Verdict of $4.25 Million - 15-Year-Old Drowns Due to Inattentive School's Lifeguard

Outcome: 4.25 million

Description: Michels & Watkins represented the parents of a 15-year-old boy who drowned due to the negligence of a school's lifeguards and teachers. The lifeguard was inattentive and allowed too many children in the pool, and the drowning of the 15-year-old boy went unnoticed. He went into a coma and died shortly after. Michels & Watkins obtained the highest child-death verdict in the history of California at the time for $4.25 million. The verdict was 10 times the pretrial offer. The case resulted in new rules at the school to improve the safety of student swimming.