Chad Ikerd successfully represented Andy D. in a case against a nationwide trucking company and helped secure a $2,000,000 settlement for him. Our team of lawyers, including Scott Webre and Todd Kelly, developed a strategy to prove the fault and liability of the defendant-driver and the causation for Andy’s injuries.
The irony of this case is that Andy D. was a truck driver himself. In fact, he was in his truck eating lunch at a rest stop southeast of Houston. While sitting in the back of his truck eating, he felt the cab of his truck violently shake. He immediately knew what was happening: one of the trucks on the side of him collided with his parked 18-Wheeler.
Andy D. had in fact anticipated this could happen. He was at the rest stop waiting for his next load and thus did not have a trailer on his truck. He was driving as a “bobtail.” This meant he could back up much further in the parking spot than usual to avoid a vehicle on either side of him turning too sharply and hitting him.
Despite doing all he could to avoid being hit, the truck to Andy D.’s right struck the front of his cab with its rear trailer tires. The driver of the other truck claimed he was trying to avoid another truck backing into him from the opposite side, which was why he turned too sharply to the left.
Andy D. stayed calm and remained seated during the first violent shaking of his truck. Once it stopped, he stood up to look out the front window. At that point, the driver who hit him started to pull forward again, causing Andy D. to fall forward into the dash of his truck, and eventually to his knees.
Several years before this incident, Andy D. was sleeping in the bunk of his truck when another 18-wheeler hit him at a rest stop. He was thrown from the top bunk to the floor, seriously injuring his neck and lower back.
He had to have a two-level cervical and two-level lumbar fusion after that wreck. Those were the injuries and compromised spines with which Andy D. had to absorb this new fall.
Andy D. is not only one of the nicest, most wholesome family men you will find, but he’s also one of the toughest. He immediately started to have pain near the locations of his previous surgeries.
Nevertheless, he had a large family to support. For over two years, he toughed out hundreds of thousands of miles on the interstate to keep working, keep moving, and keep providing for his family.
Eventually, after all, conservative treatment failed to relieve his back pain, and, most significantly, the headaches caused by his new neck/cervical injuries. could no longer take it.
He had to sell his truck and undergo yet another cervical surgery, creating a three-level fusion, connecting to his previous fusion. Doctors told him he would need an additional fusion to his lower back/lumbar as well.
This medical diagnosis effectively ended Andy D.’s driving career. Even with the pain relief provided by the surgery, he could no longer pass a mandatory physical required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
After many months of litigation and motions practice to convince the trucking company that its driver did not have a legitimate defense of sudden emergency due to the third-party truck backing up, the parties reached a fair settlement that allowed Andy D. to pay his medical bills, save money for future medical procedures, and provide for his family. The parties agreed to a settlement of $2,000,000.
Client’s like Andy D., his wife, and his kids are the reason we do this. Through no fault of his own, this extremely honorable and hardworking man had his livelihood and health unnaturally taken from him.
Like every company that only cares about money, the trucking company fought hard to deny liability, question Andy D.’s injuries, and minimize their financial exposure. Chad Ikerd and our legal team refused to compromise for less than full justice and fair compensation. If you find yourself in a similar situation, contact us today for a free consultation.