Jury Verdict | Confidential Post-Trial Settlement
After a multi-week trial, we obtained a jury verdict on behalf of the wife, adult children and estate of an elderly man who was killed when the front, left tire on a loaded concrete truck failed as it was traveling at highway speed on a Texas state highway. The tire failed when its tread peeled off the body of the tire (“carcass”). The sudden failure of the tire caused the truck to veer into our client’s traffic lane. When the truck driver tried to steer back into his lane, the truck rolled over onto its side and began to slide down the road. Our deceased client tried to steer away from the truck as it slid toward him, but he could not avoid the impact and he sustained massive and, ultimately, fatal injuries when the truck struck his vehicle. Our clients alleged that the tire failed due to the fact that, when the tire was manufactured, moisture in the tire and/or the use of overaged rubber prevented the layers of the tire from properly bonding to one another, and the belts were not properly placed in the tire. Our clients also alleged that the truck driver failed to properly inspect and control the concrete truck, and that the trucking company failed to properly inspect and maintain its vehicle. With the help of former factory workers to describe the tire plant conditions, and expert witnesses to explain how the tire plant conditions caused or contributed to the defects seen in the tire, we were able to achieve this large jury verdict against both the tire manufacturer and the trucking company.
Jury Verdict | Post Trial Settlement
We obtained, by settlement, the above portion of a multi-party lawsuit where there was a jury verdict of $9,421,898.44 in a motor vehicle/road construction negligence case in Nueces County, Texas. Our client worked for a subcontractor setting barrels in a highway construction zone. An elderly driver swerved to avoid another vehicle, ran off the road and struck our client in the construction zone. We alleged that the driver was negligent for his inattentive driving, and we alleged that the general contractor overseeing the construction project was negligent for failing to maintain a proper “clear zone” (i.e., keeping construction workers and subcontractors a safe distance from the roadway to protect against dangers like run-off-the-road vehicles). After a multi-week trial, the jury determined that the driver, our client’s employer and the general contractor were all negligent in causing our client’s paralysis and partial blindness. Due to the limited insurance of the elderly driver and the presence of workers’ compensation insurance to protect the employer from the verdict, we were only able to collect the portion attributed to the general contractor, which was 10%. This was appealed by the general contractor and was only settled after years of appeal.
Confidential Pre-Trial Settlement
Our client was driving his SUV on a state highway when an 18-wheeler, driven by a novice truck driver who was distracted and failed to reduce his speed in rainy conditions, lost control of his tractor-trailer, crossed the center line of the highway, and hit our client head on. Our client suffered an above the knee amputation of his left leg and serious injuries to his right leg. After over 40 depositions, many experts, etc., the case was resolved for the benefit of our client, his wife and his young daughters.
We represented the victims and family of a crash in which the distracted employee of an oilfield lease services company disregarded a stop sign while engaged in a telephone call. A father and son died, and the surviving mother was injured. The case was settled prior to trial for the policy limits of the available insurance.
We represented a client who was injured while passing through an intersection on a green light. He was struck by a Deputy Sheriff who was displaying her overhead lights, but not using her siren when she ran a red light and struck our client. The County claimed it was not liable for the crash because it alleged that its Deputy was engaged in an “emergency response” and, thus, the County claimed it had immunity from our client’s lawsuit. After the case was initially dismissed by the trial court, we prevailed on appeal and the case was returned to the trial court. During trial, we claimed that the Deputy was not engaged in an emergency response call at the time of the crash and, in any event, she did not comply with all the rules and regulations pertaining to how officers are supposed to properly respond to an emergency call. After several years of litigation, the case settled during trial.
Jury Verdict | Post-Trial Settlement
We obtained a $19,566,610 verdict against a trucking company and a road contractor in a Dimmit County, Texas case in which our client suffered a significant head injury. The 18-wheeler was operated by one of the nation’s largest interstate trucking companies and its driver rear-ended a passenger van driven by our client. After the initial impact, our client’s vehicle was propelled down the road and off to the right where it struck the back of a parked passenger car belonging to the flagman for the roadway contractor. We alleged that the truck driver’s fatigue or distraction started the crash sequence, and the secondary impact with the flagman’s car was due to him being improperly parked within the 30 foot “clear zone” that is supposed to extend from the edge of the roadway. After a lengthy trial, the jury found both defendants liable for our client’s injuries and damages.
Pre-Trial Settlement
Our client was an oilfield worker who, while driving between worksites on a Texas farm-to-market road, was struck head on by a two ton compressor after it fell off the trailer being towed by another oilfield services truck heading in the opposite direction. The compressor fell off the trailer because the defendant’s employees had not properly secured it with appropriate tie down straps and defendant failed to chock the wheels of the compressor to keep it from rocking back and forth on the trailer, which movement eventually caused the straps to break. Our client’s wife, adult daughter, and parents settled their case in exchange for all the insurance the defendant had.
$9,000,000 Pre-Trial Settlement
We represented the family of an oilfield operator who was killed when the unexpected release of high pressure gas from a pipeline caused a piece of equipment to strike him in the head. After years of litigation, many depositions, several expert witnesses, and numerous motions to dismiss our clients’ claims, we were able to achieve this settlement for the family. In addition, we secured a waiver of the workers’ compensation lien, which ensured that the widow also received lifetime death benefits which added significant additional value to the overall settlement.
A mother and her family anchored their bay fishing boat in the shallow waters next to Pelican Island, which is one of the “spoil islands” created by the dredging of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. While they were playing on the beach and looking for shells, a large, heavily-loaded oil tanker passed the island. Through the process of “bank suction,” the shallow water in which our client anchored next to the island was pulled off the island by the heavy ship’s passage. This left the family’s fishing boat temporarily beached. However, when the water rushed back after the ship had passed, the wave picked up the family’s fishing boat and slammed it into our client’s head, resulting in her permanent blindness. We alleged that the wake was created by the ship moving through the ship channel at an excess rate of speed given her weight and draft, and that, if the ship wanted to transit the ship channel at such a speed, it should have maintained a lookout on the bow of the vessel to spot our clients and then reduce speed as needed to avoid creating such a large wake. With the aid of experts in shipping operations, the psychological and vocational effects of blindness, and an economist to quantify our client’s damages, we were able to secure a settlement which allowed our client to live independently and assure her children were able to attend college.
