Congratulations to Santa Fe attorneys, Caren Friedman and Phil Kovnat, who, along with Dallas trial counsel C. Kyle Pugh and appellate counsel Jeffrey Levinger, successfully convinced U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas to deny a Motion for New Trial, for Remittitur, or to Alter or Amend the Judgment filed by the United States of America in a Federal Tort Claims Act case. Following a bench trial involving a collision between a United States Postal Service truck and a motor vehicle operated by Michael Le, which rendered Mr. Le a quadriplegic, Judge O’Connor awarded Plaintiffs over $26 million in damages, including damages for past and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and loss of consortium. The Government sought to dramatically reduce the judgment by invoking the Fifth Circuit’s “Maximum Recovery Rule.” Judge O’Connor agreed with Plaintiffs, however, that the Maximum Recovery Rule either was inoperative, or that the Court’s award was a reasonable departure from the rule, given the unique nature of Mr. Le’s injuries. Denying the Government’s motion in its entirety, Judge O’Connor repeatedly rejected the Government’s efforts to “dress up” other cases as factually similar and its attempts to “retry or minimize” the damages. You can read the Memorandum Opinion and Order here and a Law360 article about the case here.
