Patrick Kang · Kyle Tatum · Paul Wolfram
$6.6 Million Dollar Jury Verdict on a Toxic Mold Poisoning Case
February 12, 2025 6:30 PM||
In August of 2019 the Andrews Family signed a lease with Anza Management to stay in a three-bedroom unit located at 4040 Boulder Highway in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 20, 2019 it rained, and the Andrews Family unit began to leak. It leaked for three days straight. Despite multiple calls to the property management company, Anza Management did not arrive to even look at the leak until the third day. Their maintenance people arrived, looked at the bubble of water forming in the living room ceiling and said "we can't do anything until it dries" and left the unit. On the evening of November 23, 2019, while Anna Andrews (the mother) was changing out a bucket filled with water from the leak, the ceiling collapsed on Anna injuring her head, neck and low back. The sudden opening of the ceiling released an untold number of toxic mold spores into the air causing Anna's 13 year old daughter (Keyna) to have an immediate asthma attack. Anna rushed her 13 year old daughter to the emergency room and then took herself and her 9 year old son Javar to the hospital the very next day.
The building the unit was located in had a 5-year history of water leaks due to a known dangerous condition in the roof; a condition Anza Management had known about for years but refused to properly address. The unit was ultimately tested by Anna Andrews herself, and the test results showed elevated levels of Stachybotrys mold spores in the unit. Stachybotrys is a toxic mold commonly referred to as the "black mold." This exposure of approximately 100 days to the Andrews family caused significant health issues to the mother (Anna) and her daughter (Keyna). After years of declining health, declining cognitive issues, and increasing unexplainable migraines, both Anna and Keyna were tested by a medical mold specialist in California. That doctor diagnosed Keyna with an Immune Injury due to the Toxic Mold Exposure and diagnosed Anna with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) and Toxic Encephalopathy of the brain from Toxic Mold exposure.
After a two week jury trial, the jury came back with a Plaintiff's Verdict of $6.6 Million Dollars for the Andrews family as well as an award of punitive damages.
Teaching Points:
-The importance of focus groups data for jury trials.
-Polarizing the Defense Corporation.
-The power of the Opening Argument.
-Use of interactive demonstratives during trial.
-The 30B6 Corporate Trial Testimony and how to hit the important topics.
-How to pivot on damages and focus on the strong areas while getting rid of the weak areas.
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