DALLAS, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The landmark legal victory won by Dallas' Aldous Law Firm against the Episcopal School of Dallas has been highlighted by Texas Lawyer newspaper as the second-largest negligence verdict in Texas during 2011.
In one of the city's most highly watched and contentious cases last year, attorneys Charla Aldous and Brent Walker represented the family of a teenage girl who was wrongly expelled from ESD after administrators discovered that a teacher had involved her in a sexual relationship.
In John Doe, Jane Doe and Jane Doe II v. The Episcopal School of Dallas Inc., (No. CC-10-03251-A, Dallas County Court at Law No. 1), a six-person jury awarded a $9.3 million verdict against the school.
During the nine-week trial, jurors heard testimony that ESD history teacher Nathan Campbell began the process of "grooming" the student during tutoring sessions after she fell behind in his class. The teacher was 34 years old and the student was 16 when the first sexual encounter occurred. The relationship was exposed when police found the pair together in a parked car on Nov. 29, 2009. Mr. Campbell, who was married at the time, was allowed to resign a few days later.
ESD officials initially promised the student that she would not be held responsible and that her privacy would be protected. However, on Jan. 27, 2010, school officials met with the girl's father and gave him the ultimatum to either immediately withdraw his daughter from the school voluntarily or have her expelled.
In a courtroom packed with media, curious citizens and scores of interested lawyers, Ms. Aldous and Mr. Walker faced off against a legal team that included a Texas state senator and an AmLaw100 law firm. The verdict included $8.6 million in compensatory damages and another $700,000 in punitive damages, ranking as the 21st largest Texas verdict overall last year.
Mr. Campbell later pled guilty to charges of sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to 10 years of deferred adjudication.
The Aldous Law Firm represents clients in general civil litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability and wrongful death lawsuits. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.aldouslaw.com.
For more information on the verdict in the case involving the Episcopal School of Dallas, please contact Alan Bentrup at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].
SOURCE Aldous Law Firm
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