Saturday, July 30, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL CASE: Settlement supplants verdict

Five-week trial over maiming ends abruptly

Mark Brown smiles as his wife, Patty, left, hugs Angela McBride, a legal assistant for Browns' attorney, James Crockett, in court Friday. Mark Brown was maimed by a stage prop in 2002, and on Friday, the Browns settled a lawsuit against Cirque du Soleil just moments before a verdict in the case was reached. Photo by ISAAC BREKKEN/REVIEW-JOURNAL

Cirque du Soleil lawyers averted the largest personal injury verdict in Clark County history Friday -- $41.6 million -- by reaching a dramatic, last-minute settlement with a man maimed by a stage prop.

The drama unfolded in the courtroom of District Judge Michelle Leavitt, where jurors reached a verdict Friday afternoon in a five-week trial stemming from the maiming of Mark Brown, 51, by a prop belonging to the Canadian production company.

Minutes before the verdict was to be read in court, attorneys for Brown and Cirque du Soleil huddled.

Then, when jurors were brought into court and their verdict was collected, Leavitt announced the verdict was no longer needed.

"The parties have informed me they've reached a settlement," Leavitt said.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Jury foreman Jake Katsos confirmed in an interview with the Review-Journal afterward that the jury had awarded Brown $41.6 million, which officials said would have been the largest personal injury verdict in Southern Nevada history.

"It was around $40 million," Katsos said. "It was pretty cut and dry. They (Cirque du Soleil) were responsible for their actions."

Attorneys for both sides would not talk about the details of the settlement, but both sides continued to smile, even after they'd learned the contents of the verdict.

"I've never settled one like that," said Brown's attorney, James Crockett. "It (the settlement) happened only because both parties were staring down the barrel of a verdict."

"I feel good," Brown said. "My wife and I are very happy it's over, and now we can get on with life.

"You can't put a price on what we've been through," he said.

"Its been hell," added Brown's wife, Patty.

Mark Brown was working as an electrician for the Bellagio in 2002 when he was asked to install circuitry on the stage of Cirque du Soleil's "O" show at the Strip resort. While Brown was working, a massive, 1,000-pound stage prop resembling an alligator's head fell from the ceiling, hitting him.

Brown lost 25 percent of his skull and was paralyzed from the waist down in the accident. He has undergone multiple surgeries and still endures violent spasms at least four times an hour. His wife said Brown might face as many as seven more surgeries, yet his facial appearance will never be as it was before the incident.

Crockett told jurors that an investigation showed the alligator head was suspended by a single cable, and that the rigging holding the prop failed. He said faulty design left a tiny screw "about the size of a baby's tooth" carrying the weight load of the prop when it fell.

The prop, Crockett said, was designed by a Cirque employee who had just graduated from engineering school and who had no prior experience working on such a project. Crockett said Cirque du Soleil rushed the prop into production without doing adequate safety inspections so it could meet a deadline.

Attorneys for Cirque du Soleil said it was the Bellagio that is at fault in the incident. Attorney D. Lee Roberts told jurors the prop was hung from the ceiling using the wrong type of cable, causing the rigging to unscrew, and that employees of the Bellagio never inspected the rigging over 194 weeks of use during the "O" show.

The Bellagio was not named in the lawsuit. Crockett said the Bellagio was protected by workers compensation law, but he also was adamant that the Bellagio "did nothing wrong."

"The Bellagio treats its employees wonderfully," he said.

He said the Bellagio has so far paid $1.9 million in medical bills for Brown under workers comp. He said the goal of the litigation was to make sure Brown was taken care of for the rest of his life.

Cirque du Soleil's attorney said the company continues to maintain that it was not at fault in the accident, but reaching a settlement was a necessity.

"Cirque du Soleil was confident its product did not cause these injuries," Roberts said. "However, whenever you have a jury, there's risk."

Roberts also said Cirque du Soleil feels great sadness for the suffering of Mark Brown and his family. "Everyone feels very badly," Roberts said.

Katsos, the foreman of the jury, said he and his fellow jurors were perturbed about having to endure a five-week trial and two days of deliberations, only to see the case settled.

"It's a little annoying," he said.