A frack tank at an oil rig site needed to be hosed down, and the company worker on duty thought the task was too routine for him to bother supervising. Without someone responsible for overseeing the operation, the team that was contracted for the job flouted safety regulations. While setting up the power washer, they mismatched the hoses and valves connected to the industrial-strength machine — the washer capable of blasting 10,000 pounds per square inch, but the valves rated for far less pressure. An oil rig worker then held the hose as the crew flipped on the truck-powered washer. Water blasted through the woefully inadequate setup. Suddenly, a valve burst off the end of the washer, blowing through the underside of the oil rig worker’s jaw with the force of a shotgun. The valve severed the man’s tongue, eviscerated his palate, dislodged his hyoid bone, contused his lung and shoulders, and flooded his brain with bleeds.
The victim was rushed to the closest hospital, but the oil site was tucked far away in a remote part of West Texas. His injuries were too extensive for the hospital staff, and he was sent to a second hospital, all while sustaining massive blood loss. The second hospital then life-flighted him to a third hospital, a higher-care facility. He underwent multiple highly invasive surgeries, which required grafting flesh, suturing tissue to bone, and a complex array of stitches and incisions. As he recuperated from the operations, the victim could no longer eat, swallow, or even breathe normally. He required months of intensive rehabilitation to prevent him from choking on water and to regain the ability to eat some foods. Despite the interventions, his speech and eating never returned to full functionality.
Muhammad (“Mo”) S. Aziz, a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, received a referral from another attorney about the oil worker’s injury case. A personal injury attorney, Mo had extensive experience with catastrophic injury and equipment defect cases. He first evaluated the pressure rating of the entire system and found that the hose and valves were too low a grade for the washer. He took three depositions of the contractor who had provided the inadequate equipment. By the third deposition, the contractor’s liability had become undeniably apparent to all parties involved. However, the contractor’s limited insurance policy only covered a fraction of the victim’s medical costs.
Next, Mo shifted his focus to include the facility operator’s liability. The operator argued that he did not need to supervise something as routine as washing a frack tank. However, Mo fought with the oil company to obtain copies of their documented procedures. He discovered that the operator was responsible for ensuring that all rules and regulations were being followed, regardless of how rote the activity was. During the facility operator’s deposition, the man admitted that, had he been present, he would have shut down the unsafe operation. Mo also investigated whether the company had negligently retained the contractors, whose history of problems should have disqualified them from accessing the oil site.
One of Mo’s most significant challenges was conveying the medical severity of the Plaintiff’s injuries. The trauma was unique, and it stemmed from an uncommon piece of equipment. Additionally, few photos were taken during the victim’s frenetic hospital transfers. The medical records also failed to capture the graphic and invasive nature of his multiple throat, tongue, and palate surgeries. Mo knew that to communicate the depth of his client’s physical and emotional trauma, the gruesome injuries needed to be presented visually to a potential jury. He brought on DK Global to create medical animations of the surgeries and of the victim’s array of devastating injuries.
The first of the DK Global animations began by recreating the likeness of the victim. It showed the depth of the hole that the exploding valve bored through his palate. Next, radiological cross-sections were demarcated to reveal each of his brain bleeds. Then, a skeletal view highlighted all of the fracture and contusion sites in his spine and shoulders. Soft tissues augmented the 3D skeleton to indicate the lung, spine, and tendon damages. DK Global also recreated three of the victim’s invasive procedures: (1) the anterior neck exploration, debridement, and closures; (2) the closure of the oronasal fistula, primary palatoplasty, and bilateral buccal fat pad flap; and (3) the superiorly based pharyngeal flap procedure. The 3D animations showed the victim’s oral tissues being sliced, cauterized, irrigated, stretched, and stitched back together.
During mediation, Mo laid out the contractor’s liability and secured the policy’s limits. He then outlined the operator’s exposure. To showcase the Plaintiff’s damages, Mo put on an hour-long presentation that included the DK Global animations, pictures of the injury, and videos of his client’s ongoing struggles. The seasoned insurance adjusters and lawyers began to squirm more and more as they watched, uneasy at the prospect of Mo presenting these visuals to a jury. By the end, the adjusters accepted significant responsibility and settled the case for a confidential eight-figure amount. The settlement ensured Mo’s client would have his medical needs taken care of for the rest of his life.
Muhammad S. Aziz has been a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner since 2012. Over his career, he has obtained settlements and verdicts exceeding $800 million. He has consistently been selected for inclusion in the Texas Super Lawyers, Top 100: Houston Super Lawyers, and Top 100: Texas Super Lawyers lists. In 2022, he received the Excellence in the Legal Profession Award from the Muslim Bar Association of Houston. In 2021, he was recognized by Texas Lawyer Magazine and ALM Media as the “Attorney of the Year” in their Texas Legal Excellence Awards.
