An Anderson County jury just rendered an enormous $8.6 million verdict on behalf of a young 18 year old Palestine woman who was seriously injured in 2006. Martha Gaines’ car was crashed into by a poorly maintained tractor-trailer driven by an unlicensed driver hauling heavy oil field equipment.
Martha lay in a coma for nearly two months and suffered life-threatening injuries. Her medical bills were well over one million dollars. Martha had just received a soccer sholarship to attend college. Her life, once so promising, was destroyed.
But Martha’s nightmare is not over. The truck company is appealing the verdict.
I had a similar case several years ago where a (fortunately) empty gas tanker crashed into the rear of my clients’ car. The 60 year old wife was severely injured, was in a coma for several weeks, and required multiple surgeries to her shoulder and extensive physical therapy. Her 65 year old husband sustained neck and back injuries.
Our extensive investigation did not revealed any mechanical defects in the tractor or tanker. The driver was properly licensed and had a good driving record. My clients medical bills were much less, but I was able to force the insurance companies and their attorneys in Dallas to pay my wonderful clients the sum of $5,500,000 — one of the largest amounts in the history of Johnson County – just before trial.
The case was reported from start to finish on the front page of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Dallas Morning News, and other local newspapers.See our Case Results page for one article. Others are listed in the section of this site called “In the News.”