The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte, along with co-counsel Mark Stuckey of Kaufman Law obtained a policy limit settlement of more than $980,000 in a trucking personal injury case.
The Plaintiff, Glenn Pilzon, was a long-haul trucker based in Georgia. The Defendants, Four Towers, and Luis Calderon were a long haul freight company and driver, based in Florida. While driving in Virginia, Defendant Calderon changed lanes unexpectedly and collided with Mr. Pilzon’s truck. Echarte and Stuckey alleged that Defendant Calderon was negligent in several respects: failing to operate his vehicle at a safe speed in light of the weather conditions (it was raining at the time of the incident); traveling too close to the vehicle in front of him, and changing lanes abruptly without signaling and without yielding to the Plaintiff.
The day following the crash, Plaintiff suffered a post-concussive seizure while returning to Georgia. He began treating with, among other physicians, a neurologist for headaches and the seizure episode. He was prescribed seizure medication, which prohibited him from continuing to work as a truck driver. The Defendants denied that they were negligent. They also claimed the Plaintiff’s seizure disorder was unrelated to the trucking collision, but rather was related to an incident that occurred several years prior where he was shot in the head.
Echarte and Stuckey rebutted the causation defense by showing he never had a seizure prior to the trucking collision or otherwise complained of the issues he dealt with after the trucking collision (e.g., headaches).
The case settled for $981,875, which represented the Defendant’s remaining available policy limits a few weeks before trial was set to begin in the case.
