The Fascinating World of High Profile Litigation

Presented By: Jim Hanrahan

The first program of President Rosie Mares’ new year started off with a twist.  Retired Attorney Jim Hanrahan, who was a law partner with Jim Helms, gave us a look into how lawsuits can take unusual twists and turns, particularly in the world of high profile litigation.

Jim started off with the 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam Case that resulted in the City of LA paying millions of dollars in damages for the dam breaking and killing 5 people and destroying 277 homes.  However, the City of LA turned around and sued the oil company for drilling that compromised the dam.  He then turned to the Hoffy Hot Dog case where laminated beams broke from ceiling hitting the fire sprinklers and flooding the building.  Hoffy sued for $500,000.  Jim’s clients offered $125,000. Hoffy chose to go to trial and the jury decided to award Hoffy only $100,000.

We also learned about the biggest banana case in which a vending machine worker claimed he slipped on a banana in the lunchroom of the Federal Reserve Bank.  The worker sued for $350,000 but Jim’s private investigator filmed the “injured” worked doing mechanical work.  After all the legal wrangling, the worker only ended up with $35,000.

Jim also did work with many famous people like Lee Marvin, Dionne Warwick and the infamous Moe the Chimp from West Covina who bit off a woman’s finger.  Before Jim could tell us about the automobile cases he has handled, Rosie gave him the hook and led him off the stage.  It was clear Jim had lots more cases to cover.  I sense another Arcadia Rotary Club speaking engagement in Jim’s future.