Personal Injury Cases

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Randy has handled several significant personal injury cases.  He was the first lawyer in Houston to successfully sue a premises for an injury to a patron caused by the criminal act of a third person.  He obtained favorable jury verdicts and substantial settlements for women who had been sexually assaulted or otherwise injured by criminal conduct at apartment complexes, hotels, shopping centers, and parking garages.  As a result, premises began to provide better security for patrons and/or ceased making false representations regarding security.  He also resolved successfully the following unusual cases:

• Lawrence Utti, a customer at a Sav-On drug store in Houston, was beaten in the parking lot by a police officer working security, who suspected him of stealing store property.  When the officer discovered that Utti had a receipt for the property, he filed a false charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.  Randy represented Utti in the criminal case, which was no-billed by a grand jury.  Thereafter, Randy sued Sav-On for assault and battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, and malicious prosecution.  After Utti rejected a $3,000 settlement offer, a jury awarded him $575,000.  Sav-On paid the judgment and closed its stores in Houston.

• Sheryl Anspaugh and Marcia Rubin, the executive director and a staff member at the YWCA, were charged with theft for allegedly stealing jewelry from the desk of a staff member whom they were investigating for various improprieties.  Randy represented them on the theft charges, which were dismissed.  Thereafter, Randy sued the YWCA, the staff member, and her husband, a local judge who was instrumental in the filing of the false charges.  A jury awarded Anspaugh and Rubin $853,000 against the judge and his wife; thereafter, the YWCA settled.

• Jennifer Simpson, a four-year-old girl, was rendered quadriplegic after she was injured by defective equipment on a playground at a church.  Randy persuaded the church to pay the maximum amount of its insurance coverage.  Thereafter, he sued the governing body of the church in a lawsuit that raised liability issues of first impression; a confidential settlement was reached.

• Robert Vela, a customer at the Parkway Supermarket, was shot at by a store employee who observed his companion shoplift an item.  The employee lied to the police that the companion pulled a gun on him outside the store and that Vela ran over him while driving away.  Vela was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.  After the State dismissed the criminal charge, Randy and Josh sued the store for assault and malicious prosecution.  A jury awarded Vela $463,850 in actual damages and $700,000 in exemplary damages.