Our Client was en route to the Caribbean with her family when she arrived at LAX from Central California and boarded an airline shuttle for transport from her commuter flight to the main terminal. It was late at night and many of the passengers were rushing to catch their flights when the Client and her family were loaded into a very crowded shuttle bus. The Client was positioned very precariously on the stairs leading to the rear of the bus while she bent forward in an effort to keep a hold of her carry-on luggage. Without warning, the driver suddenly accelerated forward and almost immediately slammed on the brakes for the loading of a forgotten baby stroller. There was no formal report of the incident by either the Shuttle Bus Contractor or the Airline Carrier; no emergency medical care was provided despite the request of our Client; and the Client and her family were given the option of immediately boarding a departing redeye flight to the east coast or being stranded for as much as several days during a peak holiday travel period. Despite repeated and comprehensive requests, the Airline Carrier and Shuttle Bus Contractor were unable to identify the bus driver and claimed that the available trip sheets failed to identify any crowded buses on this route during the time in question.

Plaintiff experienced immediate pain which did not resolve with time or treatment and was ultimately diagnosed with a pudendal nerve injury and pelvic upslips and downslips. Medical expenses, including the cost of surgical decompression of the entrapped pudendal nerve, amounted to approximately $110,000. No claim was to be presented at trial for loss of earnings or earning capacity.

After two prior law firms rejected her case, the Client hired Tyler J. Barnett and James P. Carr of YSC just three weeks prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. After about 25 depositions in Minnesota, Central California, Southern California, and the Caribbean, the case was settled at Mediation on the scheduled first day of trial for $1,375,000.