Hon. Thierry Patrick Colaw, Ret.

Wage and Hour

• Mediated a class action for failure to pay wages to hourly workers in construction including overtime, penalties, meal & rest, failure to pay wages on termination accurately and timely, and PAGA, etc.

Bad Faith

• Mediated and succesfully settled an insurance bad faith case following an underinsured motorist claim from an auto accident. Case settled in the seven-figure range.

Real Property

• Mediated and through a mediator's proposal successfully settled a complicated real property/easement settlement case between a donor religious society, who donated 250 acres of their land to the County with the perpetual proviso that the county keep it for quiet and peaceful use by the public, i.e.,bikes, and hiking. The county instead approved encroachments for road and structures on the land.

Catastrophic Injury

• Mediated a case in which a toddler was severely injured when fell from the window of the 2nd floor to concrete below and suffered skull fractures, subdural hematoma, loss of sight in one eye, with residual learning and psychological disabilities as well.

Maritime Law

• Mediated a maritime case on the high seas with severe brain injury to a seaman/sailor on commercial fishing trawler hit it the head by parted line with heavy metal fastener. Significant maritime law issues, i.e., no set-offs for prior settlement with other parties, no Howell number reduction or other collateral source reduction, all defendants jointly and severally liable for all economic and non-economic damages (No Prop 51 set-off or adjustment for non-economic damages), reverse Erie Doctrine applicable, i.e., Federal Maritime Substantive law applied, not California Substantive law.

Personal Injury

• Mediated a negligence claim against major air carrier and airport facility regarding a slip & fall with tendon injury complicated by alleged medical negligence by the physician with resultant drop-foot.

PI Auto

• Mediated a case involving catastrophic injuries to a bicyclist who crashed as an alleged result of the dangerous condition of public property in a bike lane. Type I indemnity clauses in Vendor contracts with city public entity.
• Mediated a complicated auto versus motorcycle personal injury case with catastrophic injuries to a motorcyclist. The case was complicated by a potential bad faith claim by the defendant against his insurer for purportedly not promptly settling thereby exposing real property assets worth millions. Case settled after three days of mediation and follow-up phone conferences in the 7-figure range.
• Mediated a lawsuit by the parent of a student who had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) that required school busing him "curb to curb" rather than him walking home. Child was struck by a car while walking home. Permanent brain injury with seizures and multiple other fractures and orthopedic problems.

PI Sexual Assault

• Mediated a case in which a young alleged rape victim sues in civil court for date rape purportedly by an older male.
• Mediated and succesfully settled a highly sensitive and emotional sexual assault case in the seven-figure range, with individual mediator proposals for each of the four women plaintiffs. The case involved teenage girls on a girls' varsity basketball team of two school districts high schols, wherein the defendant perpetrator was an assistant girls basketball coach. He pleaded guilty after six years of interminable criminal case procedures and delays. Trial on this case was set for a few months later.

Premises Liability

• Mediated a trip and fall of an elderly retired engineer who got foot entangled in wires of a mess of computers at a school polling place.
• Mediated and successfully settled a slip and fall against an American multinational retail corporation.
• Mediated a case with severe genital and thigh burn injuries to a toddler in a restaurant from allegedly negligently placed hot water by the server. A sensitive case involving potential and alleged negligence of the mother.

Wrongful Death

• Mediated a case in which two pilots of the defendant manufacturer helicopter were killed in an alleged "mast-bumping" incident crash in alleged high turbulence area. Design defects in mast hub alleged by the pilots' families' attorneys. The defendant manufacturer contended no defects, instead that the crash was due to pilot error operating at excess speed for turbulent conditions and over-application of controls.
• Mediated a case involving the death of a young crane operator when the brake line of a crane dolly was disconnected, crushing him between the crane rig and dolly. Survived by wife and baby. Case had significant comp lien, and claims of employer negligence as well as claims of comparative. Plaintiff claimed strict product liability for defective design and cost-benefit analysis prong of Barker v. Lull.
• Mediated a very sad, complicated, and sensitive case of a teenage girl who was killed when struck by a car. The case previously settled with the driver who struck and killed the girl for six figures, however this current settlement now was paid by insurance.