Kim

This case arises from a wrongful death action, which involved several decedents, and raises a single question about apportionment of the proceeds of the settlement of such an action; whether the heirs of those decedents (plaintiffs in the wrongful death action) are entitled to have a jury apportion the settlement proceeds, or whether the matter may be decided by the court, sitting without a jury. We agree with the trial court that there is no right to a jury in such cases.

The facts may be briefly stated; In February of 2003, a car driven by Elliot Park collided with a car driven by Soowan Lee. Lee was killed, as were Park’s passenger, Andy Kim, and Lee’s passenger, Richard Yi. Park was at fault in the accident. He was later convicted of vehicular manslaughter.

Andy Kim’s parents, Kwang Hoon Kim and Yong Ae Kim (the Kim parties); Soowan Lee’s mother, Kum Soon Park; and Richard Yi’s wife and children, Song Yi, Karen Yi, and Jason Yi (the Yi parties) jointly sued Elliot Park and the restaurant where he had been drinking that evening. Those claims were resolved with a payment of $1 million from the restaurant and $30,000 from Elliot Park’s mother, who owned the car he was…