Jury Unanimously Rejects Judge's $21 Million Personal Injury Suit

February 25, 2008

A Van Nuys jury on Friday rejected U.S. District Judge George P. Schiavelli's claim that he was entitled to $21 million in damages resulting from severe injuries that he sustained in an alleged escalator accident at an Encino shopping center.

A nine-woman, three-man panel took less than two hours to determine that Peppy LLC was not negligent in its operation/maintenance of its escalators and that Schiavelli has simply lost his footing and fell in the August 12, 2005 mishap at the Encino Shopping Center.

"I am very gratified for this verdict because it truly represents the evidence, and the jury was able to see the evidence accurately without concern that the plaintiff happened to be a respected judge," said Peppy attorney Russell S. Wollman, a partner in Los Angeles-based Murchison & Cumming. "My client's escalators functioned perfectly on the day of Judge Schiavelli's accident."

Browne Greene, attorney for the former Superior Court Judge who was appointed to the federal bench in 2004 by President Bush, had asked the jury to award his client millions in damages for medical bills, lost earnings, impaired future earnings and pain and suffering.

Schiavelli claimed that damage to his knees, back and shoulder were such that his ability to secure lucrative pay later in his legal career as a private judge was threatened. He attended only part of the trial with use of a walker, necessitated by recent knee surgery that he claimed was required because of the incident.