Michael R. Nebenzahl, Esq.

• Bus operator throws an abusive patron off her bus, sits on top of the elderly patron on the adjacent sidewalk, and assaults him breaking his wrist. A lawsuit for elder abuse and assault and battery is filed and goes to trial.
• A patron at a Mexican Restaurant/Cantina gets drunk and is abusive to customers. When he is asked to leave by the bartender, he becomes more belligerent. The restaurant’s private security company provides trained bouncers. The bouncer escorts the patron to the front door to leave. When the patron refuses, a scuffle ensues with the patron sustaining injuries. The private security company subsequently went out of business. A lawsuit is filed and goes to trial against the restaurant on the theory that the bouncer is an agent of the restaurant.
• Two young adult males attack an elderly gentleman in an unsecure outdoor parking lot of a common carrier, pull him out of his car, and assault him. The man is injured, his personal possessions are taken, and his car is stolen. The common carrier is sued, and the case settled.
• On numerous separate occasions bus patrons are assaulted on board common carriers. In order to establish liability on a common carrier, these cases involve questions of how much advance notice and what type of notice must the bus carrier and/or bus operator have with respect to the incident about “to be committed” by the third-party assailant, and to what extent can the harm be prevented.

• A 37 year old motorcyclist going 30-35 mph with the right-of-way at the intersection of a cross-street T-bones a passenger vehicle that pulls out in front of him. He is immediately unconscious with massive injuries. The family instructs the emergency medical staff to administer all lifesaving measures possible. The motorcyclist never recovers from the trauma and is left in a complete vegetative state for life requiring 24/7 care.
• A patron at a major sporting event sponsored by a whiskey company is drunk holding a 16-ounce beer in each hand while leaning over a pedestrian bridge to vomit. The patron then falls 20 feet onto his head. He sustains traumatic brain injury, blindness in one eye, and significant orthopedic and internal injuries.
• A middle-aged drunk patron alights from a bus through the rear doors, takes one step off the bus, and before he is stable or otherwise walks away, the bus begins to pull away from the bus stop. The patron falls backwards against the moving bus, falls into the street and is run over. The patron sustains a degloving injury to a lower extremity and broken back.
• A middle-aged drunk male is about to board a bus. He is unable to get himself to the front door, walks away from the bus, and then approaches the bus just after it begins to depart from the bus stop. The man falls into the gutter with the bus riding over his leg. The leg is amputated just below the knee.
• At dusk, a bus loses all power and stalls in the HOV lane on a freeway. A postal worker on his way to his night shift rear-ends the bus with his car immediately bursting into flames. The postal worker dies with his body so badly burned that all that remains is an unrecognizable charred corpse.

• A bus driver falls asleep at 1:00 a.m. running into several cars parked near a pop-up taco stand. One of the pedestrians waiting for his taco is pinned under a vehicle and dies with his wife at his side, leaving four young children. Several other pedestrians sustain various personal injuries including lower extremity fractures and claims of TBI.

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• Defended a LAPD Officer in roughly 25 civil suits involving the “Rampart Scandal” which resulted in hundreds of civil rights Section 1983 cases involving falsely convicted and imprisoned gang members.
• An African-American lesbian was involved in an alleged assault and battery on board (and off) a public bus in central Los Angeles. When she boarded the bus, the bus operator was to have discriminated against her with both his behavior and his language in failing to treat her appropriately and protect her because of her sexual orientation and race. As she remained on board, the bus operator further failed to protect her from a patron who harassed her, attacked her, threw her off the bus, and then assaulted her on the sidewalk causing severe injuries. She alleged violations of her civil rights, including leaving her injured and taking off with her toddler still on board the bus.
• A man, convicted of murdering his wife, was incarcerated in State prison. While in prison, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Over a number of years during his various appeals and habeas pleas, he was transferred and housed in a County jail facility for various lengths of time. He was treated for his cancer on and off over 5 years at the County jail and by contracted hospitals and medical groups to provide special medical services that the County medical staff was not able to provide. He then sued the County for violations of his civil rights for failing to treat, diagnose and provide reasonable and necessary medical care.

• A roll-off trash bin truck was owner operated. The driver lost control of the truck while descending a long steep street as he was driving from the Valley into the City. The truck managed to stay upright until just before the bottom of this street which provided a truck runaway ramp. In the effort to maneuver into the runaway ramp, the truck rolled onto its side, over an LAPD vehicle that just happened to be driving up the road, killed the driver and caused traumatic distress to the trainee passenger.
• A cement truck was one of 17 trucks providing a single “monumental” cement pour for the foundation to a large home being remodeled. Because this home was located on a side street to a steep street, the employer set out a specific route for the drivers to avoid the steep hill. One such truck driver, however, decided to take the mountain roads and when descending the steep street with a full load of cement, his brakes gave out. He jumped out of his truck, sustaining injuries. The truck then ran into a parked vehicle with an off-duty LAPD officer who was about to provide private security services at the home of a celebrity. The off-duty officer was killed.
• A cement truck was on its way to a single-family dwelling up a very steep street. While on the ascent, the truck developed a malfunction. The driver called for a mechanic to inspect and repair what turned out to be an air hose problem. By the time the mechanic had completed the repair, the cement was no longer usable. The driver had to return down the hill with a full load of cement. On his descent, the driver failed to lower the 4th axle, which has an additional set of brakes. This truck lost its brakes, and the driver jumped. After sustaining non-life-threatening injuries, while under anesthesia for a routine procedure, the driver suffered a stroke and became comatose for life.
• A common carrier bus stalled on the freeway and was then rear-ended by another vehicle. On impact, the vehicle exploded into a fire with the driver burning to death. There was nothing left of the driver for identification due to the body being burned to charred remains. The bus’s alternator failed primarily due to the carrier’s maintenance department alleged negligent installation of defective batteries. The electrical system then failed with the bus stalling in the high-speed HOV lane at dusk. The decedent left a common law wife and four minor children.

• Elderly man with a wheelchair and a four-prong cane (for when he wants to walk) boarded a bus. When the bus operator failed to hear his request to stop at his bus stop, he approached the operator and berated her. She stopped at the next bus stop and lowered the wheelchair ramp for him to alight. When he continued to berate her and not alight, she raised the ramp which then struck him. The bus operator then threw him and his wheelchair off the bus. Rather than close the door to the bus, the operator stood near the front door, rolled up her sleeves and told the man not to threaten her with his cane. He promptly boarded the bus with the exposed four prong cane. She knocked the cane to the side, took him off the bus, sat on him and assaulted him. (All of this is captured on the bus digital recording system.) The matter goes to trial on the theory that the common carrier was responsible for the elder abuse of the operator.
• A young man from Italy was studying at UCLA for the summer. He was riding a bus back to his apartment late at night. Not knowing the area, he was standing near the front of the bus keeping an eye out for his stop. The bus operator fell asleep and ran the bus head-on into a tree. The student flew into the front windshield sustaining rather significant injuries.
• A bus was pulling away from a bus stop having just come out of a curve on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The bus was rear-ended by a passenger truck causing injuries to the truck driver, his passenger and four on-board passengers. After settling all claims for arguably negligently pulling the bus into the through traffic lane, one patron refused to settle and the matter went to trial.
• Numerous cases involving on-board patrons claiming any variety of injuries and damages when a bus operator braked too hard, was driving at a speed unsafe for the conditions, lowered a wheelchair ramp onto patrons attempting to board a bus, and/or closing bus doors onto patrons alighting from a bus.
• Numerous cases where patrons were attacked/assaulted by another patron. These events range from relatively minor assaults without lasting injuries to stabbings requiring hospitalization.

• Numerous sidewalk trip and falls: These sidewalk trip and/or slip and fall incidents result in lawsuits almost exclusively based on the Government Code’s description of a “dangerous condition of public property”. The conditions range from minor or trivial offsets to more significant offsets that were not inspected nor repaired within reasonable periods of time. The allegations in these matters typically range from poor to no reasonable inspections, to inadequate policies not causing sidewalks to be inspected within reasonable periods of time, to failing to have City tree trimmers provide sufficient inspection of the contiguous sidewalks when they are trimming trees.
• Numerous defects in City streets: These defects, typically in some form or size of a pothole, often cause trip and falls that result in litigation. The variety of the alleged street defects range from divots within crosswalks, to a divot adjacent to a parking space (where a driver must step exiting a vehicle), to grates for storm drains that catch bicycle tires, to manhole covers below grade, to resurfaced streets using defective materials, to negligent workmanship in the resurfacing that can result in any number of problems (e.g., the asphalt not being flush with the cement gutter, the poor quality of the asphalt resulting in sunken stretches of roadway).
• Numerous street and roadway design issues: These cases can involve any number of alleged defects all premised on the allegations of a dangerous condition of public property. These cases involve such problems as signal placement, malfunctioning, and the timing of phases and cycles, the existence or non-existence of left-turn lanes and/or dedicated left-turn signals, the location and adequacy of traffic control devices (from signs to signals), line of sight distances, and to what extent is the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in conflict with any local/City standards and practices.
• A rural County’s stop sign was knocked down and not repaired until after an auto v. auto accident. The road runs parallel to an irrigation district canal. The impact spun a vehicle into the adjacent canal, resting upside down. The driver died from drowning when water from the canal flooded the car (he could not move due to the severity of the impact and being pinned by the steering wheel). The driver’s wife was the front seat passenger and survived being able to move her head to where her feet had been, finding an air pocket. Irrigation District personnel, who carry air tanks for such a circumstance, arrived shortly after the accident and were able to save her.
• An on-duty Deputy County Sheriff served a subpoena on a homeowner and tripped over a City water meter that was below grade in the sloping driveway apron. The Sheriff/plaintiff sustained serious lower extremity damages. The County held a sizeable worker’s compensation lien. The City and homeowner were sued for the dangerous location and condition of the water meter.

• Multiple commercial vehicle accidents all occurred over a six-week period of time resulting in two deaths and catastrophic injuries. The multiple plaintiffs alleged an excessively steep grade in an urban setting with sharp curves that were not remedied despite a City transportation engineer’s memorandum recommending altering the roadway long before any of the accidents. The consolidated cases settled with the primary and excess carriers filing declaratory relief actions on the question of whether the three accidents were one or multiple “occurrences” trigging three separate excess claims of coverage.
• A City was sued when a 37-year-old motorcyclist with the right-of-way on a through street ran into the driver side door of a young woman who pulled away from her cross-street failing to see the motorcyclist. The driver settled for her policy limits. The motorcyclist sued the City on the allegation that the length of the red-curb set back from the cross-street violated the Caltrans recommended standards for line-of-sight protections. The motorcyclist remains in a permanent vegetative condition requiring 24-hour care for life.
• A stop limit line parallel to a City’s stop sign was set back quite some distance from the curb lane of the intersecting main through street. When a motorcyclist was stopped at the limit line and stop sign, he could not see the on-coming cross-traffic. When the motorcyclist pulled out into traffic, he was T-boned rendering him a paraplegic.
• A major artery with two lanes in each direction, left-turn pockets, and a raised grass median dividing the two directions is intersected by two separate streets, each approaching at acute angles resulting in an intersection with six separate approaches. Two accidents, virtually identical but 10 years apart, took place involving left turning vehicles from the main through street striking a moped first, and then striking and killing a speeding motorcyclist. The allegations in the two lawsuits included sight distance obstructions, insufficient warnings, but mostly the issues revolved around the complexities of the six approaches to the intersection. The problems also included left turn lanes on the main artery, but no dedicated left-turn arrows.
• Cities have repaved asphalt streets without raising the level of manhole covers resulting in depressions. These conditions have resulted in both pedestrian and cyclist accidents. These injuries can range from minor events to fractures requiring surgery.
• A City engaged a private vendor to resurface an alley. The alley’s asphalt surface was ground down and removed leaving a substantial offset up against the center cement trough/drain which is not altered during the project. The vendor complied with the contract posting warning signs and was on schedule to complete the resurfacing within a week. An elderly woman who lives at this location tripped over the center drain taking her trash to the City garbage container located in the alley. The allegations include inadequate signage, failure to warn, and failure to secure the alley while under construction all causing TBI.

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• A senior executive at a Public Utility Agency sued for wrongful termination and whistleblower violations. He claimed that he was asked to engage in violations of law and public policy by an elected member of the Board of Directors. He claimed that he was retaliated against by failing to be promoted to the General Manager position and then terminated for not following through with the illegal actions directed by the Member of the Board. He claimed $2.5 million in lost future income.
• An entry-level, young and attractive blond female police officer sued for sexual harassment and discrimination when a Police Lieutenant instructed her on numerous occasions to rewrite her traffic collision reports, clearly used improper and very off-color language during roll-call, and when she walked past him in a summer dress, he commented on how great she looked. Lastly, when she brought a cake for a fellow officer for his birthday, the Lieutenant asked her if “she baked cookies”.
• A tractor operator at a public agency that turns raw sewage into clean reusable compost sued for discrimination and retaliation. The operator was terminated shortly after returning to work post-cancer treatment. He claimed that he was not given proper accommodations, was passed over for promotion, and was the subject of numerous employee investigations over 15 years of employment. He claimed age and disability discrimination and repeated harassment.
• A long-term employee, an ex-felon, had a long history of drug use and abuse, sued his employer, a public entity, for age and disability discrimination, retaliation and harassment.

• Water leaks from the homeowner’s side of a City water meter. The meter is resting flat, but behind a curb, on a slope of undeveloped land contiguous with the homeowner’s house. The leak results in tens of thousands of gallons of water going downhill and ultimately causing a landslide. The downhill property owner sues the uphill property owner for the leak from their private water lines and the City on a theory of inverse condemnation. The uphill property owner also sues for inverse condemnation. The inverse theories include that the street is unstable and that caused a lateral shift to the slope behind the curb breaking the water line, and that because the water meter was never maintained it shifted over time on the slope causing the water line to rupture.
• A City’s sewer line backed up causing raw sewage to pour out of several toilets and faucets causing damages to a luxury home in the hills.
• Due to a recently published Second District opinion, several cases were filed against a City based on claims of inverse condemnation following high winds causing extensive property damages to homes from fallen trees. The appellate decision allows for such actions if it can be proven that the fallen tree was (1) owned by the City/public entity and (2) planted as part of a specific plan or deliberate design for the public benefit.
• Portions of a backyard overlooking the Pacific Ocean slid down a very steep slope just beyond the backyard. Many years previously, the public entity had cut a fire/access road at the bottom of this hill.
• Two adjoining single-family dwellings, both large and expensive properties in a gated community in a Canyon area, were separated by a fence, under which ran a City storm drain. Both homes suffered extensive property damages when the slope behind both properties gave way taking much of the backyards. In addition to claims of inverse condemnation against the City, the Complaints and Cross-Complaints included allegations of construction defects, dangerous conditions of public property, and breach of contract/insurance bad faith.

• Numerous vehicle accidents: auto v. auto, auto v. bike, auto v. pedestrian, auto v. motorcycle, auto v. truck, auto v. commercial vehicle.
  - Rear-enders
  - Left-turns
  - Darts outs (from injury to wrongful death)
  - Bus sideswipe (from parked cars to cyclists)
  - Truck runs red light T-bones vehicle (wrongful death)
• Numerous premises liability matters:
  - Trip and fall on private property/home
  - Trip and fall at apartment complex
  - Trip and fall on stairs at commercial building
  - Trip and all on stairs with no handrails

• A City has infrared detectors mounted at certain signalized intersections to detect approaching emergency vehicles. The detection then triggers the signals into a phase that provides a green light for the emergency vehicles and a red light for cross-traffic. A fire engine with lights and siren activated approached an intersection with a red traffic signal. If the signal does not change to green, even with lights and siren activated, the engineer must still obey the rules of the road and not encroach the intersection until it is safe to do so. The signal did not cycle from red to green for the engineer. When the cross-traffic driver entered on a green light, the fire truck T-boned her car causing it to roll three times and causing the driver to sustain serious injuries.
• A police officer on a side street activated his lights and siren just prior to entering an intersection against a red light for him. The driver on the through street never heard the siren nor saw the activated lights. When the driver entered the intersection, the officer T-boned his vehicle. The questions were how long before entering on the red light did the officer activate his lights and siren, and did he proceed with reasonable care making sure that it was safe for him to enter the intersection while responding to the emergency.
• A police officer in pursuit with lights and siren activated was going in excess of 50 mph on a main artery in an urban area. He was weaving between cars that had stopped for him. Due to his speed and the vehicles stopped in traffic, his view and the view of a driver turning left in front of him onto this main artery were blocked. The police car rear-ended the left-turning passenger vehicle at 50 mph.
• A police officer is stopped for a red light in the number 2 of 2 lanes. Next to him is a SUV in the number 1 lane, also stopped. While stopped, the officer observes a traffic violation by a car going in the opposite direction. When the light turns green, the officer immediately negotiates a U-turn to detain the offending driver. The officer starts his U-turn pulling in front of the SUV in the number 1 lane. The driver of the SUV then pulls forward on the green light and hits the officer’s vehicle.
• A City street is closed to traffic with a reserve police officer monitoring the intersection by sitting in his marked police SUV behind a road closed sign. The SUV is angled to block traffic with all emergency lights activated. A car arrives at the closed road, stops, allows the front seat passenger to approach the officer to ask for permission to drive down the street. The officer steps out of his SUV, asks the passenger what he can do to assist her. She tells him that she would like to drop off other passengers at an Air BnB. As they stand in the street, protected by the front to the SUV, the police lights and road closed sign, within seconds a DUI driver runs through the road closure striking both of them causing serious injuries to the woman and minor injuries to the reserve officer. The woman sues the City and Officer claiming that his actions created a special relationship.

• A teacher brings a horse to an elementary school as part of Halloween festivities for the outdoor event. As the horse is walked into the area, a loudspeaker squelches. The horse is spooked becoming uncontrollable causing injuries to students and parents.
• A teacher in a special needs classroom did not believe that a student needed to use the bathroom. The special needs child had no alternative but to urinate into a cup in the classroom.
• A 10th grader was participating in a volleyball tournament in a public-school gymnasium. She slipped and twisted her knee tearing her ACL. The District was sued for a defectively old and poorly maintained gym floor.
• A special needs student who cannot express himself verbally was seated on the hot asphalt playground in the summer in the Valley during an assembly. The student suffered burns to his lower extremities.
• A parent visiting her daughter at a high school slipped and fell descending a set of outdoor stairs. The stairway was contiguous with a plantar running the length of the stairway. The sprinklers watering the plants allegedly malfunctioned with water flowing over the sides of the plantar causing the dangerous and slippery stairs.

• During a wrestling match at a middle school, a student was injured when he struck the perimeter wall during a match. It was alleged that the wrestling ring was too close to the perimeter wall.
• A teacher allowed a middle school student to climb up onto a desk to remove a poster from the wall. The student fell and sustained injuries.

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• A large settlement was paid by an insurer on behalf of its private party primary insured and public entity additional insured when a toddler was hit by a golf ball from a municipal golf course maintained by the private party. The toddler suffered brain injuries. The insurer then sued its additional insured, City, to recover full reimbursement on theory that the public entity was not an additional insured as well as being the sole cause of the incident.
• Insurer repaired residential properties with damages from trees falling onto the homes. They brought subrogation actions to recover their costs of repairs. The theories on the subrogation claims ranged from dangerous conditions of public property to inverse condemnation from the City owned/installed tree as part of a City-designed plan.
• Insurer sought reimbursement on auto property damages payout claiming that another party was the cause of the auto accident.