Hittner has yet to rule on just how much prejudgment interest he will add to the award. Sumner and Lahr insist the judge can calculate interest from as far back as the 1980 injury; Locke is just as adamant that the interest will only accrue from the time when Piotrowski first learned of the alleged wrongs done by the city.
While Locke says he is open to settlement offers, it sounds perfunctory. "We are not open to settlement on terms suggested in (Sumner's) letter" sent after the trial, which uses the verdict as a starting point for negotiations.
Sumner, perhaps worried about his chances in the higher courts, is eager to talk to city officials. He says he wants to include a council representative in the discussions, and he makes veiled threats that he'll be less inclined to settle if appeals drag on.
"We'd like to settle the case. There's a fair number that's reasonable for both sides, and it's not $5,000 and it's not $148 million," he says. "There are things we can do now that are fair and reasonable that won't be available down the line, things like structured settlements, where it would be a budget-type thing for the city, stretched over several years. That won't be there if we win on appeal, because we are going to want immediate payment."
(Piotrowski's lawyers asked Hittner this week for $6.6 million to $8.8 million in fees. They are representing Piotrowski on a contingency basis, and say they have fronted close to a million dollars in expenses.)
Any decision to settle or appeal will soon be out of Locke's hands -- he's headed to the downtown law firm of Mayor, Day, Caldwell and Keeton, and leaving the Piotrowski case to his successor.
He sounds absolutely sure his office's handling of the case will be vindicated eventually when an appeals court erases or significantly cuts the award.
"The facts of the case are very unfortunate, and the natural emotion of a juror would be to want to punish someone," he says. "Unfortunately, the city of Houston was the only defendant in the courtroom at the time.... I think that our position on the law in this case is excellent, and that ultimately we will prevail."
Sumner professes to be unimpressed. "They have poorly assessed this case from the start," he says. "I don't think you can go cavalierly saying, 'We'll win this on appeal,' because the risk you're taking is incredible.... There's not a law firm in the country that would tell a client 'We'll let you take a $50 million to $100 million judgment at trial and then we'll win on appeal.' "
Piotrowski, who expects to enter medical school in the fall, says she is simply trying to put the trial behind her.
"It didn't do anything to enhance my faith in the justice system," she says. "If it wasn't for the judge's open outrage about some of the things that happened and for the jury's reaction, I would've really been disillusioned. It makes me so sick, what happened. It's not one of those things you want to go through life remembering.
