Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Texas A&M has settled claims against it arising out of the 1999 bonfire collapse that killed 12 people and injured dozens more. A&M agreed to pay $2.1 million to several of the victims and their families to resolve the suit, which will continue against some of the contractors involved. Hats off to Darrell Keith and Geno Borchardt for fighting the lengthy battle despite all the roadblocks involved in suing a governmental entity, and perhaps concluding these claims can help the families find some closure.
I’m amazed at those Aggie fans who express disappointment over the victims and their families bringing suit against the school. That illustrates what I see among many potential jurors in this state, which is a general distrust of others who have been injured and skepticism of others’ damages, but by God, they’d better get full justice if they happen to be the ones who get injured. Just goes to show that nobody likes a lawyer until he or she needs one.
Tags: A&M, bonfire, lawsuit
Posted in Negligence, corporate negligence, personal injury, workplace safety, wrongful death | Comments Off
Monday, April 21st, 2008
A man rented a U-Haul truck to help his daughter move. While getting out of the rear of the truck, the 6-ton truck rolled over the man and left him a paraplegic. 14 surgeries later, he still requires around-the-clock care.
He filed a lawsuit against U-Haul, alleging negligence for renting out a truck that was not roadworthy with faulty emergency brake and worn-down gears. A Dallas County jury last Friday found U-Haul liable and awarded the plaintiffs $87 million.
U-Haul says it plans to aggressively appeal the verdict. It issued a statement that this verdict “is another example of abuse of the legal system against corporate citizens in America.”
Shame on U-Haul. There has never been a more corporate-friendly time in our justice system than right now. Big Business has lobbied to change the laws in their favor, they’ve plowed thousands of dollars into electing judges who are favor corporations over consumers, and they’re benefiting from a 20-year media campaign to vilify victims and their lawyers and poison the jury pool against plaintiffs.
The fact that a Dallas County jury hit them hard tells me that the evidence was truly damning, but U-Haul will no doubt string this out in the appellate system for years to come.
Tags: Dallas, Jury, lawyer, truck
Posted in corporate negligence, personal injury, truck accident | Comments Off
