May, 2007, FBT lawyers defended a very large trucking company and its driver in a lawsuit filed by three plaintiffs who were injured in a disputed red light intersection collision. Attorneys for the three young plaintiffs alleged that our client employed a careless tractor trailer driver who sped through a yellow and red traffic signal and skidded into the side of their pickup truck. Plaintiffs called an independent eyewitness who supported their position on liability. On behalf of the trucking company, we presented a case of a sleepy and distracted young man and his two female passengers who disregarded a red light and crashed into the front of our truck. We discredited Plaintiffs’ version of the accident and exaggerated injury claims. Plaintiffs’ history of chronic drug and alcohol abuse impaired his ability to drive a motor vehicle, and our accident reconstruction demonstrated that the independent eyewitness was mistaken and that the traffic signal could not have been red when our truck entered the intersection.
Extent of Damages: Through the testimony of six medical doctors, Plaintiffs proved several hundred thousand dollars in medical expenses. They also called a vocational expert to prove permanent lost earning capacity. In closing arguments, the plaintiffs’ attorneys asked for over a million dollars in damages and we asked for a defense verdict.