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Excerpts From Attorneys' Letters About Dr. Kliman's Work With Children on Plaintiff CaSES

Institutional Negligence:  Child Sexual Abuse, Multi-Victim

I had the good fortune of being able to retain Dr. Kliman to work on a major school teacher molestation case. He guided me through the medical and life care issues with expertise. His handling of our clients by he and his very professional staff was outstanding and greatly appreciated. His reports were excellent. The reports were very detailed and analytical and tailored to the nuances of each individual victim. His work product contributed tremendously towards achieving the largest settlement against a school district in the history of the State of California.   Obviously, I would be more than privileged to have the opportunity to retain his services again in the future.  

Sincerely,

Law Offices of PHILLIPS & ROBINSON, LLP 

Gordon G. Phillips, Jr.

Gordon G. Phillips, Jr. Attorney at Law

 

 

 

Institutional Negligence/Child Molestations by Priest

"I am confident our Dallas jury never would have returned a $119 million verdict against the Dallas Catholic Diocese had it not been for your inspirational and extremely insightful testimony.

On behalf of my clients and myself, we simply can never thank you enough for your willingness to share with the jury your many, many years of intensive experience that has permitted you to tell others how to identify the risk of child abuse and, equally important, how to identify the profound damages that can flow from prolonged adolescent abuse. I am certain that the jury had very little understanding of the long-term and high-risk damage caused by a prolonged abusive exposure such as the young boys in our case experienced.

I want to particularly commend you for the in-depth investigation which you and your team brought to this case. You were well prepared when it was time to submit reports, you were fully prepared for your deposition testimony, and when it was time to offer your trial testimony, you committed the time and energy required to carry the day. Unfortunately, we see many forensic experts today who simply will not commit the preparation time necessary to carry their burden.

The jury listened to your background with great respect and listened to your every word, so beautifully punctuated with your vocabulary for jurors and dynamic delivery.

Your investigation and testimony persuaded and moved the jury greatly. They listened to your background with great respect that made them listen to your every word about the children's damages. You destroyed the composure of the defense attorney during his cross-examination of you. You functioned flawlessly as an expert in the vital area of institutional negligence and cover-up by the church. You also helped the jury understand the necessity for extremely long and expensive treatment as related to extremely harmful trauma. You even helped them understand a psychological autopsy for the one victim who had already committed suicide. Your highly professional team, your compelling presence on the stand and powerful testimony helped me in achieving the largest award ever for children--a unanimous verdict of $119,600,000 for 11 children sexually molested by a priest.

The most important thing about this verdict is that it sends a clear and undeniable message to institutions throughout this country, and indeed the world, that children must always come first, and that their employees or the reputation of the institution itself must never, ever be treated with greater priority than the safety and lives of children entrusted to its care."

- Windle Turley, Attorney

Wrongful Death

"VICTORY!  ...The damages they found were $125,000 pre-trial economic loss, $750,000 post-trial economic loss, $1,025,000 pain and suffering, and $1.5 million for loss of consortium i.e. $500,000 each …

As reflected be jury verdict, almost half of the case was reflected in the consortium claims.

Your diagnosis and prognosis with regard to Marla and the children was especially helpful in this regard, including your attention to detail and the utilization of the videotapes of the analysis sessions.

I was especially impressed by your ability to communicate to the jury the realities of the loss of marital and parental services.

In that regard, it has been my experience as a trial attorney that juries often cannot understand why a widow or children who "look good" in front of the jury are in fact subject to lifelong damages and suffering as a result of the tragic loss of a loved one.

Your ability to gather the "hard data" with regard to same, namely the psychological testing and the psychiatric interviews on videotape, and further to communicate that in a forthright fashion to a lay jury was extraordinary. The jury was also most impressed by the years of experience and international reputation you brought to the case. …

Further, this should have appropriate consequences for the Trelleborg, Viking, and SI Tech defendants in the future with regard to placing them on clear notice of the dangerous nature of the product and the necessity of taking appropriate remedial measures. ...

In closing I wish to especially thank you, Dr. Kliman, for the extraordinary effort you expended and the professional approach you utilized in documenting the realities of consortium claims for loss of marital and parental services.

Accordingly, I commend you for your assistance in helping me obtain justice, and I hope we have an opportunity to work together again."

-Phillip Paul Weidner

Child Molestation

“On behalf of my client I would like to express my thanks for your work on this case, which as you know recently resulted in a settlement favorable to my client.  I believe that your very strong testimony on my client’s behalf was instrumental in achieving a successful result.

This is particularly true in the light of the fact that I retained an eminent psychiatrist to work on this case before I retained you, and he advised that he would need to examine [client’s name] for at least one year before he would be able to determine which of his problems were related to the child molestation and to be adequately prepared to testify… Needless to say, this was not possible as the case was set for trial and there was not enough time for that approach.”

John E. Boessnecker

Loss of Parental Services

"Please be advised that the case has been settled on very favorable terms. ... I would like to also thank you on behalf of my client for a job well done. Your qualifications and the amount of time you were willing to devote to this matter substantially strengthened our client's position on the damages issues presented by this case. The full impact of parental loss, as well as the effect of the trauma of the accident simply could not have been detected and explained without your help.” 

Erik R. Anderson

Child Sexual Abuse

“The settlement is subject to very strict terms concerning confidentiality which prevents us from saying anything more than that these cases have been settled.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter. If anyone contacts us looking for an expert in child sexual abuse we will certainly refer them to Dr. Kliman.”

Erik Kevin W. Ryan

William K. Sanders

General Commendation
 

"Dear Dr. Kliman:

As you are aware, our firm has now used your expert services in three cases. In each case, your testimony was superb. We first observed your testimony at a trial conducted by a fellow trial lawyer, Philip Weidner, regarding the death of a father of two young children. In that case, your testimony resulted in the jury awarding the maximum amount for the plaintiffs for loss of consortium for both the spouse and children."

Dennis Maloney

Institutional Negligence: Child Molestation, Multi-Victim

 

"Our work together resulted in what was at the time the largest multi-victim child abuse civil award ever obtained -- $4,200,000. Kids always open up to you. With juries, you interpret tests and research in terms they can understand. They respond to your great experience and objectivity. Your team's preparation provides overwhelming proof of damages and of liability.

...My cases are for plaintiffs, but I like that your work is 20% for defense, and that you spend 1/3rd time in your psychiatric practice."

Gary Burns, Esq.

 

Excerpts From Attorneys' Letters About Dr. Kliman's Work on Defense Cases

Family Financial Dispute

"...It is not often that one can overcome the testimony of several experts on the other side, including a court appointed psychiatrist, and pull a victory out of the jaws of defeat..."

Max Gutierrez, Esq.

Vehicular Accident/Psychological Damage

"The matter resolved favorably to our interests. Before we retained your services we were not very optimistic... The medical opinions elicited from plaintiff's doctors made her case quite formidable; however your findings and sound medical opinion and testimony were largely responsible for tilting the scales of evidence in our favor, thereby avoiding an adverse result."

John C. Sullivan, Esq.

Alleged Institutional Negligence/Child Molestation 

"...Your testing, examination and report facilitated a very favorable settlement of this matter."

Robert A. Ford, Esq.    

 
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