The results obtained depend on the facts of each case

Train Wreck
Death Case,
13.5 Million Net to Client

Our minor clients were left orphaned after their parents and one sibling were killed in a railroad crossing when the train failed to sound a whistle warning. Through expert witnesses, photographic and video evidence we were able to demonstrate that the crossing was unsafe and should have had lights and gates. Kevin Glasheen was lead counsel at trial, and the case was settled on appeal after a favorable jury verdict.

Train Wreck
Death Case,
4.6 Million Net to Client

This was a train wreck near Shallowater, Texas. Our clients’ child was killed when a train struck a car at a railroad crossing. The railroad had failed to control the vegetation around the crossing and the high weeds obstructed the view of the approaching train. The jury awarded 46 million dollars, but the case was settled based on a high-low settlement agreement that provided that the clients would receive one million dollars regardless of what the jury awarded or would receive whatever the jury awarded up to 8 million but then would limit the client’s recovery if the jury verdict exceeded that sum. The settlement was paid within 30 days of trial with no appeals.

18 Wheeler Wreck
Brain Injury,
1.7 Million Net to Client

An 18 wheeler near Amarillo ran a stop sign right in front of a pickup truck where our client was a passenger. The pickup truck went underneath the tractor trailer. We showed the truck driver’s logs were falsified and he was driving in excess of the maximum hours allowed under DOT regulations. We helped our client get treatment for his brain injury at a world renowned hospital in Denver. Our client had been a Broadway actor and while he returned to independent living, we were able to demonstrate significant impairment that affected his career.

Auto Accident
Broken Ankle,
$400,000 Net to Client

This was a car accident in Synder, Texas where an elderly gentleman ran a stop sign in front of our client. Our client was a young lady who was working as a prison guard. She had a badly fractured ankle with screws in the bone, which limited her ability to work as a prison guard in the future.We had a jury trial in Snyder, Texas and the verdict exceeded the defendant’s insurance coverage. We collected the excess judgment from the estate of the defendant who died in the accident.

Defective Product
Death Case,
$468,000 Net to Client

Our client was a gentleman in his late 70’s who had purchased a new Cadillac for his wife for mother’s day. Our client had the car equipped with handicap controls so that he could operate the vehicle. This consisted of a handle on the steering wheel that was connected to the gas pedal by a metal rod that allowed you to operate the gas pedal with a hand lever. The first week of driving the car, our client’s wife got her foot caught on the rod which prevented access to the brake as she approached a stop sign. She lost control of the car and struck an embankment which resulted in her death. We sued alleging the device had been poorly designed and improperly installed to interfere with the driver’s foot. The Defendants took the position that it was physically impossible to install the rod any other way. We bought an identical Cadillac and took it to another one of their dealerships and had them install the controls. At mediation we demonstrated a correct installation was feasible. The defendants knew we had an example Cadillac with a properly installed rod. They gave up on their argument that it wasn’t feasible to install the controls properly and instead settled the case.

Farming
Facial Injuries,
$172,000 Net to Client

Our client was a lady who was helping her boyfriend repair a center pivot irrigation system. She was standing on one of the irrigation towers when her boyfriend turned on the equipment. Her hair was caught in the drive shaft of the center pivot irrigation causing her serious injuries.

Auto
Death,
1 Million Net to Client

Our client was an employee of an oilfield drilling company. The tool pusher had given the crew a ride home for a day off and they were returning early the next morning to the rig when the tool pusher lost control of the company pickup truck, rolled it and ejected our client, causing his death. Our client left a wife and minor child. There were disputed issues about whether our client was wearing a seat belt and whether the wreck was caused by a tire failure or the negligence of the driver.

Oilfield Equipment
Broken Jaw,
$750,000 Net to Client

Our client was a wire line operator in the oilfield. While running some test equipment on a well, the threads on a well head joint failed, causing the well head equipment to blast off the well head and strike him in the face. Our client had serious jaw injuries and facial injuries. We were able to demonstrate that the oilfield equipment had an improper combination of tapered threads and straight cut threads which were a mismatch. That equipment had been supplied in a mismatched condition from an oilfield equipment supplier who was ultimately liable for the accident.

Oilfield Spill
Chemical Burn,
2.5 Million Net to Client

Our client was working at a gas compression station near Andrews, Texas. A chemical company was delivering acid to a 500 gallon tank and our client went out to sign a purchase receipt for the delivery. The delivery driver was standing on a 5 gallon bucket and holding a hose above his head to the tank to pump the acid and asked our client to flip a switch on the truck to turn on the pump. When our client flipped the switch, the delivery driver fell off the bucket and sprayed our client with acid causing burns to his arms and back.

We discovered in litigation that delivery drivers for this chemical company had been complaining for two years that the acid tank did not have proper connections for their hose to make a safe delivery. Instead they had to hold the hose over the head and top fill the tank. The chemical company sales people finally admitted that they knew the delivery system was unsafe, but they did not want to lose the customer so they continued to make deliveries even though the tank did not have proper hose connections.

Gas Plant Explosion
Death Case,
1.9 Million Net to Client

Our client’s husband was the supervisor for an oilfield services company that was testing pipe at a gas plant. The testing company would use nitrogen gas to pressure up pipe to ensure that it was structurally sound before it was installed in a gas compression plant. While testing pipes our client’s husband over-pressured the pipe and it exploded causing his death. Even though our decedent was in charge of pressuring up the pipe, we showed that he had been working for over 20 hours straight without a break in violation of hours of service rules, and that the communication with regard to the pressures that were to be used were done poorly and that critical information was not being communicated methodically. The pressures to be used in the test were communicated verbally and written on chalk on the pipe. It was easy to see that the accident was going to happen under these circumstances.

Cotton Gin
Amputated Fingers,
$216,000 Net to Client

This is one of many cotton gin cases that we have handled. The lint cleaners on many cotton gins lack guards which are required by OSHA standards. Additionally, during cotton ginning seasons the ginners are reluctant to turn off the equipment when the delinting equipment gets jammed up with cotton. Our client was asked to try to clean cotton off the delinter while it was running and the machinery caught his hand, amputating several fingers. Like many others in our region, this cotton gin did not carry worker’s compensation insurance and therefore, we were able to make a claim directly against them and collect from their insurance company.

Train Wreck
Child Brain Injury,
2 Million Net to Client

Our client was an infant passenger in a vehicle struck by a train. Several people were killed in the wreck. Our client survived but sustained serious injuries. We demonstrated that the crossing was dangerous because it failed to have lights and gates.

The results obtained depend on the facts of each case

Oilfield Accident
Burn,
2.5 Million Net to Client

Our client was working as a welder on an oilfield gas pipeline collection system near Ozona, Texas. The welding company had received a “hot work” permit from the operator of the pipeline system which assured them that the gas wells had been cut off so that they could do their maintenance on the gas lines. While our client was welding a pipe, an automatic valve from a gas well opened releasing natural gas directly onto our client. The gas ignited and our client suffered burns to his face and hands. The defendant accepted responsibility for the case and it was settled early in litigation.

Grain Elevator
Death Case,
$455,000 Net to Client

Our client’s husband was an employee at a grain elevator and was trying to shovel grain towards an auger. The whirlpool of grain caught him and pulled him into the augur to his death. Even though the defendant had worker’s compensation, Texas law allows a family of a person killed at work to bring a claim against the employer for gross negligence and punitive damages only. This was a settlement of such a punitive damages claim.

Motorcycle Wreck
Brain Injury
6.3 Million Net to Client

Our client was driving a motorcycle when a truck ran a stop sign in front of him. Our client suffered a significant brain injury. Our client was not wearing a helmet and one of the difficult questions in the case was whether a helmet would have made any difference in this case. We also were able to help our client obtain the best possible medical and rehabilitation care, arranging for hospitalization and residential rehabilitation services that continued for more than a year post-accident. This aggressive medical treatment helped insure that our client could make the best possible recovery. That care would not have been available without arrangements that we made on his behalf.

Industrial
Death Case,
$770,000 Net to Client

Our client’s husband was working as a federal grain inspector at a grain elevator. His job required him to inspect grain as it was being loaded into railroad cars. The grain elevator operator moved the train while our client was on top causing him to fall where he died beneath the wheels of the train. The case was settled while in litigation, based on the negligence of the operator of the grain elevator.

Industrial
Finger Amputation
1.4 Million Net to Client

Our client was an employee at an Excel Meat Packing Plant in Friona, Texas. He worked in the trolley room where they washed the trolleys that carried the carcasses through the plant. They had a blow dryer to dry the equipment after it was washed and a piece of pipe attached to the blower to direct the air. Oil used to lubricate the blower was accumulating in the pipe and his boss told him to wipe out the pipe. When our client wiped out the pipe, he had several fingers amputated.

The defendant did not carry worker’s compensation insurance and was “self-insured” which allowed us to make a claim against them for negligence. When an employer does not carry worker’s compensation, they are not allowed to use contributory negligence as a defense and so they were not able to blame our client for his part in causing his injuries. Additionally, the plant production manager testified at trial in Lubbock that he had not trained our client on the dangers of the machinery because “we ain’t got time for all that training. We got to get the product out the door.” The jury awarded actual damages and a million dollars in punitive damages which was affirmed by the Texas Supreme Court.

Truck Wreck
Knee Injury
$119,000 Net to Client

Our client was a minor child who was a passenger in a work truck being driven by his mother’s boyfriend. The truck had a break failure while driving down the caprock. The driver lost control and the vehicle rolled. Our client suffered a knee injury, from which he had a good recovery.

Slip & Fall
Shoulder Injury
$500,000 Net to Client

Our client was working as a truck driver delivery person. The defendant employer did not carry worker’s compensation. Our client slipped and fell in some product that had leaked on the floor of the truck because it had been loaded improperly. Since the employer did not carry worker’s compensation, we were able to make a claim against the employer for negligence and damages and were not limited to worker’s compensation benefits. We obtained a substantial recovery for the client.

Auto Accident
leg Injury,
$414,000 Net to Client

Our client was the driver of a minivan traveling from Lubbock through San Angelo on her way to a convention. It was a foggy morning, with very limited visibility. A gravel truck pulled out on Highway 87 in front of the minivan causing a serious accident. Our client had a leg injury which required significant medical management and assistance from our firm in obtaining medical treatment. We were able to show the truck driver was taking Lortab for back pain several times a day, even though he had denied having any medical conditions on his work application. The fog was a major contributing factor to the accident.

Medical Malpractice
Death Case,,
1.4 Million Net to Client

The confidentiality agreement in this settlement does not allow us to give any details of the accident. However, the hospital accepted responsibility for the claim and the case was settled.

Construction Accident
Death Case,
1 Million Net to Client

Our client was working on a trench for a sewer line for a new commercial building. The construction was delayed for a week because of heavy rain. When the trench dried up enough to work on, our client went in the trench and it collapsed causing his death. The OSHA regulations require that trenches have bracing to prevent collapse and this trench did not have the required safety bracing.

The results obtained depend on the facts of each case