School Injury / Drowning

D.A. vs School District

We were called by this family when their 15-year-old was in intensive care at Children's Hospital. He had been in a beginning swim class at his local high school. He nearly drowned and now was in a coma.

We interviewed many of the witnesses and found that the responsible lifeguard and teacher of the class had been inattentive and allowed too many children in the pool. They hadn't noticed that this young boy had sunk to the bottom.

The child unfortunately died, but we proceeded to trial against the school. The school defended the case by saying that the child had been in special education, was not a good student and that the parents were of modest means.

The jury awarded the family the highest child-death verdict at the time in the history of California - $4.25 million.