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Merrill Kenneth Albert | |
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| Born | Merrill Kenneth Albert April 19, 1923 |
| Died | December 23, 2011 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.A., University of California, Berkeley J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Known for | trial lawyer; novelist |
Merrill Kenneth Albert (April 19, 1923 – December 23, 2011) was an American author and noted trial lawyer best known for his colorful courtroom tactics. One of Los Angeles’ foremost trial advocates, Albert introduced several practices – such as the use of dummies and other tools in reconstructing incidents [citation needed] – familiar in current legal practice but virtually non-existent when he began his career. He was a pioneer in the development and use of biomechanical devices and modeling in major personal injury cases to explain the mechanical properties of the musculoskeletal system in relation to the physics and dynamics of collisions with cars, trains, and human beings involved in accidents. He was the lead trial attorney in “bet the company” cases for the Union Pacific Railroad, the Santa Fe Railroad, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, Swinerton Construction Co., and the Regents of the University of California. Some of his more dramatic trials are recounted in Tales of the Rails: Railroad Claims Stories, by Norman Udewitz[1].
Early Life and Education[edit]
Albert was born on April, 19, 1923 in New Haven, Connecticut. He and his brother were later abandoned by their mother at an Oakland, California orphanage [citation needed]. Left under the name of Merrill Smith, he picked apples at the Salvation Army Home for Boys during the Great Depression. He was placed in several foster homes until ultimately being permanently settled with the Tucker family of Oakland. After graduating at the top of his class from Oakland Technical High School in 1940, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, when Albert joined the United States Merchant Marine discovering upon entrance that Albert rather than Smith was his birth name. After obtaining his captain’s papers?? from the Merchant Marines, he was honorably discharged and returned to his studies at UC Berkeley. There he was elected president of his fraternity and became captain of the varsity tennis team. After completing his undergraduate degree, Albert was admitted to UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was subsequently published as the reviewing editor of the California Law Review. He graduated in 1955, the sixth in his class.
Legal Career[edit]
In the three decades following his graduation from law school, Merrill Albert practiced law in Los Angeles, specializing in defending large corporations against a wide range of high-exposure personal injury and other “bet the company” lawsuits. It was during this time that Albert began using incident reconstructions during trials in order to demonstrate whether or not the plaintiffs’ claims were physically possible. He was also a pioneer in the early use of biomechanical accident reconstruction dummies at trial. He tried over 300 cases, winning the vast majority of them, many against the foremost plaintiff’s trial attorneys of the era. His courtroom tactics were likened by many of his contemporaries to those of the fictional Perry Mason, which reportedly more than once took their inspiration from Albert’s actual trials [citation needed]. Among the notable published decisions resulting from Albert’s trials are:
Taylor v. Union P. R. Corp., L.A. No. 30531, Supreme Court of California, 16 Cal. 3d 893; 549 P.2d 855; 130 Cal. Rptr. 23; 1976 Cal. LEXIS 271, May 13, 1976 (Once plaintiff accident victims waived their right to jury trial by not paying daily jury fee, their right was not revived by defendants railroads' and city's subsequent waiver of jury trial)
Theys v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Co., No. B013134., Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Five., 189 Cal. App. 3d 180; 234 Cal. Rptr. 380; 1987 Cal. App. LEXIS 1384, February 10, 1987 (When defendant refused to accept an offer by plaintiff to settle a matter and plaintiff received a more favorable judgment, plaintiff was able to recover interest and the costs of plaintiff's expert witnesses)
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co. v. City of Los Angeles, Civ. No. 59774, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Four, 134 Cal. App. 3d 979; 184 Cal. Rptr. 901; 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 1869, August 12, 1982 (Employer was responsible to indemnify the city for a judgment rendered against the city for personal injuries suffered by one of employer's employees pursuant to an agreement which obligated the employer to hold the city harmless for its negligence)
Durham v. City of Los Angeles, Civ. No. 54072, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Two, 91 Cal. App. 3d 567; 154 Cal. Rptr. 243; 1979 Cal. App. LEXIS 1600, March 9, 1979 (A statute establishing the liability of railroad companies to unauthorized riders was not a special statute and did not violate the equal protection or privileges and immunities clauses because its classification and purpose were reasonable.)
Seimon v. Southern Pac. Transportation Co., Civ. No. 48241, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Five, 67 Cal. App. 3d 600; 136 Cal. Rptr. 787; 1977 Cal. App. LEXIS 1256, February 28, 1977 , A petition for a rehearing was denied March 22, 1977 (The trial court did not abuse its discretion by granting a new trial where plaintiff's counsel was guilty of misconduct, however, the evidence was sufficient for a jury to determine whether or not plaintiff was entitled to punitive damages)
Morse v. Southern Pac. Transportation Co., Civ. No. 46810, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Three, 63 Cal. App. 3d 128; 133 Cal. Rptr. 577; 1976 Cal. App. LEXIS 1994; 41 Cal. Comp. Cas 1072, October 26, 1976 (In a FELA case for personal injuries, the trial court correctly granted plaintiff's motion for a new trial when it erred in admitting evidence that plaintiff was receiving disability pension benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act)
Swinerton & Walberg Co. v. Union Bank, Civ. No. 38375, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Two, 25 Cal. App. 3d 259; 101 Cal. Rptr. 665; 1972 Cal. App. LEXIS 1027; 54 A.L.R.3d 839, May 1, 1972 (Judgment creating general contractor's equitable lien on remaining construction funds in lender's possession was properly affirmed because the work was fully completed, lender received the benefits, and there were no other claims against the funds)
Retirement and Writing[edit]
In 1990 Albert retired from the practice of law and devoted himself to the full-time enjoyment of opera, tennis, horse racing (he was a long-time member of the Santa Anita Park Turf Club), and various other pursuits. He also began writing, and his novel, The Big Casino, was published posthumously in 2003[2]. The book has proved popular in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India [citation needed].
It was followed in 2011 by the collection The Year 2012 Ushers in the Age of Fire and Other Short Stories, a series of tales centering on a coming apocalypse and a Polynesian tribe’s attempts to prepare for it[3]. At the time of his death Albert was at work on two other books. Adolf Hitler is Alive! – which postulates an enclave of Nazis who had escaped from Berlin to set up a secret society in the Antarctica to plot their revenge – and the Trinity of Life, a philosophical speculation on tripartite confluences in history, politics, and religion throughout human history – will be published posthumously [citation needed].
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Category:1923 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:American lawyers
Category:California lawyers
Category:American writers
Category:California lawyers
Category:Living people
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni
Category:University of California, Berkeley School of Law alumni
Category:People from New Haven, Connecticut