Students headed to class at an ABC School District middle school in Southern California, passing through the double-door entrance. A steel mullion — a 50-pound beam bisecting the two doors, designed to stabilize the doorframe — was resting at the center of the doorway. However, it had been installed improperly, and the shoddy work caused the mullion to be easily knocked loose. As a student named Mia made her way inside the school, disaster struck in an instant. The heavy centerpiece suddenly became unhinged and fell forward directly onto Mia’s skull. She collapsed to the ground, slamming her forehead off the hard floor. As Mia lay unconscious, any sense of a regular education or normal teen life ended abruptly.
Mia incurred two points of impact: the severe force of the mullion beam that cracked her skull from behind, followed by the full momentum of her face slamming to the floor. She had bleeding in her brain and was unresponsive at the scene. Sadly, Mia had also lost her father six months prior to her incident at the school. With the severity of her brain injury, in some ways, her family had lost two loved ones.
Over the weeks that followed, the victim’s family watched as Mia battled seizures. After the school district dismissed her episodes as fake, Mia’s family sought help from Arsineh Aghakhani of Aghakhani Law APLC. After spending dedicated time with the family and understanding the level of restitution the family deserved, Arsineh brought on John Kawai, a partner, and Nicholas C. Rowley, the founder of Trial Lawyers for Justice. A champion in the personal injury arena, Nick was known nationally for his years of experience fighting for victims of injury.
From the start, Nick recognized he would push this case to trial based on the nature of the incident and its life-altering impact on the young girl. Liability was clear, so his initial focus was to illuminate the reality of her brain injury and its role in her seizures. Nick believed this was no minor injury and pulled from his arsenal of experts to show how Mia would be forever afflicted — medically through a pediatrician and emotionally through a developmental neuropsychologist. Nick wanted to convey that not only were the girl’s injuries physically damaging, but the quality of her life would be reduced forever.
The Defense took a predictable approach in the case: with the recent death of her father, they attributed Mia’s seizures to psychological problems stemming from the loss. They insisted that, at worst, the girl had suffered a minor TBI. They lowballed the initial offer and argued the school district was not insured, preventing any insurance company funds from covering the high-dollar figure Nick believed she deserved.
Nick determined that the only way he would attain the appropriate amount of justice for Mia was through trial. He started to gear up for what he would present to a jury. His directive was to show the impact of injury, attributing the student’s seizures to actual injury as opposed to mental trauma. Nick needed a way to connect the dots between the blow to the back of the Plaintiff’s head, the impact of her skull hitting the floor, the TBI it caused, and the seizures that manifested as a symptom. Thus, Nick brought in DK Global to create a series of demonstratives.
The message behind the demonstrative was to paint a picture of that fateful day, the pinnacle changes to this young girl’s life, and the responsibility pointed at the Defense. It opened with a re-enactment of the moments after Mia was struck and collapsed, reliving the call to dispatch for a student hit in the head, lying on the floor, and emergency vehicles en route. The video then highlighted the ABC Unified School District’s mission statement of being "safe and supportive". An overhead map of the district followed, showing surrounding schools, while images of the school’s front and the student on the ground played throughout. It then referred to statute 3905A, detailing damages from physical pain, mental suffering, and emotional distress that the student had and would endure. Expert testimonies followed, including Dr. Ronald Gabriel (M.D.), who examined coup contrecoup injuries and brain scans, and Carina Grandison (developmental neuropsychologist), who provided insights into the student’s quality of life post-TBI. A reconstruction animation depicted the steel mullion falling onto the Plaintiff, and the internal brain images showed the impact on Mia’s brain as she hit the floor. To underscore the emotional toll, a day-in-the-life segment showed the mother’s experience, Mia’s physical therapy, and her ongoing struggles. The demonstrative concluded with Nick Rowley addressing the Defense directly, calling them to action.
Settlement negotiations started with Nick demanding $10,000,000. The Defense rebuffed. Each time the Defense refuted a settlement request, Nick pushed the bar higher, increasing the demand to $20,000,000, and then to $50,000,000. Nick then proved the school district had lied about the absence of insurance money; they were, in fact, insured as a JPA. After months of litigation and unsuccessful efforts to reach a fair settlement, Nick presented the DK Global video to the Defense. To avoid a potentially higher jury verdict, the Defense ultimately agreed to settle, offering $27,500,000 prior to trial. While Nick acknowledged that the settlement amount was substantial, he believed it could never adequately address the long-term impact the injury would have on Mia’s life.
Nicholas Rowley founded Trial Lawyers for Justice, a national law firm dedicated to representing injury victims against insurance companies, the government, and big corporations. He has authored several books; created Trial by Human, a non-profit trial skills program; and has been recognized nationally with numerous Trial Lawyer of the Year and Outstanding Trial Lawyer awards in multiple states. In addition, Nick was one of the youngest attorneys ever to be awarded Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). His extensive courtroom experience includes over 162 jury trials, where he has won over $3 billion in jury verdicts and settlements. As an active philanthropist, Nick and his wife, Courtney, have been involved with environmental and educational non-profits within the United States and abroad.
John Kawai has been a partner at Trial Lawyers for Justice since 2016. He handles cases involving medical malpractice, dangerous premises, fires, drownings, assaults, defective products, motor vehicle collisions, dangerous conditions of public property, and dog bites, among others. John’s successes include a $131 million verdict and numerous additional eight- and seven-figure settlements totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Arsineh Aghakhani, of Aghakhani Law APLC, specializes in personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, employment law, and criminal defense. Her successes include multiple seven ad 8 figure settlements on behalf of deserving clients. Arsineh is an active member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and the Armenian Bar Association.
