Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

A Galveston County jury has awarded $1.72 million to man severely injured in an accident at BP America Inc. oil refinery in Texas City. Plaintiff was struck by an oil burner being lifted by a crane operator, suffering severe injuries requiring over a half million dollars in medical bills.

On the job injuries where there is a third party defendant exempt from the protection of the workers compensation statue are often the types of cases where our lawyers can obtain the largest verdicts and settlements for our clients. This is because they often involve big companies and there are no limitations on the amount of insurance coverage at issue because the company either has adequate insurance or has the ability to pay any verdict in excess of the insurance policy.

According to a Jury Verdict Research study that was published this month, the average compensation for a personal injury lawsuit in Texas over the last six years is compensatory median award for personal injury trials in Texas is $826,892. The highest verdict was over $100 million which, obviously, inflated the average verdict. The median verdict is only $12,281. Certainly, medical malpractice reform in Texas has not helped this number in recent years.

One favorite - and legitimate - tactic of defendants at trial is to point to "empty chairs", someone not a party to the trial. The empty chair are either potential defendants that were not or could not be sued or defendants that settled before trial.

The Texas Supreme Court offers its thoughts on this issue this week in a case involving the lawsuits stemming from the bondfire deaths that killed 12 people before a Texas A&M game 10 years ago.

I've written in the past about personal injury verdicts in Texas. A recent Jury Verdict Research found that the average verdict in a personal injury lawsuit in Texas is $826,892. But Texas is a particular example of the differences between the median and average jury verdicts: the median award is just $12,281. You can always drive a truck between the difference between average jury verdicts and median jury verdicts. But it Texas, this gap would not covered by a fleet of trucks.

The average is also distorted by huge verdict that are not collectible. A Texas jury awarded $118 million - the highest verdict included in this Texas jury verdict study - to the widow of a worker who died in Phillips Petroleum Co. explosion but the Texas cap on punitive damages reduced that award to under $12 million.

If you believe you may have a potential Texas personal injury lawsuit, call 800-883-8082 or click here for a free no obligation consultation.

A jury in Texas found that the Texas Motor Speedway was negligent in an accident that left a boy with traumatic brain injuries, awarding more that $11 million in damages for his injuries.

The boy was hit by child while driving a miniature race car in the parking lot of the Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway, a paved one-fifth mile at the race track. The jury found the Texas Motor Speedway 80% responsible for the accident (and the boy's parents 20%).

I would like to know how fast they kids were driving. My kids are too young but they are going to want to drive go-carts and the like just like I did as a child. Should I let them? Depressing issues to digest.

A Yamaha Rhino lawsuit in death alleging the wrongful death of a 13 year old boy in a Yamaha Rhino accident is proceeding to trial, according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record. This lawsuit alleges design defects and insufficient safety features caused the boy's death after a rollover accident.

According to a report by the Southeast Texas Record, Yamaha has been trying to force the parents to arbitrate the case based on an agreement signed with the dealer when the Rhino was first purchased. However, a motion to compel arbitration was not filed until June 1, and the parents argued that Yamaha had waived their right by not asserting the provision earlier in the litigation.

There are scores of Yamaha Rhino rollover lawsuit now pending in the MDL, which is class action lawsuit only for the purpose of discovery.

For more information on the Yamaha Rhino rollover case, click here.

A drilling company in Texas paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a woman killed by gas well equipment that fell from a company truck. The settlement was reached after the Pioneer Drilling truck driver admitted that he had given conflicting testimony in the case. The driver also admitted - and I'm sure this added millions to the case - that he and Pioneer officials attempted to falsify documents following the accident.

A Seroquel lawsuit that was set to go to trial before the next Seroquel MDL trial was dismissed yesterday by a Delaware state court judge. The move was not unexpected. The judge had previously excluded medical expert testimony linking diabetes and Seroquel. Without an expert, a product liability lawyer cannot pursue a Seroquel verdict.The irony of it all is that no one seriously questions that Seroquel can cause diabetes. But I believe the problem here is the same as the problem in the Florida Seroquel MDL case that was set for trial: the expert - in this case an endocrinologist - could not sufficiently rule out alternative causes for the diabetes. It did not help that AstraZeneca's lawyers were able to state in their motion for summary judgment that "until recently, her diet consisted of slurpies and donuts, fish and fries from McDonald's, Burger King and '(a) lot of Chinese food.'" Not exactly the best "Seroquel caused my diabetes" case.

The Plaintiff in this case had the type of lawsuit Seroquel lawyers prefer: diabetes from off-label use of Seroquel for insomnia.

"The plaintiffs want to try these cases in the press," said Mike Kelly, a Wilmington attorney with the law firm McCarter & English who represents AstraZeneca in the Delaware cases. "But what is happening in the courts tells it all ... So far, the plaintiffs can't get a case to trial."

Continue reading "Seroquel Lawsuit: Another Loss, This Time in Delaware" »

The Texas Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, upheld a jury verdict that found Nationwide Insurance responsible for covering injuries sustained to a Texas family involved in a collision with one of its policyholders.

Nationwide's insured was chased by police before the accident where he collided with the Plaintiffs. Nationwide refused to pay the claim, arguing that their policyholder had forfeited his right to coverage when he began the chase. Plaintiffs' Texas accident lawyer argued that the logic of Nationwide's argument is if you try to run a red light, speed or take any other intentional act not intended to cause an accident in Texas, that would also be an intentional act for which there would be no insurance coverage. The Texas Supreme Court agreed ruling that "Texas mandates liability insurance for drivers but if ordinary Texans are unprotected from those who speed or run red lights, but intend no harm to others by doing so, then Texas is replete with non-coverage notwithstanding its mandatory-coverage requirement."

A spokesperson for Nationwide said the insurance company is "glad the high court has resolved the issue of whether a high-speed chase falls within the 'intentional acts' exclusion in Texas. Nationwide intends to comply with the courts ruling on this complex issue." So Nationwide just wanted the issue resolved - that was their goal in all of this? Please.

If you have been injured in a car accident anywhere in Texas, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Brownsville, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, Amarillo, and Garland, you may need a Texas accident lawyer. Call 800-553-8082 to speak with a lawyer today or click here for a free Texas auto accident lawyer consultation.

A number of mostly medical malpractice related links from around the web today

Interesting article on what sounds like an insane medical malpractice trial in Jefferson County in a breast cancer misdiagnosis lawsuit.

It is crazy easy for lawyers to complain about judges, complaining that judges take too much or too little control of a courtroom. I'm sure it is easy to say when you don't have to actually preside over a case yourself. But listening to the facts of this medical malpractice case, I think there is no question the judge needs to get a tighter grip on the medical malpractice lawyers in his courtroom.

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar was named in a lawsuit following a fatal alcohol-related car crash. In the lawsuit, plaintiff claims the bar overserved a man on the night of the accident and was negligent in the death of her daughter.

This is an awful case. The man's pickup truck collided with a car occupied by three teenagers, killing two people of them and seriously injuring the third. The drunk driver was also killed in the car accident.

As tragic as this case is, I do have some concern with dram shop laws that hold bars accountable in these case just because I think it is so difficult to track who has been served what at a bar.

The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a strange rehearing of a ruling that Texas lawmakers and other groups say deprives injury victims of their rights. The issue of whether contract employees covered by workers’ compensation are able to seek damages against work site owners for on-the-job injuries. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, labor groups and accident victims have protested the decision saying the Texas high court erred in granting extended immunity provisions that were not part of legislative intent.

Interesting case. The Texas Supreme Court decision was unanimous but they get a rehearing because everyone thinks it was an awful call. Probably the best approach would be for Texas lawmakers to rewrite the law.

A Jury Verdict Research study found that the median compensation award for personal injury case that go to trial in Texas is $22,360. Plainitff's recover about 52% of the time (which is consistent with the national average).

If you have been injured and need a personal injury lawyer anywhere in Texas, call our malpractice, product liability and car accident lawyers at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free, confidential Internet case evaluation.

Related Posts

• What is the Value of My Case?
(how valuation is determined in personal injury cases in Texas)

• Handling Your Own Personal Injury Case
(what to do if you want to handle your personal injury case yourself

When a lawyer gets a verdict or settlement in a 7 figure case, the lawyer can join the Million Dollar Advocates (of which I am a member). Last week, after a Texas jury awarded $1.5 million in a truck accident involving two men seriously injured after a semi crashed into their car, an Indiana based trucking company entered a more ignominious group of trucking companies that have had million dollar truck accident verdicts entered against them based on truck accidents that occurred within a year, both Texas truck accidents. In 2005, Celadon took a $17.5 million jury hit in a truck accident case involving the death of a U.S. Army lieutenant, who was killed after getting rear-ended by a Celadon truck. The venue? Texas.

In this most recent case, two men were driving in their car on a highway in Waxahachie, Texas (near Dallas) when a Celadon Trucking Services tractor-trailer struck their car. The Plaintiffs' Texas truck accident lawyer alleged in Plaintiffs’ lawsuit that Celadon negligently hired the truck driver and that its driver caused the truck accident. The jury agreed.

One of the men suffered a fractured vertebra; the other sustained a serious injury to his right knee, which required several reconstructive surgeries. The latter man also suffered a mild traumatic brain injury and damage to his collarbone.

I appreciate that Celadon is a big, publicly traded company that has a lot of truck drivers on the road. And I realize that this verdict may have been less than Plaintiffs' demand. But given Celadon's history in Texas, you would think they might work a little extra hard to settle this truck accident case before trial.

If you have talked to a personal injury lawyer who handles a lot of car accident cases in the last six months, you will hear complaints that car accident cases are drying up. Yet, unfortunately, there is no indication we have less automobile accidents in this country. So why?

I think the main reason is that car insurance companies are getting better at reaching out to clients before they find a lawyer. Insurance companies are absolutely entitled to do this. Moreover, I think this works mostly with smaller auto accident cases. The reality – and this is something a lot of car accident lawyers don’t want prospective clients to know – is that you can often handle small auto accident cases without a lawyer.

Our car accident lawyers handling your case will increase the value of your case. In fact, the mere involvement of our law firm, given our reputation, is going to increase the value of your case. But how much? If you have a big case, it will increase the value a great deal. Our car accident lawyers have been referred cases by other lawyers that already have an offer and we have gotten more than 35 times the offer given to the original lawyer. But our accident lawyers’ ability to add value to your case is directly proportional to the size of the case. If you have a case with an ER visit and a few physical therapy sessions, our car accident lawyers will increase the value of your case. And it certainly will make your life easier because you have someone to process everything for you. But is it enough to make it worth hiring us? The answer to that varies from case to case. Our car accident lawyers used to take these kinds of cases because we thought it was a bad idea to deny anyone the right to a lawyer if they had a valid claim. Now, I’m telling at least a third of the people that call us with legitimate cases that they certainly can hire a lawyer, but they also have the option to proceed without a lawyer, and we tell them what they should do to continue bringing their car accident claim without a lawyer.

Don’t get me wrong: there are real risks in proceeding on your own without a car accident lawyer. Among other risks, you can miss deadlines to file a claim and you don’t have the experience that a car accident lawyer does to know the value of your auto accident claim. But the reality is some people are willing to assume those risks. If you are one of those people, you can click on the article titled “Handling My Own Auto Accident Claim.”

If you are going to proceed without a lawyer for your car accident, call a lawyer just to discuss your case with them.

Related Posts:

Handling Your Own Auto Accident Claim (a “how to” for those proceeding on their own)

Why Hiring a Lawyer is the Best Way to Maximize Your Recovery in Most Auto Accident Cases (explanation of the pitfalls of proceeding without a lawyer).

What is the Value of My Car Accident Case? (explanation of how value is determined in auto accident cases)

Sample Demand Letter (sample letter to the insurance company to settle an accident claim)

My two volume treatise Insurance Settlements is now available from James Publishing. The book discusses how to position a lawyer's car accident, truck accident, medical malpractice or product liability case to the best possible settlement at every step along the way (until the state's high court affirms the judgment).

Click on the James Publishing link. If you have any comments on the book, please email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com under the subject "Insurance Settlements Comments."

Our lawyers are reviewing Byetta claims after the FDA announced this week that the diabetes drug has been linked to severe pancreatic problems in dozens of patients. On Monday, the FDA warned patients taking Byetta to discontinue use if they develop symptoms of the disorder. Further the FDA said that doctor prescribing Byetta should consider other prescription options for patients with a history of pancreas problems.

Since Byetta was introduced into the United States in 2005, more than 700,000 patients have used the Byetta.

Our lawyers are now exploring potential Byetta lawsuits. If you would like to discuss your case with a Byetta lawyer, call 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consulation/case evaluation (or even to answer any question you may have). For more information on Byetta and the concerns with Byetta, click here.

Last week, Digitek manufacturer Actavis Totowa recalled over 65 different drugs made at their New Jersey manufacturing plant. The list of recalled drugs (in some form or another) includes such generic drugs as Bellamine, Buspirone, Carisoprodol, Oxycodone Meperidine, and Rifampin. This strengthens the conclusion that the New Jersey plant that made these drugs may be the cause of irregularities in Actavis medications.

In April 2008, Actavis recalled Digitek, a drug prescribed to treat heart failure and irregular heartbeat because it was discovered that Digitek tablets appeared to have double the thickness – and likely double the active ingredient – listed on the label. When Digitek is given in abnormally high doses it can lead to digitalis toxicity which, paradoxically, worsens the problems Digitek is intended to treat, causing nausea or lower blood pressure and other side effects from the Digitek overdose that can lead to the increased risk of stroke or a heart attack.

If you would like to speak to a Digitek recall lawyer about a potential Digitek lawsuit, call 1-800-553-8000. For more information on the Digitek overdose recall or a free consultation on your potential Digitek case, click here.

A nursing home in Carrollton has been sued for failing to maintain the health and safety standards required by Texas law, according to a lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General.

Specifically, the Texas Attorney General's complaint alleges that Brookhaven Nursing Center's failure to have backup safety measures and emergency response protocols was a contributing cause to the death of a patient who died of oxygen deprivation because the patient's oxygen system shut down during a power outage.

It is a sad commentary that Texas now has to rely on the state to bring about justice because there are so few nursing home lawyers left in Texas.