International Express Trucking Company settles back injury suit

Tom was driving his Lexus northbound on Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas, during the early morning hours in a thick fog. Tom saw a large object lying across the roadway ahead of him, and swerved to try to avoid it, but he hit it.

It turns out that the object Tom hit was a large piece of drill pipe that had been part of a load of an 18-wheeler. Shortly before Tom hit the drill pipe, an 18-wheeler had flipped on its side, causing its load of drill pipe to scatter about the roadway. The 18-wheeler driver was working for Texas International Express, LLC at the time of the crash.

Tom mainly hurt his lower back in the crash. Tom’s doctors ended up performing a fusion surgery to relieve his symptoms.

Tom hired  our firm to handle his 18-wheeler accident case. We filed the case in Harris County, Texas. Lawyers representing the 18-wheeler company and truck driver denied their clients were responsible for the crash. But we demonstrated that the truck driver was not properly qualified and that the 18-wheeler company did not properly supervise him, in violation of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

Our firm proved that the truck driver fell asleep behind the wheel because he was working too many hours driving the company’s 18-wheeler.  When the driver fell asleep, the 18-wheeler left the roadway, and when the driver woke up, he over-corrected which caused the rig to flip onto its side.

We negotiated a $437,500 settlement of Tom’s 18 wheeler accident case before the trial date.

Attorney’s fees are $175,000, and litigation expenses are $18,000.