Can You Sue for Soccer Head Injuries?

Soccer is an increasingly popular sport in the United States, particularly with the young. For some people, soccer represents a safe alternative to football, which can cause concussions and other injuries. However, soccer itself presents its own dangers of traumatic brain injuries.

Soccer Head Injuries

Many people perceive soccer as a safer sport for children to play than American football. Nevertheless, soccer can cause head injuries. As the New York Times reported, at least one soccer player suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease more closely associated with NFL players. Soccer players can suffer head injuries in several ways:

-Hitting the ground after an aggressive tackle

-Taking an elbow to the head

-Running into a goalpost

-Repeated heading of the ball

-A collision of heads when two or more players attempt to head the ball

Some readers might feel surprised that simply heading the ball can lead to brain injuries. Nevertheless, scientists studying this issue have seen brain abnormalities in soccer players who are constantly heading the ball. These abnormalities can cause serious problems, such as:

-Memory problems

-Depression

-Anxiety

-Light-headedness

-Increased headaches

-Trouble sleeping

Scientists do not yet know how much force will cause brain damage, but they do recommend that players younger than 14 not head the ball.

Assumption of the Risk

By its nature, soccer is a contact sport, and most participants know that going in. For that reason, it can prove difficult to bring a lawsuit for injuries your child suffered on the playing field.

California’s “primary assumption of the risk” doctrine prevents lawsuits when the injury results from commonplace physical contact in sports. In Knight v. Jewett, the California Supreme Court considered whether someone injured in a touch football game could bring a lawsuit for injuries suffered when the defendant stepped on her hand. The court decided that the injured plaintiff could not sue. Specifically, the court held that the defendant only owed a duty not to recklessly or intentionally injure other players, and accidentally stepping on someone’s hand did not qualify.

However, playing in a sport is not a complete bar to a lawsuit. One key question was whether the defendant’s conduct was so reckless that it fell completely outside the range of ordinary conduct involved in the sport. For example, somebody deliberately punching your child will probably fall outside the range of normal conduct. But other actions—even a rough tackle—might constitute normal contact and bar a lawsuit. Another question may be whether anyone took any action to change the risks inherent in the sport or activity.

If you have questions, call the experienced personal injury lawyers at Greene Broillet & Wheeler. They can help you assess whether the injury you or your child suffered stems from a reckless disregard for personal safety.

Suing a School

Another consideration is whether you have a valid legal claim against the school or sports league in which your child participates. Primary assumption of the risk will bar many lawsuits—and in some situations, you may not be permitted to sue the school even when a player deliberately attacks your child. However, you might have a valid claim in certain situations, depending on the circumstances, including:

-A defect on the field contributed to your child’s head injury

-Coaching staff trained your child improperly, which contributed to a head injury

-The school did not follow the proper procedures after your child suffered a head injury

If you have a valid legal claim, you can bring a lawsuit against the school. However, the precise process will depend on whether you are suing a public school or a private club.

Generally, California agencies and municipalities are immune from lawsuits, and this includes school districts. Nevertheless, the California Tort Claims Act allows you to bring a lawsuit against a school district for negligence, provided you give the district notice first. You should fill out a claim form within six months of the injury. If you wait too long, then you will not be able to sue.

Suing a private club is different because they are not generally immune from lawsuits. Instead of following administrative procedures, you can proceed directly to court and file your lawsuit.

In either situation, contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at Greene Broillet & Wheeler right away so they can help you through the situation by properly filing your complaint.

CONTACT A LOS ANGELES PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER

Suing a school is complicated, especially when sports-related injuries are at issue. To ensure you follow all requirements, work with Greene Broillet & Wheeler. We have extensive experience with these cases. Contact us today for your free consultation by calling (866) 224-7865.

GB&W’s Christine Spagnoli Obtains $25.9 Million Verdict in Deadly Church Van Rollover Trial

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — As co-lead trial counsel, Christine Spagnoli obtained a $25.9 million jury verdict against Ford Motor Company and the First Baptist Church of New Port Richey for the wrongful death of a 44-year-old wife and mother of four.

Michalanne Salliotte died on February 21, 2014 when a church van full of people heading to a youth camp in Georgia crashed in North Florida. Two people, including Salliotte, died and eight other people suffered injuries. While heading north on Interstate 75 in Lake City, the tread separated from the left rear tire, causing the 2002 E-350 Ford to rollover, ejecting four people.

Salliotte’s surviving husband, Jeff, and their four children sued Ford for defectively designing its vehicle with an extra row of seats without dual rear tires, making the van unstable and susceptible to loss of control.

Michalanne, who was unbelted, was ejected in the rollover. The plaintiffs successfully argued that the seatbelts were defectively designed and were inaccessible because the buckles fell under the bench seats. The attorneys also argued that the First Baptist Church negligently maintained the van and had a responsibility to ensure that the seatbelts were accessible to van occupants.

On March 15, 2018, a Pasco County Florida jury returned the verdict against the defendants, determining that Ford put the E350 Passenger Van on the market with faulty seat belts and a defective rear-wheel bustleback design.

The plaintiffs’ legal team included Frank Melton and Richard Newsome with Newsome Melton Law Firm in Orlando, FL and Christine Spagnoli with the Santa Monica, CA plaintiff’s firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP.

GB&W Honored for One of Year’s Biggest Verdicts and Ranked A Top Law Firm

SANTA MONICA, Ca. (July 13, 2015) – The San Francisco Recorder announced today it’s honoring the Santa Monica law firm, Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP as one of California’s Top Ranked Law Firms. The publication also recognized the firm for winning one of the 25 biggest verdicts of 2014 in the case of McLaughlin v. Mountain High LLC.

The Recorder published a special supplement recognizing the state’s most successful law firms in terms of courtroom excellence and commitment to clients.

The ranking is based on the Martindale-Hubbell Peer-Review Ratings methodology that involves researching a comprehensive database of lawyers and firms to identify the lawyers that have demonstrated the highest level of ethical standards and legal ability.

In December 2014, GB&W obtained a $22 million verdict, which was reduced by comparative fault in a personal injury lawsuit involving a skier. Attorneys Bruce Broillet, Scott Carr and Taylor Rayfield achieved that victory against a ski resort for their client’s injuries, a rare achievement under California law. Leslie McLaughlin suffered permanent paralysis in a skiing accident on a green (easy) run at Mountain High after she encountered an unmarked staging area on the run.

Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP is a plaintiffs firm dedicated to fighting for the rights of injured consumers across California to improve public safety and demand accountability.

UC Berkeley Clinches Championship in National Civil Trial Competition

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 17, 2015)- UC Berkeley School of Law won the 14th Annual National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015 after a three-day tournament held over the weekend in Los Angeles. More than 50 law schools nationwide apply for this prestigious rivalry, and only 16 finalists are chosen to compete in the invitation-only event that focuses on training students in the art of trial practice.

The winning team members are Colin Jones, DeCarol Davis, Jared Ginsburg and Jason Wu. The team coaches are Emily Tienken and Suzanne Jaffe.

• Finalists: Georgetown Law Center 
• Semi Finalist: Stetson University School of Law 
• Semi Finalist: Washington University St. Louis 
• Best Advocate in the Preliminary Rounds: Alexis Wilpon, Georgetown Law Center 
• Best Advocate in Finals: Jared Ginsburg, UC Berkeley 
• Ethical Advocacy Award: Georgetown Law Center 

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles hosts the annual tournament that first launched in 2002 under the guidance of Professor Susan Poehls, the director of trial advocacy programs at the school. The Santa Monica law firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP has proudly co-sponsored the event since its inception.

Each competing law school sent a team of four students who participated in a civil lawsuit trial that consisted of opening statements, direct and cross examination of two witnesses per side, and closing arguments. This year each team litigated the hypothetical wrongful death lawsuit Chen v. City and County of Santa Francesca, based on an actual case that involved an airline passenger who was apparently run over on the tarmac by an emergency vehicle racing to respond to a plane crash.

“This was an impressive match up between our nation’s most promising legal talents,” said Browne Greene, Senior Partner at Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP and a member of the judges’ panel. “These young law students really put their hearts into this competition, and it was a pleasure to watch and judge this competition.”

“A weekend like this clearly demonstrates that the next generation of trial lawyers will be a dynamic group of young people ready to handle the challenges of the courtroom. Quite simply, they were spectacular,” said Professor Poehls.

More than 100 members of the greater Los Angeles legal community volunteered as tournament judges.

For NCTC program information contact:

Brian Costello

Assistant Dir. of Communications, Loyola Law School

Tel: 213-736-1444

brian.costello@lls.edu

Press Contact:

Gina Fernandes

Tel: 626-356-3006

gina@jurisproductions.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: Photographs are available upon request.

Jury Awards Punitive Damages of $6.5M to Victim of Celebrity Bikram Yoga Founder

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 26, 2016)- A Los Angeles Superior Court jury this afternoon awarded a former-employee-turned-whistleblower $6,471,878 in punitive damages in a retaliation and wrongful termination lawsuit against famed yoga instructor Bikram Choudhury. The punitive award comes one day after the same jury awarded the plaintiff $924,500 in compensatory damages.

Outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles, jurors hugged the plaintiff and her attorneys thanking her for standing up for victims of sexual harassment saying she felt ‘like family.’ Lead plaintiff attorney Mark Quigley, of the Santa Monica law firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP argued his client was fired from her six-figure job for refusing to cover up an investigation into a student’s allegation that Choudhury raped her. “It’s about time somebody stood up to this defendant and it’s too bad it took a jury,” Quigley said.

“This is a good day for women,” said plaintiff Minakshi ‘Miki’ Jafa-Bodden. “I’m so thankful for the jury and my lawyers for standing up for what’s right.”

Jafa-Bodden worked as Head of Legal and International Affairs at Choudhury Los Angeles School from Spring 2011 to March 13, 2013 when she was “abruptly and unlawfully terminated.”

69-year-old Choudhury has amassed a fortune as the founder of Bikram Yoga, a form of hot yoga performed in a series of 26 hatha yoga postures performed in an environment heated to 104 °F.

“Jafa-Bodden faced retaliation and intimidation when she refused to stay silent about witnessing illegal behavior,” said Quigley.

During the two years that Jafa-Bodden worked closely with Choudhury, she testified that she was both the victim of and witness to his “severe, ongoing, pervasive and offensive conduct” towards women. Five women have sued Choudhury for sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Two lawsuits accuse Choudhury of rape. One of the plaintiffs alleged sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and other counts in addition to the rape allegation. Jane Doe’s lawsuit describes a cult-like atmosphere where members of Bikram’s inner circle help him find young women to assault.

The plaintiff’s trial team included Mark Quigley and Aaron Osten of Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP and Carla Minnard of the Minnard Law Firm.

Families Sue Fiat Chrysler For Deadly Defective Gas Tanks

(SAN BERNARDINO, Ca., Feb 26, 2016)- The family members of two Los Angeles men killed in a fiery explosion of a gas tank in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee are suing the auto giant, Fiat Chrysler for wrongful death.

Rosalio Munoz-Reyes and Juventino Diaz-Hernandez were driving home from work on January 22, 2015 when their vehicle experienced a mechanical failure and came to a stop in traffic lanes on State Route 60 in Ontario, CA. While waiting for help, another car rear-ended the Jeep and it immediately burst into flames. The fire quickly engulfed the vehicle, trapping both Reyes and Hernandez who burned to death inside the car.

“This crash was survivable and these men would still be alive today if it wasn’t for the fuel-fed fire caused by damage to a defective gas tank,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Christine D. Spagnoli partner with the Santa Monica law firm, Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP.

This product liability lawsuit filed this week in San Bernardino Superior Court highlights a growing number of fatalities that involve Jeeps suspected of having defective fuel systems that when damaged, lead to fuel-fed fires.

According to the Center for Auto Safety, since June 2013 there have been 47 deaths in fatal fire crashes in Jeeps investigated by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), which led to partial recalls of some models.

Auto safety advocates are urging the Department of Transportation to reopen the Jeep fuel tank investigation into the risk of death or injury from post accident collisions fuel-fed fires in the 1999-2004 model Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles.

“We hope this lawsuit will help shed more light on this lethal defect in an effort to hold Fiat Chrysler accountable for its dangerously defective product so that no other motorist will have to die in this most horrifying way,” said plaintiff attorney Arnoldo Casillas with the Montobello law firm, Casillas & Associates.

Both Mr. Casillas and Ms. Spagnoli, represent the surviving family members of Rosalio Munoz-Reyes and Juventino Diaz-Hernandez.

GB&W Announce $4 Million Settlement for Family of Man Killed After Falling from Party Bus on 101 Freeway

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 27, 2016/ — Attorneys with the Santa Monica Law Firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP announced Monday the $4,020,000 settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of CJ Saraceno, a man killed after he fell out of a party bus and into traffic on the 101 Freeway near Studio City.

Attorneys Christine Spagnoli and Christian Nickerson represented the Saraceno family. The party bus, owned by the Hyros Corporation, was poorly maintained and had been cited by the CHP for safety violations 5 months before the September 2013incident, but was still in operation without repairs even after it was ordered off the road, Spagnoli said.

“The compressor that was supposed to keep the door to the bus closed while it was moving on the freeway wasn’t functional,” Spagnoli said. “They knew or should have known about the problem, didn’t fix it, and it cost CJ Saraceno his life.”

The pneumatic door system that failed is designed to provide enough air pressure to ensure the bus doors remain closed when the vehicle is moving. Discovery revealed that Hyros negligently maintained the bus and its component parts and this failure to safely transport its passengers resulted in a preventable tragedy.

“It’s something that should never have happened,” said Chris Saraceno, father of the 24-year-old victim.

Saraceno had moved to California from his native Connecticut and was working for a digital design agency. He was out celebrating a birthday with friends on the bus, which was traveling south on the 101 Freeway near Universal Studios Drive, the night he was killed. Other passengers on the bus say Saraceno was standing near the front, changing the music on the radio when the bus swerved and Saraceno lost his balance, falling down the stairway and through the door.

Friends tried to grab him as he slipped down the stairway to the exit, and Saraceno attempted to hold on to a handle and the bottom step, but he fell out of the bus onto the freeway and was hit by several cars.

The case exposed the gaps in enforcement of safety regulations for limo companies that maintain and operate these types of vehicles.