Pan, 54, is suing Weitsman and Safeway for $10 million. The lawsuit was filed
Aug. 26 and is now winding its way through the legal system.

Weitsman, 23, has a learning disability and is a special- needs employee at Safeway.

The three parties in the case are working out their strategies as they move closer to their next meeting in Santa Clara Superior Court on March 28. A judge will then decide if there should be mediation, arbitration or a trial.

Chris Neilsen is the attorney representing Weitsman. Kate Moore represents Safeway, and Stanley Hilton represents Pan.

Of the attorneys working on the case, Hilton is the best known, enough so to merit his own online entry on wikidepia.org. Hilton has a substantial Internet presence due mainly to a lawsuit he filed in 2002, in which he sued George W. Bush and members of the Bush administration for $7 billion, alleging they were complicit in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. That lawsuit was later dismissed.

Moore said the case remains in its initial stages. She said she is requesting that Safeway be dismissed from the lawsuit. "[Weitsman] was an employee of Safeway but was not on the clock at the time the incident occurred, and therefore Safeway should be dismissed from the lawsuit."

Pan, a longtime Saratoga resident, said she had suffered a stroke prior to the collision and that she walked from her home to the Safeway at the Argonaut Shopping Center as part of her therapy. She said the injuries from the collision have caused her a great deal of pain and suffering. She said she is suffering from circulation problems, has an injured heart and has been depressed since the collision. "My leg has still not recovered," she said.

She spent three months in Shanghai visiting a top herbal doctor following the collision and is set to return to Shanghai for more treatments, possibly next month. She said her doctor here in the United States has referred her to an injury specialist and a cardiologist.

Kathy Weitsman said her son Chris is still working at Safeway and continues to work with his job coach. She said Safeway has been supportive. "I think from my son's perspective, it's just trying to not get to upset about it. It's an unfortunate situation, and nothing we can say or do is going to change that. We've chosen to step back from it and not let our daily lives be affected by it. I think the legal system will do what's right."