Daily Journal Honors Robert Wallan and Pauleen Truong with Top Appellate Reversal Award

Wallan and Truong were profiled by the Daily Journal for successfully overturning a $30 million jury verdict against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) arising from the tragic death of a six-year-old student who died at the hands of an off-duty, part-time after-school playground supervisor who the mother had privately hired to babysit her son.

The Pillsbury team joined the case in 2023 and immediately confronted significant hurdles.

“Significant proceedings were held ‘off the record’ by the trial court, making for a less-than-optimal record,” Wallan said. “For appellate counsel not involved in the underlying trial, there was considerable work needed to get up to speed.”

After developing and refining a comprehensive appellate strategy, Wallan explained that the team “raised several strong grounds for reversal, including the impossibility of a murderer being zero percent liable for his victim’s death.”

Ultimately, the California Court of Appeal determined that statutory immunity under Education Code section 44808 provided the strongest basis for reversal. The statute grants school districts broad immunity for off-campus injuries, subject to limited exceptions for district-provided transportation, required school-sponsored activities, or circumstances involving a “specific undertaking” by the district.

“Essentially, 44808 grants immunity unless a student was or should have been supervised by a district employee,” Truong told the Daily Journal. “Here, the student was harmed by an off-the-clock, part-time district employee at the latter’s apartment over winter break after the student’s mother separately hired this individual to babysit her son—thus, the injury occurred off campus and none of the limited exceptions applied.”

In June 2025, the Court of Appeal unanimously reversed the verdict and directed that judgment be entered in favor of LAUSD. The decision established a critical and controlling precedent reinforcing legal protections for public institutions where no official duty of care is owed for off-campus incidents, according to the Daily Journal. Several other California public school districts facing similar lawsuits arising from off-campus harm had joined the LAUSD in the request for publication, which demonstrated the importance of publication of the opinion.