David R. Ruiz and Lynn L. Carpenter Prevail Against Wrongful Death Claim

General Counsel David R. Ruiz and Los Angeles Partner Lynn L. Carpenter recently prevailed against a claim of wrongful death in the custody of our clients, a public entity. Mr. Ruiz and Ms. Carpenter successfully argued that statutory immunity applied as to all of the plaintiff’s negligence claims, and the Court agreed, granting our Motion for Summary Judgment and adopting the tentative ruling in full. 

Pivotal to the Court’s decision was the finding that having the decedent assessed for suicide risk and placed in a safety cell did not constitute the administration of treatment for mental illness or addiction as contemplated by the statute, and that County employees took reasonable action to summon medical care immediately upon discovering the need for care. 

Rounding out the team’s contributions were Los Angeles Equity Partner Mildred K. O’Linn, San Francisco Partner Nichole Santiago, and paralegals Pamela Mata, Delia Flores, and Angela Thompson. 

David R. Ruiz is the leader of the Appellate Law (Strategy, Writs, & Appeals) team and a member of the Special Investigations Unit / Insurance Fraud Litigation team. He also serves as General Counsel for the firm. Mr. Ruiz has been involved in numerous multimillion-dollar personal injury cases, where his writing and research skills have proven a key asset to resolving these matters at or before trial. Mr. Ruiz is no stranger to high-stakes litigation as, throughout his career, he has participated in a large number of multimillion-dollar exposure cases in the areas of personal injury, insurance fraud, employment law, consumer class actions, and real property, as both plaintiff and defense counsel.

Lynn L. Carpenter is a member of the Governmental Entity Liability team and is proud to represent various law enforcement agencies and their officers. Prior to joining Manning Kass, Ms. Carpenter was an Assistant District Attorney in Oklahoma, where her work resulted in the successful prosecution of complex felony trials including child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. In her current role, she has successfully defended several high-exposure civil rights cases involving claims against law enforcement at trial. She has also been instrumental in obtaining favorable pretrial settlements for her clients.