Car Wrecks

• While vacationing on South Padre Island, a married couple from Colorado were riding bicycles to dinner when they were run over from behind by a Chevrolet Tahoe. The Tahoe driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated. The company that owned the Tahoe and employed the driver were sued. Trial began in Cameron County, Texas and settled just before closing arguments. Because of the extent of the injuries, HMH then sued State Farm in Colorado for the clients’ underinsured insurance coverage—totaling $1.9 million of underinsured coverage. After ten months of litigation, in that new lawsuit, and after multiple depositions, State Farm agreed to pay well in excess of the full insurance limits.
• A Fed Ex delivery driver was knocked unconscious when she was hit by a tow truck on a residential Houston street. In William Hagans’ first trial as lead counsel, HMH’s lawyers told the jury the real story and used medical records to show the truth: their client was hit from behind, in the back of the head, likely by the tow truck’s side mirror, as she walked along the shoulder of the road toward her delivery. The jury found the defendant tow truck driver and his company 99% responsible and awarded substantial damages to the Fed Ex driver and her children.