Manning Kass Secures Appellate Victory in Motorcycle Crash Case

Dallas office Managing Partner David R. Reeder, San Francisco Partner Mark R. Wilson, and Los Angeles Partner James A. Harris successfully argued against a claim of negligent entrustment in the California Second District Court of Appeal. In this case, Plaintiff visited a motorcycle dealership in Redondo Beach to purchase a motorcycle, despite having no experience riding motorcycles nor a motorcycle license. When the dealership discovered Plaintiff wouldn’t qualify for financing, his brother volunteered to co-sign for the motorcycle. After the sale was complete, Plaintiff’s brother, who did have a motorcycle license, drove the motorcycle back to Plaintiff’s home. Two hours later, Plaintiff drove the motorcycle to a store and crashed, sustaining catastrophic injuries. 
 
Over the course of three complaints, Plaintiff asserted numerous theories of liability against the dealership, including negligent entrustment, negligence, and strict products liability for failing to warn Plaintiff that motorcycles can be dangerous. Each time, the dealership demurred, and each time, the court sustained the demurrer. Finally, after the second amended complaint, the court sustained the dealership’s demurrer without leave to amend and dismissed the action.
 
On appeal, Plaintiff offered several theories, with the main theory presented being negligent entrustment, i.e., the dealership allegedly sold the motorcycle to an individual who it knew or should have known was incompetent to drive it. The Court of Appeal disagreed, observing that the mere sale of an automobile (like a motorcycle) to an unlicensed driver does not amount to negligent entrustment. Instead, the dealership must know or reasonably suspect the individual was going to drive the automobile before obtaining the requisite license and training. Here, the Court of Appeal said, the second amended complaint didn’t allege the dealership knew Plaintiff would drive the motorcycle before getting training and experience, especially given that it was his brother whom the dealership entrusted with the motorcycle and who drove it off the lot to Plaintiff’s house. At oral argument, the appellate panel asked Plaintiff’s counsel several times which facts he would allege in a potential amendment to cure these defects, but Plaintiff’s counsel never gave them a clear answer, leading the panel to conclude the complaint could not be amended to state a cause of action.

About Our Team

David R. Reeder is the leader of the Professional Liability – Design Professionals team and a member of the Construction Law, Insurance Coverage / Bad Faith, and Real Estate teams. He has successfully litigated and tried a wide range of complex, multimillion-dollar cases in the areas of Construction Defect, Personal Injury, Insurance Bad Faith, Fraud, Product Liability, Eminent Domain, Land Use, Breach of Contract, Business Disputes and Homeowner Association Disputes. He is admitted to practice in Arizona, California, New York, and Texas. 

Mark R. Wilson is a member of the Appellate Law (Strategy, Writs, & Appeals) team. Prior to joining Manning Kass, Mr. Wilson served as a panel attorney representing indigent criminal defendants before the California Court of Appeal, First District, and worked for the Supreme Court of California as a staff attorney on the Court's criminal central staff. He has litigated in the California Courts of Appeal, California Supreme Court, and United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

James A. Harris is a member of the Premises Liability team. He represents organizations and individuals in both state and federal court. Prior to joining Manning Kass, he was a public entity defense litigator in highly sensitive matters and established a boutique law firm in San Diego, CA, serving students who qualified for special education in public schools.