It was supposed to be another sunny and serene day in Kern County, California. However, an intoxicated 18-wheeler driver barreled southbound along the 14 freeway. Traveling the other direction, two brothers sat in their pickup truck on their way to their annual family outing. The youngest brother was at the wheel, his left arm hanging from the window, grazing the wind. Up ahead, he noticed the big rig veering over the median. He tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. The tractor-trailer slammed head-on into the left side of the pickup, nearly shearing the driver’s arm off completely. Thankfully, both brothers survived the near-death experience. Still, they suffered devastating injuries and crippling PTSD. PARRIS Law Firm and Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP teamed up to create an all-star trial team and represent the brothers, attaining a landmark $53 million verdict using a damages overview animation.
First responders rushed the brothers down the freeway to the nearest hospital. Doctors performed several emergency procedures to repair the younger brother’s gruesome lacerations and shattered left arm. The older brother broke his thoracic spine in three locations, requiring kyphoplasty surgery. Although they made a remarkable recovery, they broke down in fear any time they entered a car.
Their entire family was devastated. They searched for an attorney and found R. Rex Parris, Bruce Schechter, and Khail A. Parris of the PARRIS Law Firm, a prestigious law firm in the Antelope Valley. The attorneys subpoenaed the truck driver to be deposed. Frustratingly, the opposing counsel claimed they could not locate their client. The PARRIS Law Firm sent several investigators to track down the Defendant’s location. Then, in a strange turn of events, the Defense’s attorneys withdrew from the case, and the investigators found the driver a week later. They revealed the opposing counsel kept the Defendant away from the case to hide that he was inebriated when the collision occurred.
Shortly before the trial, the PARRIS Law Firm contacted Brian Panish and Matthew Stumpf of Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP to band together and hold the Defendants accountable. Because both brothers suffered an overwhelming number of injuries, these titans of trial anticipated that using expert testimony alone during trial would drown the jury with information, possibly impacting how they valued their clients’ damages. Thus, they brought on DK Global to collaborate with their medical experts and create an animation that illustrated their clients’ injuries and surgeries.
The animation began with a 3D model of the driver’s likeness and his severely mangled left arm. Then, surgeons irrigated and debrided his wound to secure an external fixator across his shattered humerus. Blood clots were removed using a catheter before repairing his arteries and veins through anastomosis. Next, surgeons incised his left forearm, released his carpal tunnel, and shortened his humeral shaft to fasten a metal plate to it. Finally, the older brother’s kyphoplasty procedure was illustrated, showing surgeons inserting a balloon into his spine and filling it with cement to fortify his vertebrae.
PARRIS Law Firm and Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP shared the animation and their clients’ stories, captivating the courtroom. Moved by their testimony and advocacy, the jury returned with a verdict of $53 million for the brothers.
The PARRIS Law Firm was founded in 1985 and has recovered more than $1.4 billion in verdicts and settlements. Their attorneys have remarkable experience handling civil cases, including personal injury matters, employment law, environmental law, and class action lawsuits.
Since 2005, Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP has secured more than $10 billion in verdicts and settlements, shaping laws nationwide to combat wrongdoings. Their team navigates clients through personal injury matters, business litigation, product liability, and police misconduct.
