Case Studies

Our client traveled westbound one early morning on her way to work and was hit head on by another driver who was texting and swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a vehicle stopped to make a turn. The police officer’s crash report placed fault for the crash on the defendant driver for failing to control her speed and for taking faulty evasive action. In many cases, however, trial judges do not let conclusions on crash reports come into evidence unless the officer is there to testify at trial and is qualified as an expert in crash reconstruction techniques.

Our client had to be cut out of her own vehicle and, once at the hospital was found to have shattered right calcaneus (heel bone), a fracture of the medial talus (lower part of the ankle joint), and herniated discs in her neck at C5-6 and C6-7. She underwent surgery on her right foot that included the placement of an interlocking plating system with several screws shown here in x-rays taken at the conclusion of the surgery.

After conservative treatment measures did not alleviate the pain and impairment, our client eventually underwent a multilevel anterior cervical discectomy whereby the herniated discs were removed in their entirety and replaced with intravertebral biomechanical PEEK devices (an implant designed to provide stability during fusion; made of polyether ether ketone). An anterior plate was then placed and secured using two 14-mm screws at each level.

Our client underwent additional physical therapy, this time for her neck and shoulder to increase strength and stamina, restore joint mobility and relieve pain and inflammation. To this day, our client feels the effects of the injuries that she sustained in the head on car crash.

Following surgery, our client underwent several months of physical therapy and follow up doctor visits. There was considerable pain, inflammation, and swelling.

Months later, our client was seen by a neurosurgeon to address the ongoing pain she had in her neck. An MRI on her neck confirmed disc herniations at C5-6 and C6-7. See MRI images below.

Process

1. Care for and attention to our client’s needs: Our first focus was to ensure that our client received the medical care and attention she needed for her significant injuries. We stayed in communication with our client and her physicians to monitor her progress and to see that her treatment progressed in an orderly manner.
2. Investigation: We visited and spoke with the investigating officers and emergency personnel and retained a crash reconstruction engineer to determine vehicle speeds and the Delta V, or change of velocity, experienced by our client. We secured cell phone records of the at fault driver to confirm driver distraction contributed to the crash. And we interviewed our client’s doctors and secured their testimony regarding the nature and extent of our client’s injuries and the lasting impact they would have on her for the rest of her life.
3. Trial: We were unable to settle this case with the insurance company of the driver responsible for causing the crash. We were forced to take our client’s case to trial where a jury awarded substantially more than the limits of the defendant driver’s insurance policy. Under Texas law, we were able to hold the insurance company responsible for the entire judgment.

Our client was traveling east on OSR in Madison County. It was early evening when his pickup truck was smashed by a drunk driver who was driving in the wrong lane. Below are photographs taken of both vehicles following the collision.

Our client, Doug, was taken by helicopter to the hospital with cuts and lacerations over his entire body, a closed head injury and a gross deformity of his left hand and wrist. An x-ray of the left hand revealed a heavily comminuted distal radius and ulnar styloid process fracture. Doug was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery the following day for an open reduction and internal fixation of the left wrist and then a tendon repair in the right hand. An external fixator device was placed in the left wrist and forearm as shown below.

A second surgery was required on the left wrist and then a third surgery to remove the external fixator, placement of more hardware in the wrist along with placement of a bone graft taken from his hip.

Many months of physical therapy followed but unfortunately, the injuries Doug sustained to his left wrist were so severe that he will never regain full use and function of the left hand and wrist.

At some point in the future, the doctors anticipate that an additional surgery to the left hand will be necessary where they will fuse the bones in the left wrist and install a plate that will extend from the middle of the hand down past his wrist.

Doug was in college at the time of the crash studying to become a petroleum engineer. He was a very active husband and father to his young wife and son. With months of hard work and rehabilitation, Doug has remained an active husband and father but had to put his education on hold because of the closed head injury.

We were able to resolve Doug’s case for the limits of the defendant driver’s commercial auto policy and the limits of Doug’s own underinsured motorist policy.

We represented a 25-year-old man (Joe) who was seriously injured by a runaway Welsh horse at a horse owner’s property in Magnolia, Texas. Our client was at the property with his wife, who was providing therapy services to one of the owner’s horses. Joe had very little experience riding or working with horses. Joe expressed interest in the Welsh horse that was for sale, and was invited to ride the horse. The horse owner’s young daughter saddled the horse with, as it was later discovered, a child-sized saddle. Joe started the horse at a slow trot and the horse started to buck. The horse began to gallop and attempted to buck Joe from the horse. Joe fell off the horse but one of his feet remained caught in the stirrup. Joe fell to the ground and was dragged approximately 60 feet. The horse kicked Joe in the face and knocked him free from the stirrup. Joe sustained serious injuries to his face. He was hospitalized for 3 days and underwent extensive surgery for the placement of plates and screws in his face and head. Joe incurred large medical bills and had lost wages and was left with scarring and disfigurement to his face. Fortunately, we were able to settle Joe’s case for the limits of the horse owner’s farm and ranch policy.

Our clients were traveling eastbound on interstate 30 in the left (inside) lane just outside of Mt. Pleasant, Texas one evening in November when they encountered a mysterious dust cloud.

Suddenly, they recognized the underside of a tractor trailer that blocked their lane of travel.  Data downloaded from our client’s Toyota Tundra pickup truck showed that he had less than three seconds to react.  He hit his brakes and made a hard steer to the right but was unable to avoid the toppled rig and smashed into the underside of the trailer.  The tractor trailer was owned by Central Transport and was driven by an entry level driver who had worked for Central Transport for less than six months.

The Texas Peace Officer’s crash report showed that, prior to the crash, the big rig driver Abrone had drifted from the left lane into the right lane of traffic and struck the driver’s side of another 18-wheeler that had traveled alongside the big rig. The new big rig driver then overcorrected and lost control of his rig. The Central Transport tractor-trailer hurdled into the highway’s median, collided with a cable divider, and rolled onto its passenger side with the trailer on its side blocking the left lane of the highway. This narrative and diagram are taken from the crash report.

 Case Summary

These are photos of our clients’ vehicle taken from the trooper’s dash cam.
As you can see, our clients are lucky to be alive.

The DPS trooper reported that the Central Transport driver was at fault for the crash.
Our retained crash reconstruction expert affirmed trooper’s findings and wrote in his report:

Summary of Physical Injuries

Our client sustained the following debilitating injuries in the crash:

• Comminuted tibial plateau fracture laceration of the left elbow with foreign bodies embedded

• Left rotator cuff tear

• Right rotator cuff injury

• Pain in left knee

• Pain in both shoulders

• Pain in left hip

Lifestyle Impact

Our client’s personal and social life was significantly altered as a result of the crash.

Detailed medical reports and expert medical testimony at trial in federal court in Texarkana confirmed our client’s medical condition that we do not publish here due to the extensive amount of data involved. The evidence of lifestyle impact and the effect this needless and senseless crash had on our client’s family was compelling. The trucking company settled with us on the fourth day of trial.

Process

1. Care for and attention to our client’s needs: Our first focus is on the care and comfort of our suffering client. The injuries and the mental and emotional toll on his family were unfathomable. We always put the immediate needs of our client first before any other steps are taken on a case.

2. Investigation: We investigated the facts of the case with independent experts.

3. Witness Interviewing: Part of our investigation involves interviewing witnesses and taking depositions. This includes police officers and other first responders, witnesses to the crash, engineering experts and medical professionals.

4. Expert Witnesses: We engage expert witnesses for both liability and damages.  Liability experts help us determine the likely cause and sequence of the crash.  Damage experts include physicians who testify to the cause of our client’s physical injuries as well as to the nature, extent and cost of ongoing medical needs.

One afternoon, our client traveled westbound on Leonard Road in her Ford Mustang. Defendant driver was in the course and scope of his employment that day for B.V.S Construction, Inc. and was operating a 2005 Peterbilt cement truck northbound on North Harvey Mitchell Parkway. Multiple witnesses confirm that the cement truck ran the red light at the intersection of North Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Leonard Road and smashed into the driver’s side of our client’s Mustang.

This narrative and diagram are taken from the investigating officer’s crash report.

Case Summary

Below are photographs taken from the scene of the crash. Fire department personnel used the jaws of life to free our client from her mangled car:

Summary of Physical Injuries

Our client sustained the following debilitating injuries in the crash:

• Closed comminuted fractures throughout the left sacral area

• Fractures of the left anterior acetabular column and left superior ramus

• Fracture of the left inferior ramus

• Acute hematoma in the left pelvic cavity

• 1cm laceration to the left shoulder

• Separated left shoulder

• Fractured/Chipped molar

• Traumatic brain injury and loss of consciousness secondary to motor vehicle crash

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

When EMS arrived on scene, our client was trapped in her vehicle and had to be extricated. She reported that she had lost consciousness and could not remember events leading up to lunch that day. She was then transported immediately to the emergency room. At the time of her arrival, she reported lumbar, left clavicle, left shoulder pain and left hip pain. Her symptoms were worsening and constant. She reported not being able to remember all the events immediately surrounding the incident. Radiology images taken of the pelvis revealed acute, traumatic, closed, comminuted and displaced fractures throughout the left sacral area; closed and displaced fractures of the left anterior acetabular column and left superior ramus; minimally displaced and mildly angulated, closed, left inferior ramus fractures; and an acute hematoma within the left intrapelvic cavity.

Due to the nature and location of the fractures, our client opted to forego surgical treatment. Instead she underwent months of difficult physical therapy with ongoing pain in her sacrum, hips and left leg.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Our client also experienced anxiety and depression since the crash. For some time following the collision, she became anxious and upset every time she saw a cement truck. She avoided traveling near the intersection where the crash occurred and was anxious traveling in a car. She was diagnosed with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Her symptoms severely impacted her work and activities of daily living.

To evaluate and investigate further her traumatic brain injury, 3T MRI with DTI imaging was performed on our client. A neuroradiologist in San Antonio was retained and found that imaging performed on our client showed clear evidence of a brain contusion with coup-contrecoup injury as well as specific evidence of a shearing injury (also known as Diffuse Axanal Injury) due to rotational forces exerted on the brain. In addition he found numerous signal voids related to micro hemorrhaging in both the right and left frontal lobes, a known target area for white matter injury in the setting of brain contusion. The neuroradiologist testified that our client’s ability to navigate the complexities of day-to-day life would affect her mood, and cause increased irritability, withdrawal and damage to interpersonal relationships, both at home and at work.

We also recommended that our client undergo neuropsychological testing. Her residual symptoms more than one year post-crash included hypersensitivity to noise, inability to multitask, anxiety, dizziness, irritability, and problems with finding her words. The testing revealed that both verbal and visual memory were below pre-crash levels. The neuropsychologist recommended work accommodations to help keep our client’s work environment quiet and as distraction-free as possible. Throughout the testing, our client showed significant anxiety and the neuropsychologist thought she would benefit from continued counseling to learn different mechanisms to manage her anxiety.

Non-Economic Damages

Our client was an independent and very active woman. Following the crash, she was completely dependent on other people and moved back into her parents’ home during her recovery.

Our client’s co-workers and friends testified about the changes they saw in our client since the crash, and these changes included pain and impairment they witnessed of our client both in the office and away from the office, anxiety, sensitivity to noise, inability to concentrate and more.