What was supposed to be a relaxing annual family outing quickly turned into tragedy. An 18-wheeler driver veered over a median, crashing into a pickup truck carrying two brothers, whose lives changed instantly.
The brothers were driving northbound on the 14 Freeway in California, enjoying the breeze through an open window. When the big rig crossed the median, it slammed head-on into the driver’s side of the brothers’ vehicle. The impact nearly severed the driver’s left arm.
The brothers were taken down the freeway to the nearest hospital. Doctors worked swiftly to tend to their gruesome injuries. The brother driving suffered massive lacerations and a severely comminuted left humerus fracture. He required emergency surgery to salvage his arm. Medical imagery revealed the other brother fractured his thoracic spine in three locations. To treat these injuries, doctors performed a kyphoplasty procedure on his spinal column. Both brothers survived the near-death experience but sustained permanent injuries and debilitating PTSD. As they recovered, flashbacks from the accident paralyzed them with fear anytime they tried to enter a car.
Family members knew they needed the best representation to receive justice. They called on R. Rex Parris, Bruce Schechter, and Khail A. Parris of the PARRIS Law Firm to help them attain reparations for the accident. Shortly before trial, the PARRIS Law Firm contacted Brian Panish and Matthew Stumpf of Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, assembling a team of heavyweight trial attorneys to hold the negligent driver and his company accountable.
Things took a strange turn while preparing for trial. When the all-star litigation team subpoenaed the truck driver to be deposed, the Defense’s attorneys claimed they were unable to contact their client. The Plaintiff’s team sent investigators to track down the Defendant driver. Then, in a peculiar twist, the Defense’s attorneys withdrew from the case. The investigators found the driver within a week. It turned out the Defense was in contact with the driver the entire time. They had attempted to keep him away because they were afraid he was inebriated when the accident occurred.
The titans of trial anticipated that communicating such a vast array of injuries and damages in court would require lengthy testimonies from an array of experts. They understood the volume of information if communicated through testimony only, would drown the jury. To succinctly convey the severity of their clients’ injuries, the team brought their retained medical experts and DK Global together. They worked closely to create a series of animations depicting the brothers’ damages and the invasive surgeries needed to rehabilitate them.
The presentation depicted the driver’s mangled left arm. Then, his blood vessels and nerves were ligated and divided to place an external fixator across the broken bones. Next, his arteries and veins were repaired, followed by a carpal tunnel release and humeral shaft fixation. The other brother’s kyphoplasty procedure was also illustrated. Surgeons inserted a balloon into his spine and filled it with cement, fortifying the vertebrae.
Fully equipped to walk the jury through their clients’ injuries, the team of attorneys passionately advocated on their behalf. The jury awarded the brothers a verdict of $53 million, to aid in their recovery and compensate them for the devastation to their lives.
The PARRIS Law Firm was founded in 1985 and has recovered more than $1.4 billion in verdicts and settlements. Their attorneys have notable experience handling civil cases including personal injury matters, employment law, environmental law, and class action lawsuits.
Since 2005, Panish Shea & Boyle LLP has secured more than $10 billion in verdicts and settlements, shaping laws nationwide to combat wrongdoings. Their team navigates their clients through personal injury matters, business litigation, and more.
