Dad and Daughter a Winning Trial Team, Racking Up $22M in Auto Case
Katie Grassini initially played a key role in one of her father’s personal injury trials long before she went to law school. When Lawrence Grassini needed an assistant to help him represent a ventriloquist in a syndication rights suit, he put his then-10-year-old daughter to work. She watched episodes of the television puppet program at issue and noted the details he needed to include in his jury argument, referenced by episode and show number.
Now a lawyer herself, she, her father and another lawyer recently won a record-breaking $22 million verdict for the Woodland Hills, Calif., law firm of Grassini and Wrinkle in an auto accident case, reports the San Fernando Valley Business Journal (sub. req.). The accident left a renowned emergency room nurse brain-damaged, paralyzed and unable to work after a poorly trained truck driver caused an accident. Most of the award, which is reportedly a record for a quadriplegic in the state, is for past and future medical expenses.
The two Grassinis are clearly related, since both look much alike, but this can be an advantage: “It does get the attention of juries, a father-and-daughter team of lawyers,” the senior Grassini says.
