4 Seek Damages From Their Attorney : Lawyer Accused of Rejecting $2-Million Offer, Not Telling Clients

A Santa Ana woman and three Mexican citizens are expected to go to trial today in Orange County on their claim that a Los Angeles lawyer committed malpractice by turning down a $2-million settlement offer in a product liability case without telling them about the offer or getting their consent to reject it.

The 1981 case ended with a verdict for the defendant, Ford Motor Co.

“None of the plaintiffs was at the trial when the offer was made,” said San Francisco lawyer Melvin M. Belli, who is representing the four in their case against Browne Greene and his Los Angeles law firm.

Defective Design Charged

“They didn’t even know the case was lost until four weeks after the verdict,” Belli charged.

During the 1981 trial, the plaintiffs charged that the design of a Ford pickup truck was defective, causing it to ignite in a 1976 accident in Pomona. A 9-day-old infant was killed and three others in the vehicle suffered burns.

Injured in the crash were Maria Dolores Ornelas, an American citizen who lives in Santa Ana, and Fabiola Castro and Ventura Munoz Flores, both of Mexico. Killed was Ornelas’ son, Jose Jesus Munoz. The boy’s father, Jose Munoz Flores, who is Ventura Munoz Flores’ brother and a Mexican citizen, also joined in both lawsuits for the loss of his son.

$10 Million Punitive Damages

Belli said the suit against Greene seeks the amount of the offer plus $845,000 in interest and $10 million in punitive damages.

Greene labeled the allegations “hogwash.” He said a Santa Ana private investigator, who now works on cases for Belli, demanded to have “control” of the clients and to act as the intermediary. He said the investigator brought two of the plaintiffs to court the day after the offer was made on July 30, 1981.

Greene said he explained the offer to the clients, told them the amount and gave them the reasons why he recommended they reject it, which he said they did.

He said one of the problems was that the offer was in a lump sum without a breakdown of the amount each individual would get for injuries. A jury verdict could have brought in more than the individual settlement amount would have provided them, he said.

After the offer was rejected once, Ford renewed it later as deliberations continued, Belli said.

In pretrial motions Monday before Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein, Belli and Greene’s attorney, Charles A. Lynberg of Los Angeles, acknowledged that one of the issues in the trial is the inability of the plaintiffs to understand English and to stay in contact with their lawyer.

During the product liability trial, at least one of the plaintiffs returned to Mexico and could not be reached, the lawyers indicated. Jury selection is scheduled to begin this afternoon.