Los Angeles Team Secures Appellate Victory in Youth Football Brain Injury Matter

Los Angeles, Calif. (September 27, 2021) - Los Angeles Partners Dana Alden Fox and Dawn M. Flores-Oster recently secured a significant appellate victory on behalf of Pop Warner Little Scholar’s Inc. when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an action alleging that the poor concussion protocols of Lewis Brisbois’ client contributed to the deaths of the plaintiffs’ sons and other youth football players.

As reported in Law360, the plaintiffs alleged that their sons developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to head trauma that occurred during Pop Warner’s youth football program. One of these young men ultimately died in a motorcycle crash and the other took his own life. To support their claims, the plaintiffs submitted expert opinions from a psychiatrist and pathologist, both of whom contended that CTE makes individuals more prone to violent and self-destructive behaviors.

The federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of Pop Warner after determining that the plaintiffs’ expert opinions failed to establish the necessary connection between the football program, CTE, and the deaths. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit agreed that the plaintiffs failed to establish the element of causation and unanimously affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the action.

Mr. Fox serves as Co-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ General Liability Practice. He is one of the most heralded trial attorneys in California, consistently obtaining results not thought possible for his clients, including multiple defense jury verdicts in prominent cases. As a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and a newly-appointed member of the Executive Board of the American Board of Trial Advocates’ Los Angeles Chapter (LA-ABOTA). Mr. Fox routinely defends the most difficult, high exposure cases in the Golden State.

Ms. Flores-Oster is also a member of Lewis Brisbois’ General Liability Practice.