Scott Liljegren Named a Finalist for 2019 CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year

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SAN DIEGO – The Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) has announced Liljegren Law Group founder, Scott Liljegren, as a finalist for this year’s Consumer Attorney of the Year award.

Every year, the CAOC carefully selects members of its organization who have contributed to the consumer rights of California citizens. According to the CAOC, the Consumer Attorney of the Year is someone who “significantly advanced the rights or safety of California consumers by achieving a noteworthy result in a case.”

Scott Liljegren was selected for his role in the case Pierce v. Murrieta Valley Unified School District, a wrongful death lawsuit involving the drowning death of a student. According to the case, thirteen-year-old Alex Pierce drowned in a school swimming pool during a year-end swimming party with his fellow band and choir students.

The suit alleged that none of the on-duty lifeguards nor school personnel tasked with supervision made attempts to rescue Alex – who instead was retrieved by classmates while underwater for nearly two minutes. Further, when Alex was retrieved, lifeguards did not perform CPR on him, with some claiming that they were not “on the clock” and therefore did not want to risk liability issues if they were to get involved.

As a result, Alex remained without oxygen for nine minutes – enough to place him in a coma and life support for more than a month before being declared braindead.

In conjunction with attorneys Rahul Ravipudi and Robert S. Glassman of Panish Shea & Boyle, Liljegren successfully reached a settlement with the school district. The resulting litigation compensated Alex’s family, required the school district to provide mandatory CPR training to all faculty, and retain safety consultants to thoroughly evaluate the safety measures initiated by the school.

This verdict has led the attorneys to work with local government to pass Assembly Bill 1214. Known as “Alex’s Law,” this bipartisan legislation requires all schools with interscholastic athletic programs to have CPR-trained personnel at athletic events at all times, and also requires school districts to provide CPR training to any faculty.

The winners of the CAOC Consumer Attorney of the Year will be announced on November 16 at CAOC’s Annual Convention in San Francisco.