Slaughter, Reagan & Cole, LLP partner, Barry Reagan, successfully defended their client in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleging arising from a fire at a residential property that plaintiffs had leased from defendant. In the case, a fire destroyed the garage and a portion of the rental property. Plaintiffs claimed the fire was caused by faulty or aged electrical wiring in the garage. The property was built in the 1940s and had an electrical panel with older screw-type fuses. Plaintiffs claimed that defendant failed to maintain the property in habitable condition and failed to notify plaintiffs of the dangerous electrical system on the property. Defendant contended that plaintiffs overtaxed the electrical wiring in the garage by installing a recording studio, complete with mixing boards, amplifiers, a computer and monitors.
Plaintiffs requested damages in excess of $500,000.00, including damaged personal property, return of rent and emotional distress resulting from the fire. Plaintiffs were also seeking punitive damages. Following a seven day trial, the jury returned a defense verdict on all causes of action, including negligence, breach of habitability, breach of quiet enjoyment and wrongful eviction. Further, the Court ruled in favor of defendant on plaintiffs’ cause of action for Unfair Competition.