The lawyers at Watts Guerra have represented the victims of commercial trucking accidents for decades.
In 2012, our lawyers Frank Guerra and Will Maiberger tried a case against a trucking company arising out of a collision on an interstate highway in Arizona. The jury awarded our client, who had been rendered a quadriplegic by the crash, $30.6 million in damages. Total litigation expenses withheld were $117,000, and net client recoveries were $883,000.
The following are four examinations of various witnesses in the trial. There are animations shown to the jury, together with portions of the closing argument:
In 2006, Mikal Watts tried a case against both Toyota and a trucking company that caused the accident. In the accident between a large commercial truck and a small sedan, the truck caused massive damage to the Toyota vehicle, rendering a small child a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. The jury found the trucking company negligent. Following the trial, the trucking company settled the case for its policy limits.
In the late-1990s, Mikal Watts tried the case of a young man decapitated when his vehicle traveled under the trailer of an 18-wheeler that had jackknifed in the fog. Rather than putting out warning flares and triangles, the truck driver did nothing, causing the loss of life of our client. The jury found the trucking company both negligent and grossly negligent and awarded $20 million in damages. Attorneys fees were $360,000, total litigation expenses withheld were $111,173.42, and net client recoveries were $428,826.58.
Over the years, Watts Guerra has achieved numerous truck wreck settlements totaling more than $194 million. Of these recoveries in trucking cases, total attorney fees were $74,565,503, the litigation expenses withheld totaled $10,483,638, and net client recoveries were $109,737,050.
Case Type | Injury | Settlement Amount | Attorney Fees | Expenses | Net to Client |
Commercial Vehicle Accident | Death | 18,100,000 | 6,033,333 | 74,997 | 11,991,670 |
Fuel System Failure | Death | 8,000,000 | 3,200,000 | 300,161 | 4,499,839 |
Truck Wreck | Brain Injury | 7,775,000 | 3,110,000 | 310,000 | 4,355,000 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,900,000 | 2,760,000 | 353,187 | 3,786,813 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,242,069 | 2,296,828 | 207,596 | 3,737,645 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,006,250 | 2,199,050 | 191,851 | 3,615,349 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,000,000 | 2,400,000 | 9,682 | 3,590,318 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,000,000 | 1,932,400 | 68,303 | 3,999,297 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 6,000,000 | 2,400,000 | 164,541 | 3,435,459 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,974,396 | 2,389,758 | 258,212 | 3,326,426 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,836,500 | 2,000,000 | 163,404 | 3,673,096 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,305,299 | 2,122,120 | 290,138 | 2,893,041 |
Truck Wreck | Quadriplegia | 5,250,000 | 2,090,000 | 1,195,547 | 1,964,453 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,000,000 | 1,750,000 | 199,008 | 3,050,992 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,000,000 | 2,065,725 | 761,000 | 2,173,275 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 5,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 431,841 | 2,568,159 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 4,290,000 | 1,716,000 | 175,500 | 2,398,500 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 4,250,000 | 1,479,000 | 166,613 | 2,604,387 |
Truck Wreck | Fractured Pelvis | 4,114,256 | 1,645,702 | 17,092 | 2,451,462 |
Truck Wreck | Permanent Physical Injuries | 4,058,000 | 1,623,200 | 103,000 | 2,331,800 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 4,005,000 | 1,540,823 | 327,314 | 2,136,863 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 4,000,000 | 1,600,000 | 39,546 | 2,360,454 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,800,000 | 1,520,000 | 20,720 | 2,259,280 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,527,727 | 1,411,091 | 80,806 | 2,035,830 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,260,000 | 2,000,000 | 361,814 | 898,186 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,050,000 | 1,240,000 | 459,387 | 1,350,613 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,000,000 | 1,200,000 | 120,000 | 1,680,000 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,000,000 | 1,194,297 | 88,624 | 1,717,079 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 3,000,000 | 1,200,000 | 76,639 | 1,723,361 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 2,800,000 | 1,120,000 | 2,130 | 1,677,870 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 2,445,000 | 978,000 | 264,193 | 1,202,807 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,850,000 | 396,400 | 89,204 | 1,364,396 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 1,500,000 | 519,000 | 62,230 | 918,770 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,315,000 | 526,000 | 78,500 | 710,500 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord injury; Closed Head Injury | 1,300,000 | 520,000 | 187,386 | 592,614 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,270,000 | 508,000 | 79,220 | 682,780 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,250,000 | 500,000 | 45,670 | 704,330 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,250,000 | 475,223 | 97,481 | 677,296 |
Truck Wreck | Neck Injury | 1,200,000 | 480,000 | 233,620 | 486,380 |
Truck Wreck | Fractured Shoulder and Knee; Body Contusions | 1,200,000 | 480,000 | 38,675 | 681,325 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,075,000 | 482,750 | 185,978 | 406,272 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,062,500 | 383,950 | 261,837 | 416,713 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,050,000 | 420,000 | 34,780 | 595,220 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,048,333 | 366,917 | 67,675 | 613,841 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,025,000 | 410,000 | 39,512 | 575,488 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,017,583 | 279,835 | 8,785 | 728,963 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,015,000 | 339,333 | 65,438 | 610,229 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,000,000 | 227,011 | 89,949 | 683,040 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,000,000 | 400,000 | 35,624 | 564,376 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 1,000,000 | 400,000 | 83,696 | 516,304 |
seat belt | Death | 2,900,000 | 1,160,000 | 364,825 | 1,375,175 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 1,200,000 | 480,000 | 55,317 | 664,683 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 1,085,678 | 434,271 | 115,095 | 536,312 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 1,750,000 | 588,510 | 234,065 | 927,425 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 975,000 | 390,000 | 13,273 | 571,727 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 900,000 | 360,000 | 155,522 | 384,478 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 900,000 | 360,000 | 95,707 | 444,293 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 835,000 | 334,000 | 67,982 | 433,018 |
18 Wheeler Struck Pedestrian | Death | 835,000 | 317,300 | 74,682 | 443,018 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 650,000 | 271,340 | 23,172 | 355,488 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 600,000 | 236,938 | 69,707 | 293,355 |
Truck/Pedestrian Accident | Death | 600,000 | 240,000 | 38,921 | 321,079 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 600,000 | 150,000 | 22,056 | 427,944 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 544,500 | 217,800 | 13,977 | 312,723 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 533,000 | 177,778 | 21,638 | 333,584 |
Truck Wreck | Death | 645,000 | 224,153 | 156,415 | 264,432 |
Truck Wreck | Spinal Cord Injury | 515,000 | 171,667 | 9,605 | 333,728 |
Settlement Amount | Attorney Fees | Expenses | Net to Client | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 194,786,091 | 74,565,503 | 10,483,638 | 109,737,050 |