$7,000,000 Settlement – Tractor Trailer

Shiver Hamilton Campbell obtained a significant settlement in a hard-fought wrongful death case arising from a tractor-trailer collision in rural Georgia. A third-party driver pulled out from a private drive and struck the front drive tire of a passing tractor-trailer. The tractor-trailer then crossed the center line and hit an oncoming vehicle, killing the driver — our client’s husband. Georgia State Patrol assigned all fault to the driver who pulled out.

For two years, the trucking company and its insurer denied liability, arguing their driver had no time to react. They filed a counterclaim against our client, alleging her husband was speeding and that his estate owed property damage for the tractor-trailer. They also threatened to seek attorney’s fees, calling the lawsuit frivolous and abusive.

S|H|C retained accident reconstruction, commercial trucking, and digital forensics experts. The forensic examination revealed that the tractor-trailer driver had been using a mobile browser to watch videos at the time of the crash.  The examination also revealed the driver had destroyed electronic evidence in an attempt to conceal his phone use.

S|H|C moved for sanctions based on the spoliation. Before the hearing, the insurers requested mediation. The case resolved there for $7,000,000 — seventy times the insurer’s original offer.