A Mack truck driver barreled along a desolate Texan interstate with a hefty flatbed trailer in tow. Fatigue numbed the operator’s mind and body as he pressed beyond the hours he was legally allowed to be on the road. He had hitched the trailer to the Mack truck the night before but had failed to recheck it before setting out. At 4:30 am, the flatbed trailer decoupled and spun uncontrolled across the interstate lanes. In the distance, two pairs of headlights raced towards the unlit danger. A sporty red Mustang smashed into the flatbed first, which brought the car to an abrupt halt. Not far behind, a pickup truck swerved to avoid hitting the Mustang, only to discover the nearly invisible trailer too late. Metal twisted and screeched as the corner of the flatbed tore open the truck’s cabin like a can opener. A fiery explosion engulfed the pickup, and its driver clung to life long enough to inhale the acrid smoke before succumbing to his injuries. The truck drifted to a standstill while flames licked at the carnage.
The decedent was 57 years old, but prior to his death, he had every intention of living to over 100. He lived a vibrant and athletic life as a competitive bodybuilder. Almost everyone at his local gym knew him, and he maintained his phenomenal health by eating only pure foods, supplementing, undergoing red light therapy, and shunning alcohol and smoking. As an MRI technician, he had left home before dawn to get to work early. However, because of the Mack driver’s tardiness to wrap up his own workday, the bodybuilder’s life was cut short — his hard work towards longevity nullified.
The victim’s family asked around to see who knew of a good attorney, and the decedent’s coworker recommended Brant Stogner, a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, in Houston. Founded in 1951, Brant’s firm was known as the largest and oldest personal injury firm in Texas. The coworker rang up Brant and asked him to speak with the family. After vetting a list of attorneys, the victim’s father retained Brant. Jennifer Stogner, a partner, and Chris Mahfouz, an associate, also joined the case. The team’s first step was identifying all statutory beneficiaries beyond just the bereaved father, and Brant discovered the victim had been living with his long-time girlfriend for nearly seven years. The couple had never been formally wedded, so the team needed to prove the couple’s common-law marriage. They gathered the testimony of 20 witnesses, who affirmed the couple held themselves out as husband and wife. Records of their joint bank accounts further cemented their marital status, and she was listed as his spouse on the death certificate.
During discovery, the victim’s team uncovered that the Mack truck driver had a $12,000,000 insurance policy. $275,000 had been paid out to the injured victim in the Mustang. From then on, the team sought to secure every penny of the policy’s remaining $11,725,000. However, the Defense wanted to save as much as they could on the policy, and their first offer was below half a million. The victim’s team turned down the excessively low proposal and stood fast in their position that the fatal crash did not warrant any sort of “discount” for the insurer. They sent the Defense a Stowers demand letter for the whole amount within 30 days.
The Defense disputed liability by claiming equipment failure and sought to draw in the manufacturer of the hitch. However, Brant’s team pointed to the police’s photos of the scene, which showed no evidence of a mechanical failure. During his deposition, the driver admitted to operator error when hooking up the hitch that morning. Despite the Defense accepting liability, they were still unwilling to accept accountability. As a last Hail Mary, the Defense tried to claim contributory negligence by saying that, because the Mustang’s driver had survived, the decedent should have been able to avoid the fatal crash as well.
Brant and his team knew they needed a visual of the accident that not only showed that the victim faced an unavoidable collision but also a horrific end (including the fact that the victim had initially survived the crash long enough to inhale smoke from the subsequent explosion). They tasked DK Global with animating the scene. To do this, DK Global collaborated with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s accident reconstructionist and the team’s biomechanical expert while relying on footage from two dashcams.
The DK Global animation began by zooming down through Texas to a satellite image of the interstate where the collision occurred. A daylit photo from the scene was shown. The video transitioned into a 3D reconstruction of the crash. An overhead nighttime shot followed the Mack truck, depicting the moment its flatbed trailer detached. The animation then cut to the Mustang and the Plaintiff's truck driving along the leftmost lane. A bird's eye view showed the Mustang colliding first, followed by the truck's top half being sheared off by the trailer's corner. An explosion erupted out of the truck. The camera then wheeled around to show the Plaintiff in the burning car. The animation then compared photos of the destroyed truck and Mustang alongside their animated versions. The visual concluded with a viewing of the two dash camera videos.
The two sides headed to mediation with the 30-day deadline for the Stowers demand set for the meeting’s conclusion. Brant and his team refused to budge on the Defense’s attempts to bargain. The Defense started at $3,000,000, which then dropped to $500,000, then $50,000, and finally to $5,000. The team remained firm: either meet the Stowers demand or go to trial. Then, at the very end of the mediation, the team played the DK Global animation. After it ended, Brant and his team got up and left the room without saying a word. Upon realizing the effect the animation would have upon a jury, the Defense settled the case for the full policy limit: $11,725,000, split between the father and spouse. While the money could never bring back the victim, the settlement could at least replace the lost income and allow the family to honor him in a manner of their choosing.
Brant Stogner, a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, exclusively focuses on plaintiffs in personal injury cases, such as auto collisions, work injuries, medical malpractice, and product defect cases. He graduated in the top fifteen percent of his law school class from South Texas College of Law Houston in 2006 and later became board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. In 2009, he secured the largest verdict in Texas for workplace safety and injuries, exceeding $20 million, and earned a spot in Verdict Search’s Top Texas Verdicts. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer since 2013 and among the Top 100 in Texas and Houston since 2019. In 2015, he was named on the Nation’s Top One Percent list by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. In 2016, he received the inaugural Young Alumni Award from South Texas College of Law Houston, where he also served as President of the Alumni Association in 2019.
Jennifer Stogner, a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, has practiced as both a plaintiff’s attorney and a defense attorney for individuals, small businesses, and large corporations, and has handled cases with values ranging from $800 to $80 million . She was recognized as a Texas Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2018 and 2019 and has been a Texas Super Lawyer since 2021. In addition, Jen was awarded The Best Lawyers in America for plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation in 2024 and 2025, as well as for insurance litigation in 2025. Jen is on the board of directors for the South Texas College of Law Houston Alumni Association (President, 2022-23) and the Houston Trial Lawyers Association. She is also active with the Houston Bar Association and the Monarch Oaks Community Association and Mom’s Club.
Chris Mahfouz, an associate at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, focuses on catastrophic personal injury cases. He attended Baylor University School of Law, where he graduated cum laude with a concentration in general civil litigation. During law school, Chris was the champion of Baylor’s Matt “Mad Dog” Dawson Mock Trial Competition and a member of the Order of the Barristers. Since his graduation, he has successfully represented numerous clients on a variety of personal injury and complex commercial litigation matters in both state and federal courts. In 2024, he was named a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for plaintiff's personal injury litigation and recognized by Super Lawyers as a Texas Rising Star.
