In the case of George E. Salem versus Shannon Shih, filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, Division One (Case ID: B3826152) on April 26, 2024, plaintiff Salem appealed a judgment from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The lawsuit stemmed from a two-car motor vehicle collision that occurred in Santa Monica in 2015.
Represented by The Salem Law Firm and Trial Lawyers for Justice, Salem sued Shih for negligence following their collision. The jury initially found Shih not negligent and made no other findings. Shih was represented by Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar. The court denied Salem's motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and motion for a new trial.
The court concluded that it erred in not granting Salem’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. It was determined that Shih was negligent as she could not see any oncoming traffic due to a double-parked vehicle and had an alternative lane into which she could have safely turned.
Salem is seeking reversal of the judgment in Shih’s favor and postjudgment order awarding her costs as the prevailing party. He also seeks a new trial on causation and damages.
Justices Bendix, Rothchild and Weingart all concur that Shih "could have avoided the accident by not driving negligently by not entering the lane of traffic when she knew a double-parked vehicle prevented her from determining whether there was traffic in that lane". The lower court judgment and post judgment order awarding Shih costs are reversed. The case is to be remanded for a new trial.