We are pleased to announce that Timothy Lippert and Brian Dunn have become partners and that Robert Armstrong, Terry Rowland, Michael Wade and Bjorn Green have once again been recognized as Southern California “Super Lawyers” (top 5%) in Los Angeles Magazine.

We started 2010 off with a bang as Terry Rowland prevailed in a hotly contested jury trial against the Greene, Broillet firm pitting plaintiff Joseph Lardner against defendant Heal the Bay and its president, Mark Gold. This auto v. bicycle accident resulted in allegedly significant injuries to the plaintiff, with over $100,000 in medical bills. Although the defendants contested liability, the insurance policy limits were offered to settle the matter before trial but the offer was rejected. The jury returned a 9-3 verdict in favor of the defendants after 5 hours of deliberation.

2009 was also a productive year and Demler, Armstrong & Rowland was very successful in the defense of several hotly contested trials and arbitrations, commencing with Terry Rowland’s two-week trial against noted Orange County attorney Eric Traut in January in Solis v. Harrington. Liability was aggravated and plaintiff claimed past and future medical bills of $215,000 for neck and back injuries, plus over $1 million in wage loss and punitive damages. Plaintiff demanded the defendant’s $250,000 policy limits and threatened to pursue a bad faith claim after the verdict. We offered $150,000 and claimed plaintiff was exaggerating his injuries. The jury awarded plaintiff only his initial medical bills of $54,000. The net judgment was reduced to $25,000 per a CCP section 998 cost award.

Terry followed Solis with a defense arbitration award after a $35,000 “new money” offer in a San Jose underinsured motorist arbitration and a defense verdict following a three-week trial in Ventura against one of Ventura's best trial attorneys, Allen R. Ball. He then received another defense verdict in an admitted liability rear-end accident where the plaintiff claimed $67,000 in medical expenses. The defense contended that the plaintiff sustained no injuries in the accident and that the medical treatment was spurious.

Congratulations are also in order for Mike Wade. Although Mike was disappointed with a hung jury following a two-week auto vs. pedestrian jury trial in Santa Cruz, he obtained defense awards in three arbitration hearings in Jensen v. 21st Century, Amini v. 21st Century and Logan v. 21st Century.

Finally, kudos to Jim Lemieux for his successful prosecution of a coverage lawsuit for 21st Century Insurance Company. He prevailed on a motion for summary judgment, recovering $100,000 against Mercury Insurance in a declaratory relief action.