$11 Million Verdict for Motorcyclist Struck by LADWP Van

On April 12, 2019, Grady Dillon was riding his motorcycle through downtown Los Angeles when a city Department of Water and Power van made a left turn directly into his path. The DWP driver, Manuel Medina, had no time to warn him. Dillon could not stop. He collided with the van at speed.

The impact fractured Dillon's pelvis, ribs, left wrist, and right foot and lacerated his spleen. He spent 12 days hospitalized and underwent two major surgeries immediately after the crash. Over the following years he required three additional procedures, including a lumbar fusion and a wrist osteotomy, leaving him with permanent pain and physical limitations.

Dillon sued the City of Los Angeles through its DWP. Lead trial counsel came from Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, with Nina Sargsyan of Downtown LA Law Group serving as co-counsel. At trial, the team presented video evidence of the collision and played Medina's own deposition, in which he admitted he did not look left before turning. The city argued Dillon had been traveling 59 mph in a 35 mph zone, but the jury rejected that defense entirely and assigned 100 percent liability to Medina and the DWP.

On March 22, 2024, the Van Nuys jury returned a verdict of $11,045,000, including $9.5 million for past and future pain and suffering.

The city appealed. In July 2026, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, affirmed the judgment in full. The court found the city could not meet the burden needed to show that Dillon's speed was a substantial cause of the collision, describing that standard as 'almost impossible' for the defense to satisfy on the facts presented. The $11 million award stood without reduction.