty-eight when he died; leaving his second wife and a one-year-old child.

  The crash made me realize life is fragile and could be snuffed out in an instant. It made me stop and question my own life; especially how hard I was working.

  Typically, I worked a seven day week, waking each morning at five, arriving in my office by six to spend the day at my desk; a routine broken only to make court appearances. I seldom left the office before seven in the evening on weekdays. I continued to push myself on the weekends, working from six in the morning until four in the afternoon.

  Suddenly, it dawned on me I could be headed for my own disaster. Lior’s crash made me realize my work schedule needed an adjustment; I needed to slow down. I thought back to my experience in 1982 when I mediated four cases while sitting as a temporary judge.

  My hard work over the years paid off with a successful law practice. I’d developed an expertise in several areas: Personal injury, real estate, and construction disputes. Now was my time to expand and develop my legal knowledge in these areas.

  In the spring of 1997, I made three big changes in my life: I moved my office from the Valley to a high-rise located one block from the ocean in Santa Monica, I purchased a home in West Los Angeles to be close to my new office, and I created a mediation service.

  With my sound reputation, I received referrals from other attorneys and many judges who wanted a neutral’s evaluation of large, complex matters that were headed for long jury trials.

  As part of this change, I created a model for my mediation service; hiring two full-time secretaries to handle the office work and an investigator to help me obtain needed public and other pertinent information about the attorneys, their clients, and their experts. To prepare for my new business, I attended and lectured at mediation seminars, read books and articles about negotiation, and I followed the disputed claims through the court system; I was most interested in jury verdicts. I wanted to understand the value of a case and what motivated people to settle instead of taking their cases to trial.

  To help bring in business, I attended most bar association functions and local legal conferences. “Network” became my mantra.

  Shortly after I formally announced the opening of my mediation service, the Italian-American Bar Association held its annual officer installation event at a downtown LA restaurant. As one would expect, the catering for this bar association was always the best and that year was no exception. The great turnout gave me an opportunity to meet a lot of attorneys.

  After working the room, I was down to my last business card when I saw Judge Stanley Daniels. He wasn’t one of my favorite judges; he managed to avoid trying cases by pressuring attorneys and their clients to settle. I saw him speaking with a few attorneys. As I turned to avoid him, he called out my name. Stopping in my tracks, I made an about face and approached him. His smile seemed too inviting; I worried what he had on his mind.

  Judge Daniels dismissed the other attorneys and focused his attention on me.

  “Counsel, I saw your announcement in the Journal; I’m glad to see a good lawyer like you is in the mediation business. You may be just the person I’m looking for. I have an interesting personal injury claim in need of mediation. There’s no pay, but this case has a lot of upside potential. If you settle the case, the attorneys will be praising your skills; you’ll make up your time with more business.”

  I wasn’t excited about doing pro bono work having just started a new business with a lot of overhead. Yet, a successful mediation might give me a much better calling card than the ones I’d been passing out at the bar events.

  “Okay, your honor,” I said, handing him my last business card, “I’ll give it a try. Tell the attorneys to call me to set up a time for the mediation. Also, please tell them I need a brief from each side and a copy of the plaintiff’s medical bills.”

  “Counsel, you got yourself some free business. Thank you. You may be saving me fifteen days in jury trial.”

  The case of Olsen vs. Raider was a claim involving a twenty-two-year-old female artist named Paula Olsen who was struck by a van while walking across a busy downtown intersection. Olsen was within the crosswalk when she was struck by Deborah Raider who was distracted while searching for street signs and failed to stop for a red light. Once Raider realized she was going to strike Olsen, she panicked and slammed on the gas pedal instead of the brake causing the van to leap forward; both the front and back tires ran over Olsen crushing her right hip, breaking her pelvis and right leg, and severely damaging her bladder.

  Being the closest medical facility, an emergency vehicle transported Paula Olsen to Los Angeles County General Hospital. The emergency personnel rushed her into the hospital. Because Paula’s condition was critical; life-saving surgery was performed.

  Fortunately, Paula received excellent care. Once she was out of immediate danger, she was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where she remained for four weeks. The accident left her nearly crippled; suffering from chronic pain throughout her body.

  I reviewed the medical bills from her doctors and hospitals along with the prescription and physical therapy costs. In addition, there were projections for future medical treatment. She now had a prosthetic right hip that would need to be replaced every fifteen to twenty years. The costs for her future medical expenses included these future surgeries and continuing physical therapy. Aside from the past and future medical bills, Paula lost a scholarship for a graduate art program at Yale University.

  After two years of litigation and countless attempts by the attorneys to settle this claim, the case was now in my hands. With only weeks to prepare, I spent time reviewing the medical records and investigating those involved with this claim.

  At the appointed time, the attorneys, the plaintiff, and the insurance claims adjuster gathered in the reception area of my office. My secretary brought the attorneys into my conference room.

  “Counsel, good morning,” I smiled as they entered. “I received your briefs and plaintiff’s medical records. Looking at defendant’s attorney, “Is there a dispute over the liability?”

  Defense counsel spoke, “We’ve raised comparative fault as a defense. However, for purposes of this mediation, I’m conceding liability. But, you understand our discussions here are privileged, we may raise the issue of liability as a defense at trial.”

  I nodded back at the defendant’s attorney. “I understand. Let’s focus on plaintiff’s damages. I did an analysis from your briefs and the medical records.” I handed each attorney a print-out of plaintiff’s damages including past and future medical care, loss of the Yale scholarship, the impact on her ability to work, and past and future pain and suffering.

  After the attorneys looked at my list, I spoke.

  “The past medical bills are easy to identify and should be included in Paula’s claim. However, there are some issues regarding future medical expenses, the loss of the scholarship, and her future ability to work. These claims may be tough to assess; but need to be considered. Yet, I believe a jury would award her the cost for three surgeries to replace her hip. I used life expectancy tables and reports from the doctors to understand the need for three more surgeries and the costs. Of course, the cost of which has to be reduced to present value.

  “The loss of the Yale scholarship and her limited ability to work in the art field do present additional challenges. How do we value the loss of the scholarship? Also, it’s difficult to look at her loss of earnings claim since she has no employment history as an artist. Her work experience is restricted to part-time jobs she held during her undergraduate years.

  “As to the pain and suffering claim, which has a great deal of value, it’s the most difficult to determine. Clearly, a jury will have sympathy for Paula. Once they see the x-rays of her body, they’ll feel her pain. An award for future pain and suffering is appropriate, e
specially since she’ll have a disability for life. As part of that claim, she’ll have the pain of going through and rehabbing from the future hip replacement surgeries.”

  I looked at the defense attorney. “Please return to the reception area. I want to speak with plaintiff and her attorney.”

  After both attorneys left the conference room, I pulled out my notes about the plaintiff. As I looked them over, she entered the room with her attorney.

  Paula Olsen was quite frail and walked with a pronounced limp. Because her face showed no emotion, I wondered whether I’d be able to establish any credibility with her.

  “Hello, Paula,” I started. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long to resolve your case. Your trial judge asked me to meet with everyone to see if I can settle your claims. The first thing I did to prepare for this mediation was to study your medical records. I looked at the x-rays and read the reports prepared by your surgeons so I could appreciate the extent of your injuries. I understand the pain you’re in and I feel strongly that Ms. Raider’s insurance company should pay to help compensate you. I want to help you. But, Paula, no amount of money will ever compensate you for all the pain you’ve experienced and for what you’ll have to deal with in the future.

  “As your excellent attorney told you, if we fail to reach a settlement, a jury will decide your claim. I believe the trial is scheduled to begin in two weeks. With a jury trial, you’ll put your claim in the hands of twelve strangers. The jurors are instructed by the judge to listen to your case and keep an open mind. Once they’ve heard all the evidence and the arguments of the attorneys, they’ll retire to the jury deliberation room to reach a verdict. In civil cases, nine of the twelve jurors must agree to reach a verdict.

  “I’ve tried many jury trials and can tell you from speaking directly with jurors after the trials were over, even though they’re instructed to keep an open mind, they’re biased about certain things. Remember, they are human beings with their own life’s experiences and their own ideas about what is appropriate. They carry biases that influence them when they make decisions. For example, they may be prejudiced against pedestrians because of an encounter they had as a driver. After hearing the evidence in your case, they may think you were inattentive when you crossed the street and failed to look out for your own safety. If they make that finding, it may defeat or reduce your claim because we have the concept of comparative negligence in personal injury cases.

  “Or, they may feel that they shouldn’t give you a lot of money because it will cause their automobile insurance rates to go up. Jurors are very aware of rising insurance rates when they get their insurance bills each year. Also, they read newspaper articles and see television coverage on this subject. Insurance companies have a vested interest in keeping these types of news stories before the public.

  “Keeping all this in mind, it’s usually better to settle a case. An agreed-upon settlement will take the guesswork out of resolving your claim. Most importantly, you’ll be involved in the settlement process as opposed to being at the mercy of a jury.

  “Paula, part of my job is to understand your claim, and present it to the defense attorney and the claims adjuster in a way they’ll recognize the highest value of your claim. It will be very helpful for me to know more about you. Tell me about yourself.”

  Paula proceeded to tell me most of what was in my notes. I knew she was born in Nashville, Tennessee; and as a young child she displayed great artistic talent. Her parents recognized her talent and sent her to an exclusive private school in Connecticut. After high school graduation, she moved to Los Angeles and attended UCLA. In her senior year, she was accepted to a graduate art program at Yale.

  After college graduation, with her parent’s help, she rented an artist-in-residence loft in downtown Los Angeles to paint for the summer. Shortly after moving in, she was crossing the street when she was struck by the van.

  I moved the conversation to the subject of art. When I asked which artists influenced her most, she named several including Salvador Dali and how they influenced her. Our discussion continued on for some time. As she responded to my questions, I watched her carefully. I needed to know if she trusted me. Initially, she was tentative with me, but as our talk moved into the area of art, she eased up and gave me a smile when I shared my knowledge of her favorite artists.

  “Paula, I want to help you. I know you need money to pay your medical bills and to cover your future surgeries. In addition, you have suffered a lot of pain and discomfort from all of your injuries.”

  Paula nodded as I spoke; her attentive smile revealed she appreciated my time in getting to know her.

  “By the way,” I said switching gears and breaking into a big smile. “I remember you telling me you grew up in Nashville. Have you ever been to the Loveless Café? I was there about a year ago; I had the best biscuits I’ve ever tasted.”

  “I love their biscuits,” she said becoming animated. “My family used to go to the Loveless Café on special occasions.” Then she became more somber and touched my left arm. “Please help me; I don’t want to go to trial. It’s hard for me to relive what happened that day. Do the best you can for me.”

  Without saying a word, I nodded.

  I called in the defendant’s attorney and the claims adjuster. I shared with them the jury verdict statistics regarding pedestrian/automobile personal injury claims that went to trial in downtown Los Angeles. In low to moderate impact cases, the stats showed awards equaled to the amount of the medical bills times a multiple of two or three. However, in pedestrian cases with severe injuries, this was not the case. There was no predicable multiple and the jury awards ran high. I had a list of each jury award in every downtown civil courtroom for the past three years. This information supported my conclusion this claim was worth between four and five million dollars.

  “Counsel, I know you are a fine attorney and the name of the game for the insurance company is to save as much money as possible. But, you’re going to get hit in this case. The jury is going to like Paula. She is young, wholesome-looking, naïve, and, most importantly, she doesn’t exaggerate her injuries. I read her deposition testimony. Not only didn’t she exaggerate her injuries, she understated them. You need my help; you have a lot to risk by going to trial and I’m going to help you settle this case.”

  The negotiations lasted from ten in the morning until eight that evening. With the last offer from the insurance company in hand, plaintiff’s counsel presented it privately to Paula in my conference room. She listened to the terms and then quickly responded, “What does the mediator think?”

  After she heard I approved of the offer, the case settled.

  In the days following the settlement, there was a flood of articles in the local bar papers. Naturally, the plaintiff’s counsel took a few “bows” as the counsel who negotiated this multi-million dollar settlement. The leading legal journal identified me in an article about the case; noting my work in putting together the settlement. The article gave me a moniker that stuck; I became “Mr. Mediator.”

  Chapter 37

  February 1998

  With my mediation practice now in high gear, I was no longer able to adequately represent most of my law practice clients. But, since part of my mediator expertise dealt with real estate issues, I decided to retain a few of those clients. One of my remaining clients was an extraordinary woman named Teresa who, with the help of her husband Joe, raised four children.

  Because of their success with real estate investments, Teresa and Joe were able to put their children through school, helped them find mates, and assisted each one in buying a house to raise their own families.

  A UCLA biology professor, Joe was a quiet man who left most of the important decisions up to his wife. Even though Teresa could be what you might classify as a “scatterbrain,” when it came to dealing with real estate issues, she was a genius at buying, selling, and managing rental properties.
But, when you talked to her apart from real estate, her responses were often bizarre; you weren’t sure if she was listening to what was being said to her. She and Joe owned several apartment buildings near UCLA and some commercial properties on the Westside of Los Angeles.

  When I saw Teresa on a February morning, she looked her usual disheveled self. Clutching a number of files along with a big purse, I greeted her in the reception area of my office.

  “Good morning, Teresa. It sure is cold outside; the weather looks nasty.”

  “Yes, that’s so nice,” she responded rummaging through her purse. This was the kind of odd response you could expect when you talked to Teresa – nothing connects.

  “How are you doing?” she asked.

  “I just broke up with someone,” I revealed. I was surprised with myself; I must have been off guard that morning. I never discussed my personal life with Teresa.

  “Oh, how nice. I have a friend I want you to meet. Come to my house for a good home-cooked meal, you’ll meet her.”

  I winced inside because the last person I wanted to meet was someone Teresa was going to fix me up with. But, a home-cooked meal sounded good since I was always eating on the run.

  “Okay,” I agreed, hoping she would forget.

  One week later, Teresa called.

  “You are coming to my house next Wednesday at six-thirty for dinner,” she instructed. “I’ll make you a good meal and you’ll meet my friend. Even though she is very nice, I must warn you, she’s very picky. See you then.”

  “She’s very picky.” What had I gotten myself into?

  Wednesday came and as I dressed to go out, I started to dread the evening until I reminded myself that I was going to have a home-cooked meal.