The attorney for Bryan Stow, the victim of an Opening Day beating at Dodger Stadium, has approached Major League Baseball about working out a "reasonable" settlement.
Stow was attacked outside Dodger Stadium on March 31 and put in a medically induced coma for several months. His family filed a lawsuit estimating more than $50 million for Stow’s medical care.
The lawsuit was filed May 24 by Stow and his children against Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and 13 McCourt-owned corporations, including stadium, parking lot and concession entities.
While Stow’s cost of care varies daily and no official figures have been discussed, Stow’s attorney Tom Girardi said $50 million is a "fairly good" estimate, citing around-the-clock care, pain and suffering, lost wages, and jury verdicts in similar cases.
"If it’s more, then we want more," Girardi said. "Whatever is the right thing to do."
If steps are taken to ramp up stadium security – including parking lot lights and security personnel – Stow’s family would not be averse to publicly announcing that the Dodgers were fair to them, Girardi said.
Stow, a San Francisco native, was transported to the Traumatic Brain Injury Center at SF General in May.
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His family reported in late September that Stow spoke his first words since the attack and asked about his children.
"I would like to see them," he said when shown pictures of his son and daughter, the family reported on its website support4bryanstow.com.
The family announced Thursday that Stow was able to write his name and recite his birthday when asked.
Now that nearly-divorced Frank and Jamie McCourt have agreed to put the franchise up for sale, Girardi said whoever steps in to buy the team will also acquire the suit.
"These are liabilities that anybody buying the team has to assume," Girardi told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “When you have a case like Bryan's, it's very important to convert it into a number that you know exactly what it's going to be.”
As owner of Dodger Stadium, McCourt "has a responsibility to keep (people) relatively safe," Girard told NBCLA.com.
Dodger Stadium under McCourt’s leadership allowed complaints of physical threat and harm to pile up without addressing safety issues, he added.
Involved parties will report to Los Angeles County Superior Court in January, when a judge is expected to send the suit to trial.
Defense attorney for McCourt, Jerome Jackson, was unavailable for comment.
