Kelly represented the chief pilot for Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s Gulfstream GII jet. Captain Baker was fired after the flight crew conspired to set him up to be terminated for bogus safety violations, because the flight crew thought that Captain Baker was too frugal when arranging for flight crew accommodations when they traveled with Willis or Moore. Kelly proved that the flight crew engaged in a conspiracy and made false allegations about Captain Baker to both Willis and Moore and to the FAA. This verdict was recognized as one of the top ten verdicts in the United States for 2005.

Kelly represented an energy entrepreneur who arranged to work with a foreign state-owned energy company, to help them purchase a large California oil company. The entrepreneur retained defendants to act as investment bankers in the transaction. Kelly presented evidence to the jury that defendants then cut the entrepreneur and his principal out of the deal and steered the purchase of the oil company to another client. Defendants settled the case hours before the case was to be given to the jury.

Kelly represented approximately 353,000 consumers who took part in a promotion at Ralphs, whereby shoppers were promised a free three day, two night stay at a “Marriott-like” hotel throughout the U.S., in return for purchasing $400 worth of groceries in a 4 week period. Although 353,000 shoppers purchased the groceries, the company that Ralphs hired to provide the hotel rooms absconded with the money Ralphs had provided to pay for the rooms. Ralphs then advised the shoppers that they had “filled out the forms wrong” and refused to provide the rooms. Kelly was successful in obtaining the rooms, or if the customers preferred, a Mastercard gift card for the value of the rooms.

Kelly represented a young woman who was the victim of an automobile accident caused by a driver who mismanaged his Type I diabetes and had a seizure before crossing the center line and crashing into the young woman’s car. The driver asserted the defense of “sudden medical emergency.” Kelly successfully developed evidence to prove that: 1) the diabetic driver had disregarded many of his doctor’s orders for diabetic care, causing him to predictably suffer the seizure on the day of the accident; 2) that the driver’s employer could be held liable as the driver was potentially in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident; and 3) that if the physician who examined the driver after a prior seizure had reported the driver to the DMV as required by law, the accident would not have occurred. All three defendants paid into the settlement.

Plaintiff was rendered paraplegic when the vehicle in which he was a passenger went over a 27 foot high cliff dug out by State of California beneath a sharp curve in a County road. The accident vehicle was exceeding the “advisory” speed posted for that section of the County road. Kelly presented evidence that: 1) the “advisory” speed sign was posted in the wrong place (too far before the dangerous curve) and that the section of the road preceding the accident curve was constructed in such a fashion that drivers were led to disregard the advisory speed sign and were actually increasing their speed after the advisory speed sign, not lowering it; and 2) that the County and/or State of California should have constructed a guard rail, or taken other protective measures to prevent vehicles going off the accident cliff. Through an intense investigative campaign, Kelly discovered a substantial accident history at the sharp curve, which had been denied by defendants, and he alleged that documents evidencing this accident history had been wrongfully destroyed.

Kelly proved at trial that Stratford Insurance Company had acted in bad faith when it denied a claim by plaintiff to defend his company from claims arising from a trucking accident involving one of his delivery trucks. Plaintiff, who had escaped the Cambodian “Killing Fields” and built his Asian food distribution business from $5 he borrowed from a relative, came close to losing his business.

Kelly represented an elderly couple who was forced off the I-80 Freeway by another driver, and crashed into a huge tree located only 19.5 feet from the freeway. The Highway Design Manual required that there be a 30ft “Clear Recovery Zone” beside the freeway, to give vehicles forced off the roadway a chance to recover or to reduce the chance of them impacting a fixed object. Kelly presented evidence that convinced the jury that the tree should have been removed as part of a freeway repaving project, and that it was a “dangerous condition” as defined by the Government Code, entitling his clients to a verdict in their favor.

Kelly proved that the aircraft maintenance facility had improperly overhauled an aircraft engine, causing the aircraft to crash short of the runway, causing injury to a passenger.

Plaintiff had a breast removed because of cancer, and her insuror refused to pay for her reconstructive surgery, calling it “elective-cosmetic.” Kelly was successful in obtaining reimbursement for the surgery, and substantial damages for the emotional distress plaintiff endured.

Kelly represented a pilot who was flying an converted helicopter crop duster, when the main rotor shaft sheared and the aircraft crashed, causing back injuries to the pilot. Kelly proved that the company which converted the aircraft from military to civilian use had not properly performed the required inspections of the rotor shaft at the time of the conversion.