WWHGD Partner Todd Ehrenreich Receives Defense Verdict in Trucking Accident Case
June 19, 2008
Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, LLC partner Todd Ehrenreich recently received a defense verdict in an accident case between a single passenger car and a truck.
The car was driven by a female, who swerved onto the right shoulder to pass a legally stopped car that was waiting to make a left turn. The driver then over-corrected to the left in an attempt to get back into her lane and swung in front of the truck, which was driving from the opposite direction. The truck clipped the car, causing it to spin and throwing the driver through the window. The driver sustained substantial injuries to her head and neck causing partial paralysis and long-term complications.
The driver sued the trucking company, alleging that the driver of the truck had driven too many hours and thus was experiencing fatigue and slowed reaction times and was following too closely the truck in front of him. The driver was represented by the Willie Gary Law Firm, a renowned plaintiff’s firm in South Florida.
Ehrenreich was brought into the case only a couple of weeks before trial. The trial was bifurcated, with the liability portion to be settled first. The insurer was reluctant to give up the case, but with Ehrenreich representing the reinsurer, he was brought into the case at the last minute.
“The plaintiff’s counsel basically tried to show that our driver was over his hours on his log so his ability to react was impaired and that he was following the truck in front of him too closely, with the illegal driving distance the cause of the accident,” said Ehrenreich. “I argued that his reaction time was not slow and that even if we lifted the truck preceding our truck out of the equation, the accident still would have occurred.”
In addition, said Ehrenreich, the plaintiff’s attorney simply would not concede that the plaintiff was not wearing her seatbelt when the facts clearly showed that she wasn’t.
Ehrenreich said he was able to go in and salvage the case at the last minute by simplifying it for the jury. “I didn’t call any experts and I had solid eye witnesses that could describe the accident,” said Ehrenreich. “It basically came down to explaining to the jury that there were two paid expert witnesses who said the accident was our guy’s fault, but a number of first hand accounts from eye witnesses who said it wasn’t. We just went over these facts with the jury and let them decide.”
Even though it was tough for the jury to see the plaintiff in the courtroom in a wheelchair every day, Ehrenreich said that the jury was able to see beyond their emotions to weigh the facts in the case. “We just asked the jury if they were able to see that the plaintiff was a nice woman, but that they couldn’t put the blame for her injuries on parties who didn’t cause them,” said Ehrenreich. “They were able to see that.”
Ehrenreich’s win shows the strength of WWHGD’s attorneys and its Miami office. “WWHGD has a reputation of being able to win in bad cases that we are put on at the last minute, even against good plaintiff’s firms,” said Ehrenreich. “The firm has the resources to be able to successfully handle these types of cases and we take our job of winning for our clients seriously. I was supported by [Atlanta partner] Mike Sexton, but capitalizing on our abilities to deliver solid results for our clients is what we do.”
