Transcription:
Peter Pentony:
The jury returned a verdict that included two and a half million dollars in compensatory damages, some of which were lost wages, most of which was non economic damages. And then went back out on the punitive damages aspect of it and returned with a million dollar punitive damages verdict, apportioned in an interesting way. $250,000 assessed against the drunk driver and $750,000 assessed against the employer, which was frankly, something we were concerned about, on appeal. It was an interesting apportionment concerning that’s not what we would have guessed for sure. We were not surprised about a punitive damages verdict. We were surprised about the apportionment of it.
Brendan Lupetin:
Wow. So the total verdict was around three and a half million. Wow. That’s absolutely phenomenal. I mean, you don’t have to share it if you don’t want to, but what was the highest offer?
Peter Pentony:
Not close to that. We were right to do what we did. It helped having a steadfast client, who was proud, not in a bad way, but proud of what he’d done. He knew he was telling the truth. He knew he was right. He knew that they had done wrong and he was not going to sacrifice anything out of concern. He trusted his fellow man, trusted the jurors, trusted us, for which we’re grateful to go in there and put his case on. And he wasn’t afraid of the process. You know, probably everyone in our industries had lots of folks who are nervous about the process and who are not able to withstand some of the risks of trial, you know, once there’s a half decent offer on the table. So they picked the wrong guy to do this too.
Brendan Lupetin:
Well. I mean, congrats to your client for sticking to his guns, but also, he’s fortunate to have had great lawyers in yourself and Cory Ford to have represented him – to be capable and qualified, to do what you guys did because that’s — even with as great of a client as you have, and the great facts, I mean, that is really an unusual and exceptionally amazing verdict to pull out for a client. So I love hearing stories like that.
