$200 Million Negotiated Settlement

$200 Million negotiated settlement of a California Class Action case involving California Consumer Protection statutes against a Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

$12.7 Million Verdict Awarded

Gary Holt obtained a total verdict of $12,771,000 in a premises security case on October 29, 2015, in Little Rock.  The verdict included a $2,771,000 verdict in compensatory damages against Park Plaza Mall, CMBS, LLC, and its security company, ERMC II, LP, Tristan Bryant, and Deonte Edison in favor of the Estate of Christian Ellis Hayes, deceased. A  twelve-member Pulaski County jury found that the corporate defendants’ negligent conduct was equal to that of each of the two individuals who were convicted in 2014 for Hayes’ February 28, 2013 murder and aggravated robbery of the Sbarro restaurant after the mall had closed for business. The jury considered evidence including an unlocked door leading to the outside of the mall behind Sbarro and other restaurants; unmonitored video surveillance, and knowledge that Bryant had previously entered the store after the mall closed and was suspected of theft at the time and claims for negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention of personnel on duty the night of the murder. The jury also assessed punitive damages of $10,000,000 against Tristan Bryant and Deonte Edison.        

Gary Holt & Associates, P.A. was honored to represent Hayes’ mother, Kimberly Marie Powell of Manhattan, who represented Hayes’ Estate.  She and Myon Zimbalist Hayes, of Chicago now have proof that their son, as an employee of a tenant of the mall, was entitled to reasonable safety at the mall where he worked.  Christian Hayes was age 25.

Goshien v. Centers for Youth and Family in Pulaski County

Gary Holt & Associates received a verdict of $680,000 in the case of Goshien v. Centers for Youth and Family in Pulaski County, Circuit Court, Arkansas, Case No. CV08-3328, with Gary Holt as co-counsel, on behalf of a mentally ill teenager.  The minor was in a residential treatment program for psychiatric disorders. She became toxic on lithium, a medication used to control mood swings. As a result, she suffered acute renal failure and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a life-threatening disorder.

Mickles v. Cincinnati Life Insurance Company

Mr. Holt received a verdict of $2,250,000 in a case involving the torts of bad faith, fraud and outrage: Mickles v. Cincinnati Life Insurance Company, et al, Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas, Second Division, No. CIV-98-6698.

Boerner v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co.

Mr. Holt received a verdict of $4,025,000, in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages in the case of Boerner v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., U.S.D.C. No. 4:98CV427JMM, in one of the few individual victories against a tobacco company outside California or Florida.