CVN screenshot of plaintiff counsel Rahul Ravipudi delivering his closing argument
Van Nuys, CA - A California state court jury delivered a roughly $48.8 million verdict on Thursday in favor of a comatose man who suffered a major traumatic brain injury after being struck by a City of Los Angeles garbage truck, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff Kamran Hakimi, 60, was left in a permanent vegetative state after being hit in a pedestrian crosswalk by the turning truck in 2024. The City conceded liability for the accident, and the trial to determine appropriate damages for his injuries took place with zero settlement offers from the defense, according to Hakimi’s attorney Rahul Ravipudi of Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP.
Hakimi's attorneys sought between $65 and $85 million in damages, but the City urged the Los Angeles County jurors to award a more “reasonable” amount, arguing he had a limited chance for any meaningful recovery regardless of the level of care he receives, and that his comatose state was analogous to an anesthetized patient being unaware of pain from a colonoscopy or surgical procedure.
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In addition to confirming the City never made any offers to settle the case and no high/low agreement was in place, Ravipudi issued a statement after the trial thanking the jury for returning an award that he argued will help Hakimi have the best chance at an some eventual recovery, having told jurors he was not technically braindead.
"This verdict upholds the dignity of the life Mr. Hakimi enjoyed before this tragedy and we are grateful to the jury who carefully considered all the evidence and provided Mr. Hakimi with the means necessary to get the higher level of care he so desperately needs,” Ravipudi said.
Ravipudi’s co-counsel and firm founder Brian Panish told CVN he attributed the trial proceeding with zero offers to Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto’s policy of “not paying on cases” due to her position on tort reform. Panish told CVN the City rejected a mediator’s proposal to resolve the case, and that his team made rejected settlement demands smaller than the eventual jury award.
“The Los Angeles City Attorney had an opportunity to settle this case for less than the verdict but rejected all demands and offered $0 on a case where a sanitation truck driver ran over an innocent victim -- a father of five -- in the crosswalk on a green light, Panish stated. “The City Attorney is fiscally irresponsible and should not be in charge of city funds!"
Outside trial counsel for the City and a spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from CVN.
With a stipulation of liability reached before trial, much of of the testimony involved dueling experts analyzing the voluminous brain scans and other imaging Hakimi underwent since slipping into a coma shortly after the accident.
In particular the plaintiffs relied on expert testimony from Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neurologist widely credited with discovering and first diagnosing the condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Dr. Omalu was portrayed by actor Will Smith in the 2015 movie “Concussion.”
The six-day trial took place before Judge Valerie Salkin, and the defense was represented by the City Attorney’s office and Hurrell Cantrall LLP.
The case is captioned Hakimi v. City of Los Angeles, case number 24VECV05119 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com