Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP Recognized for $15 Million Verdict in Keck v. Bel-Air Bay Club
At Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP, we believe that justice doesn’t happen by accident – and we’ve been proud to represent hundreds of plaintiffs in high-level litigation to achieve the justice they deserve. Over the years, our approach has allowed us to win billions for our clients and earn accolades from legal media organizations across the country. Most recently, our groundbreaking $15 million verdict in Keck v. Bel-Air Bay Club was recognized by TopVerdict as #6 in the Top 10 Wrongful Death Verdicts in California in 2019.
In this wrongful death case, our attorneys Bruce Broillet and Alan Van Gelder represented Katherine Keck, whose son William “Billy” Keck III suffered fatal heat exhaustion at the Bel-Air Bay Club, a country club located in the Pacific Palisades. For three hours after Billy started to show signs of heat exhaustion in the Club locker room – which did not have any air conditioning – attendants and staff members failed to call 911 or even move him to a cooler location. When he was finally admitted to Santa Monica – UCLA nearly four hours after the initial event, he died of an arrhythmia caused by elevated potassium levels: A common (and often fatal) complication of heat exhaustion.
Although the defense claimed that Billy frequently liked to sit on the locker room floor when overheated and that the Club could not get his consent to call 911, the plaintiff’s team successfully showed that the Bel-Air Bay Club staff violated their own emergency procedures. As the Club’s own trainer testified, the governing rule at the Club was “When in doubt, call 911.” Attorneys Broillet and Van Gelder also made the argument that consent is not required to call 911 and that the Club staff were ill-prepared and underqualified to deal with Billy’s medical situation.
The jury found that Ms. Keck had suffered $15 million in non-economic damages for the loss of her son. The jury also found that the Club was 80% responsible for Billy’s death, and under the rule of comparative negligence in California, the award was reduced to $12 million for the plaintiff’s side.
A History of Groundbreaking Verdicts and Settlements
Our legal team at Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP, was proud to see that the jury awarded a fair verdict in the case of Keck v. Bel-Air Bay Club, which reinforced that health clubs have a responsibility to stay informed about emergency response procedures – and then stick to those procedures during a crisis. We were also honored to be placed among the Top 10 Wrongful Death Verdicts in California for 2019 due to our work in this matter.
While nothing can ever truly replace the loss of a loved one, our team has often fought to ease the financial and emotional burden for our clients through the civil justice system. In the process, we’ve obtained more million-dollar verdicts and settlements than any other firm in California history and set ourselves apart as a premier trial law firm for plaintiffs.
If you or your loved one suffered catastrophic injury because of negligence, we invite you to contact our award-winning legal team at (866) 634-4525 today.