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| Motor Vehicle |
| Truck company sued for highway tractor trailor wreck
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| Settlement: $225,000.00 Attorney fees: $90,000 Litigation expenses: $20,000 |
| Case Type: Multiple Vehicle, Motor Vehicle - Lane Change, Motor Vehicle - Tractor-Trailer |
| Case: Kevin Anthony v. W.W. Rowland Trucking Company, Inc., and Jose Sanchez, No. 2003-66761 |
| Venue: Harris County District Court, 234th, TX |
| Judge: Reece Rondon |
| Date: 06-10-2005 |
| PLAINTIFF(S) |
Attorney:
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Expert:
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| DEFENDANT(S) |
Attorney:
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Expert:
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| Insurer:
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| Facts: On Aug. 27, 2003, at about 9:15 a.m., a Ford Explorer driven by plaintiff Kevin Anthony, 53, a self-employed insurance salesman, was struck by the trailer of an 18-wheeler driven by Jose Sanchez at 700 North Loop West in Houston. Anthony's Explorer was traveling in the far left lane of the four-lane highway. A passenger vehicle driven by Soun Sok, an uninsured and unlicensed driver, was stalled in the middle of the highway after one of her tires lost its tread and was stopping up the traffic behind her. As the 18-wheeler approached the bottleneck, Sanchez lost control, and his trailer swung around and hit Anthony's Explorer and several other vehicles. Sok received a ticket for driving without a license and for contributing to the accident by failing to pull over to the shoulder of the highway when her vehicle became disabled. The officer at the scene also charged Sanchez with unsafely changing lanes. Anthony sued Sanchez and his employer, W.W. Rowland Trucking Company Inc., for failing to take proper evasive action and unsafely changing lanes. He claimed that Sanchez could have avoided the accident and could have kept control of the 18-wheeler. He contended that W.W. Rowland was liable vicariously for Sanchez's actions. The defendants denied liability, alleging that Sok was entirely responsible for the accident. Sanchez claimed that alternative evasive action was not an option and that if Sok had appropriately moved her vehicle to the shoulder, the accident would not have happened.
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Injury: Anthony claimed that he sustained a left shoulder impingement, rotator cuff tear and labral tear. Ten months after the accident, he underwent an arthroscopic subacromial decompression and a repair of the torn supraspinatus tendon. He made a substantially complete recovery from the surgery. He incurred about $40,000 in medical bills from the surgery and rehabilitation and sought that amount in damages. He also sought an unspecified amount for past and future pain and suffering and physical impairment. No claims were made for lost wages. In addition to damages sought, the plaintiffs also planned to seek spoliation sanctions against W.W. Rowland for Sanchez's missing truck driver logs. The defendants claimed that the logs were lost, and plaintiff's counsel noted that had this case gone to trial, it may have presented that the logs were missing to the jury and asked that it be allowed to assume that the missing evidence be viewed as unfavorable for the defendants. Plaintiff's counsel argued that W.W. Rowland's corporate representative admitted the elements of spoliation during his oral deposition.
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Verdict Information Anthony settled with the defendants for $225,000 shortly before a ruling on the spoliation motion was set to be released. The defendants' carrier, CNA Insurance Co., paid its policy limits to another claimant involved in the collision, so W.W. Rowland will contribute the entire amount of the settlement.
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