LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP Litigation team representing the City of Los Angeles and LAPD officer Brandon Purece secured a high profile defense jury verdict in a Los Angeles Superior Court civil rights action (Bradley Steyn v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 20STCV34657). Plaintiff Bradley Steyn sued for battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violations of the Ralph Act and the Bane Act, and negligence arising from Steyn being shot in the groin by Purece with a less than lethal foam projectile. Plaintiff, a South African, alleged that the 40mm Less-Lethal Launcher was used to target him in an unauthorized manner, immediately after he violently kicked another LAPD officer during a fluid and rapidly evolving protest in the City’s Fairfax District on May 30, 2020. The protest was preceded by the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis five days earlier. Steyn’s kick of Officer Purece’s fellow LAPD officer was so severe that the officer’s pistol magazine fell out of his vest and he suffered injuries to his stomach, shoulder, and elbow.
Burke partner Brian S. Ginter led the Burke defense team, which included partner Charles E. Slyngstad, associate attorney Kyle Anne Piasecki, and paralegal Phil Paley. Ginter opined, “A jury accurately and fairly determined that Officer Purece used reasonable force and did not violate Mr. Steyn’s rights. The jury rightly rejected Steyn’s request for $10 million in compensation.” Ginter also noted “this verdict was exceptional because we were able to show that Officer Purece appropriately used the 40mm launcher against Mr. Steyn, even though the round struck Mr. Steyn in an area that should not be targeted.” Plaintiff Bradley Steyn was represented by Lisa Bloom and three other attorneys with The Bloom Firm.
Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP is a California limited liability law partnership with 161 member attorneys. Burke has ten practice groups: Litigation; Public Law; Eminent Domain and Inverse Condemnation; Labor and Employment Law; Construction Law; Environmental, Land Use and Natural Resources; Real Estate and Business Law; Insurance Coverage and Litigation; Intellectual Property; and Education Law. With regional offices in the Inland Empire, Palm Desert, Los Angeles, Marin County, Oakland, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Ventura County, as well with the added support of advanced communications technology, Burke can easily be where our clients need us to be. For more information, please visit https://www.bwslaw.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/burke-williams-&-sorensen/about/?viewAsMember=true.
