Reported in the Lawyers Weekly
In 2002, the plaintiff was working as a realtor with main responsibilities of showing homes. She was hired by the defendant in June to assist him in selling a property. The plaintiff arrived at the property so that she could show it to an inspector. Only minutes after arriving, the plaintiff was attacked by the defendant's dog. At the time of the accident the plaintiff was pregnant, and was also accompanied by her young son.
Immediately following the accident, medical personnel arrived at the scene to care for the plaintiff. At the same time the animal was also secured. Due to several lacerations the plaintiff was taken to the hospital, and was released later the same day.
The defendant claimed that he did not have liability insurance that could cover the accident. In turn, the counsel for the plaintiff decided to file suit. This led to a $500,000 real estate attachment being assessed to property that the defendant owned.
Even though the defendant said that he did not own the dog or care for it, this was proven wrong in the end. The counsel for the plaintiff was able to prove this through testimony by witnesses, as well as the defendant's girlfriend.
In addition, the plaintiff also brought forth a separate charge of negligence because she believed that the dog had a violent past. Again, the defendant fought these charges, but deposition testimony proved him to be wrong.
To go along with all of the complications of the case, things were set back even further when it was found out that the counsel for the defendant had a suspended law license. This led to the defendant representing himself at the trial which lasted two weeks.
The real estate attachment of $500,000 proved to be very important in the end. Using the real estate attachment as leverage in the case, the plaintiff forced the defendant into settling so that he could avoid losing the sale of the property.
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