We enjoy fighting for our clients and seeking resolutions to their problems.  We love what we do.  And while we know we work hard to meet these goals, it’s nice to receive some outside recognition of our efforts.

I am proud to announce that Stewart R. Albertson of our firm was recently nominated for Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.  This is a huge honor for Stewart and our firm.  It places him in rare company as some of the top trial attorneys in our nation have been nominated for this same award.

Stewart’s nomination comes from a wrongful death case we tried in front of a jury in San Bernardino County in June 2013.  We represented the parents of Bailey Sloan who was killed by a drunk driver on the I-215 freeway on October 24, 2009.  As so often happens in these cases, the drunk driver was a young woman who had little insurance coverage.  Bailey’s parents couldn’t find anyone who would take their case beyond just settling out for the limited insurance policy limits.  But what they wanted was to have their day in Court, for a jury to decide what their daughter’s life was worth—and to show that value to the drunk driver and the rest of the community.

The drunk driver refused to settle for a reasonable amount, so the matter went in front of a jury and the jury decided that Bailey Sloan’s life did have value.  The jury returned with a verdict of $5.65 million.

I, for one, don’t need the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles to tell me that Stewart is Trial Lawyer of the Year for this great victory because I have already made up my mind.  But it is still nice to receive that recognition all the same.  Not every case can have this wonderful of a moral victory, but it is nice to know that justice can still be obtained from time to time.