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THE LAW OFFICES OF JAMES R. GILLEN REACHES UNPRECEDENTED SETTLEMENT WITH VEGAS' CASINOS FOR CLIENTS INJURED IN TOUR BUS ACCIDENT
Late in the afternoon on March 9, 2003, six family members, including the group’s 80-year old mother, were returning to Los Angeles from a vacation weekend celebrating a birthday at two casinos in Nevada on a charter bus operated by an independent charter bus company. Suddenly, the bus on which the group was traveling rear-ended another tour bus. Just prior to the impact, the group’s bus driver had been talking on a cell phone, operating a DVD player and watching the television monitor that was illegally installed in the driver’s cockpit. As a result of the collision, approximately 100 plaintiffs were injured on the two buses. Mr. Gillen’s clients, who were seated in the front seats of the bus, received severe lower extremity injuries. Click here to read the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper article.
In addition to the bus drivers and tour bus companies, Mr. Gillen sued two casinos – Gold Strike Hotel & Gambling Hall, which is owned/controlled by MGM/Mandalay Bay/Jean Development and Four Queens Hotel & Casino – on an agency theory, since they enjoyed an ongoing, mutually profitable relationship with the tour bus companies and drivers. Click here to read Gillen's Second Amended Complaint. In fact, during the period 1998 to 2002, approximately 1,000,000 individuals were transported to MGM’s Gold Strike casino by tour bus companies. Both Gold Strike and Four Queens required tour bus operators to list the casinos as additional insureds on the bus companies’ insurance policies. Click here to read Gillen's Seperate Statement. Click here to read Gillen's Legal Brief. At the inception of the case, the MGM/Mandalay Bay attorneys informed Mr. Gillen they “would never pay a dime,” and a lengthy pre-trial investigation and discovery process followed involving over 33 plaintiffs’ counsel and more than seven defense firms. Gillen assumed the role of lead plaintiffs’ counsel by virtue of an aggressive investigation, discovery and law and motion strategy, and became, in essence, “the digital attorney,” when he successfully petitioned the San Bernardino Court, and was awarded an Order to have all discovery and pleadings’ documents in the massive case served by the parties electronically via Lexis File & Serve. Click here to read the Motion for Electronic Service. Click here to read the Order Granting Motion for Electronic Service. This was the first time the San Bernardino Court permitted e-serving of documents. Mr. Gillen’s aggressive prosecution of the case was even acknowledged by Lexis File & Serve, when their representative stated that the pleadings generated by Mr. Gillen comprised the highest volume of electronic documents exchanged by any law firm in the nation. Click here to go to the Lexis File & Serve website.
Additionally, Mr. Gillen bore the burden of the costs on the case and incurred over $500,000.00 prosecuting these Defendants. In fact, Gillen’s efforts facilitated settlement of the other approximately 94 plaintiffs in the case. However, Gillen’s clients were the only Plaintiffs who were paid any money from the MGM/Mandalay Bay/Jean Development/Gold Strike casino, despite their statement early in the case that they would not settle. In total, the settlement proceeds realized by Gillen’s clients were more than four times the money received by the other 94 plaintiffs.
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