John Supple and Elizabeth Burns successfully defended a Covenant Care nursing facility in what some in the California long-term care industry have dubbed the "trial of the decade." The eight week jury trial, venued in Los Angeles Superior Court, resulted in a defense verdict with the jury concluding that none of the defendants were liable for wrongful death, elder abuse, fraud, or intentional infliction of emotional distress, and rejected all claims for compensatory and punitive damages. Plaintiffs' allegations of abuse and neglect against a hospice and two skilled nursing facilities were well-publicized in the long term care industry. The decedent's survivors sought $14 million.

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Fletcher Alford obtained a defense verdict at trial for Dynacraft BSC in a suit filed against Wal-Mart, Dynacraft, and Carl Warren & Co. Plaintiffs were nine boys who contended they experienced traumatic brain and other injuries when the front wheels of their bicycles fell off while they were riding. Plaintiffs' counsel asked the jury to award the nine families $8 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.

Alford's team had approximately two months to complete all discovery and investigation and to prepare for what amounted to nine separate, serious personal injury trials. The trial judge refused to sever the cases which occurred in different states in separate accidents over the course of several years. The suit received substantial press coverage which noted that the Consumer Product Safety Commission previously fined Dynacraft in connection with unrelated defective bike parts (though not the quick-release mechanism).

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To read the Daily Journal article, please click here.