Successful Settlement Secured After 2.5 Years of Litigation and 5-Day Trial in Admitted Liability Case
Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial attorneys Chaz Klaes and Anna Dodds secured a favorable settlement in a Texas negligence case following two and a half years of litigation and a five-day trial.
Plaintiffs alleged negligence and vicarious liability as to the Defendant driver and his employer as well as negligent supervision and vicarious liability as to the employer’s parent company. The lawsuit stemmed from a seventy mile per hour rear-end accident in which the Defendant driver collided with Plaintiff at a red light in Henderson, Texas. Plaintiffs alleged significant cervical and traumatic brain injuries.
At trial, Defendants admitted to liability as to Defendant driver and his employer, but adamantly contested the parent company’s responsibility for directly causing the subject accident and contested the parent company’s vicarious liability. Defendants also introduced evidence of significant pre-existing conditions and argued that Plaintiffs’ alleged damages were not causally related to the subject accident.
After nearly two and a half years of litigation and five days of trial, the parties reached a settlement agreement on the morning of closing arguments for a total of 40% of Plaintiffs’ pre-trial settlement demand.