A Los Angeles trial attorney secured a $45 million trial settlement after a FlyAway airport shuttle bus struck a mother and her adult son as they crossed a marked crosswalk in Los Angeles, leaving the woman with catastrophic brain injuries. The case resolved on March 4, 2025, during trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, shortly before closing arguments.
The result stands as a significant outcome in Los Angeles pedestrian injury litigation and raises pointed questions about municipal liability when cities outsource transportation services.
What Happened on August 3, 2023
According to evidence presented at trial, Armida Lincome, 58, and her son Christofer Bishop, 29, were crossing a marked crosswalk with an active walk signal when they were struck by a FlyAway airport shuttle bus operated by driver Douglas Herrera.
The lawsuit alleged that Herrera made an unsafe left turn and failed to yield to the pedestrians, who had the legal right of way. Lincome suffered catastrophic brain injuries as a result of the impact. Bishop was also struck in the collision.
The case was filed as Armida Lincome and Christofer Bishop v. Four-Season Travel LLC, Douglas Herrera, 9139249 Canada Inc., Bus.com US LLC, Bus.com Leasing LLC, and the City of Los Angeles.
The City Could Not Escape Liability
One of the central legal questions in the case was whether the City of Los Angeles could shield itself from liability by pointing to the private contractor operating the FlyAway shuttle service.
The court rejected that argument. According to plaintiff's counsel, the City could not delegate away its responsibility because operating the airport shuttle is a nondelegable duty under California law. That doctrine holds certain public obligations to a standard that cannot be transferred to a third party, even through a contract.
"The City of Los Angeles could not avoid liability because operating the airport shuttle is a nondelegable duty," said Christopher Montes de Oca, lead trial counsel for the plaintiffs.
That legal theory proved decisive. Of the $45 million total, approximately $40 million was paid by insurers for the City of Los Angeles, while $5 million came from insurers for Four-Season Travel LLC and the driver.
How the Case Resolved
The plaintiffs presented their full case at trial before the matter resolved through mediated settlement. According to reports, the parties reached the $45 million agreement shortly before closing arguments were scheduled to be delivered.
Trial settlements of this kind, reached after evidence has been presented but before a jury deliberates, often reflect the strength of the plaintiff's case at the close of evidence. Defendants in this posture have seen the full presentation and are weighing their exposure against a final verdict.
About Lead Trial Counsel Christopher Montes de Oca
Christopher Montes de Oca is a Los Angeles-based plaintiff trial attorney at the Law Offices of Christopher Montes de Oca. He was named Rising Star Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), the nation's largest local association of plaintiff trial attorneys.
He has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation and selected to Super Lawyers, where he ranks among the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Southern California. He also holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating and has been named Whittier Bar Association Member of the Year.
This $45 million result adds to a record that already included a nationally recognized eight-figure jury verdict ranked among the Top 50 Car Accident Verdicts and Top 100 Personal Injury Verdicts in the United States for that year.
Plaintiff attorneys with records like this one can display their verdicts and settlements publicly on Major Verdict, where the platform lets trial results speak directly to prospective clients and referring attorneys.
What This Settlement Signals for Pedestrian Cases Involving Public Transit
Pedestrian cases involving government-affiliated transportation tend to be complex. They typically involve questions of sovereign immunity, the scope of public duty, and whether a private operator's negligence can be attributed back to the contracting government entity.
The nondelegable duty theory used here has significant implications for plaintiffs in similar cases across California and beyond. When a municipality operates a public transportation service through a private contractor and a pedestrian is seriously injured, this outcome demonstrates that the city's involvement does not disappear simply because the driver's paycheck comes from a private company.
For plaintiff attorneys handling pedestrian injury cases in California, this settlement reinforces the value of naming and pursuing the government entity early in litigation, particularly when the transportation function is one the public would reasonably associate with the city itself.
Attorneys who track verdict and settlement trends by case type and jurisdiction can browse results across all 50 states at Major Verdict's latest verdict news.
Conclusion
The $45 million settlement in Lincome and Bishop v. Four-Season Travel LLC et al. reflects what can happen when a plaintiff's trial team builds a complete case and presses a city that cannot legally sidestep responsibility for its transportation services. Armida Lincome crossed a crosswalk with the light in her favor. The jury would have heard that. The city settled before it had to find out how much that fact was worth.
If you or someone you love has been seriously injured as a pedestrian, verdicts and settlements like this one show what juries and defendants are willing to reckon with when the evidence is strong and the attorney is prepared. Find a plaintiff lawyer on Major Verdict who has the trial record to back it up.
