Trent Shelton

Our attorneys represented a young man who was weeks away from starting an NBA career with a major franchise when a nightclub’s reckless design derailed a once-promising career in basketball.

In October 2017, our client had just taken one of the biggest steps of his basketball journey: signing a two-way contract with the Lakers. It was the culmination of years of hard work and marked him as a new rising star in the NBA. However, our client had long been in the spotlight; right out of high school, he was a national top 20 prospect and eventually led Marquette to the Elite 8.

His two-way contract stipulated that he could play for the Lakers and its G League team. After 45 days of playing for the Lakers, he’d be made a full-time player with a full salary. The contract was a crucial step to playing basketball at the highest competitive level in the world—our client’s lifelong dream.

Then, only a few weeks into his contract, it all came crashing down.

After a game, our client went to a nightclub to relax, where he’d been seated next to an unmarked CO2 sprayer. The CO2 sprayer was a part of the nightclub’s entertainment, with multiple entities and owners designing, installing, and approving its use. To work, the CO2 had to be kept astoundingly cold. What those parties didn’t understand was the effect of CO2 vapor on human skin.

Without warning, the sprayer hit our client with gas at -110 degrees Fahrenheit—cold enough to cause severe burns. The medical care and recovery those injuries required made it impossible for him to play at any level, much less play for one of the most competitive basketball franchises in the world.

He turned to us, and our law firm knew that this case needed to be heard.

Our investigation uncovered over a dozen individuals and entities responsible for how the CO2 machine was designed and installed. It took enormous preparation, but the jury saw what had happened to our client and decisively sided with him. Though our firm can’t undo the damage, we made it our goal to restore much of what had been taken from our client. After a years-long legal battle with a dozen defendants and a tough medical recovery, this young man was awarded $33.5 million for all that he’s lost.

Attorneys Kurt Arnold, Caj Boatright, and Trent Shelton settled a case on behalf of an injured oilfield worker for $9,500,000. Our client was working in West Texas when a pipe blew off a compressor unit and struck our client in his head. Our client suffered a traumatic brain injury and required surgeries on his back and neck. After 35 depositions were taken in the case, both the defendants decided to settle instead of facing us at trial.

“No matter how big the company and no matter how many attorneys are on the other side, we will not rest until justice is served,” said Trent Shelton. “We did just that here—taking over 35 depositions and demanding the highest value for this case. In the end, the defendants decided to settle the case instead of facing a jury.”

Attorney Jason Itkin and the team settled a case for $9 million on behalf of a family who lost their son. Their son was enjoying a night out in Dallas when he was put into a chokehold by a bar bouncer. The evidence and testimony, among other things, established that the bouncer received zero training from the nightclub. He had also been arrested twice in the past for assault. Simply put, it was a case of extreme neglect from the bar. This led to our client getting killed. This settlement sends a message to the entertainment business that they need to ensure profits are not put over the safety of their patrons and employees. The case was pending in Dallas County.

“This was a tragic incident that could have been prevented,” said our attorneys in a statement. “Once we started to investigate the incident, the bar’s failures leading up to this incident were appalling. No amount of money will bring back their son, but our hope is this settlement will allow them to fully lay their son to rest and move forward with their lives.”

Attorney Jason Itkin settled a Jones Act case for $2.5 million. Our client was an offshore wireline operator struck in the arm by a crane cable that broke because the crane operator was not paying attention and because of the company’s lack of protocols. Our client suffered a gruesome injury that required surgical interventions and left him with nerve damage, which he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

“Many safety violations by the company and the crane operator led to this incident,” said our attorneys. “This incident was completely preventable had the company put more emphasis on safety.”

Attorneys Kurt Arnold and Trent Shelton successfully settled a case on behalf of an injured offshore oil worker, securing $2 million on his behalf. In this case, the defendant failed to conduct any training or research into the equipment they were rolling out on the vessel where our client was working. Because of this, our client, who was working as a senior toolpusher, sustained severe back injuries that deprived him of the ability to provide for his family for the rest of his life. We are happy to seek the justice our client deserved and provide him a sense of relief in figuring out how he is going to provide for his family moving forward. We fought many obstacles over the course of this case, from bankruptcy filings to various motions filed by the defendant, but we were able to hold the defendant accountable and secure our client’s future.

Attorneys Kurt Arnold and Trent Shelton settled a case for an injured offshore oil worker for $2,000,000. Our client was a senior toolpusher who was severely injured when using a hands-free device the company required him to use. The defendant failed to conduct any training or research into the equipment they were rolling out on the vessel, failed to ensure the hands-free device was safe, and failed to train the crewmembers on it. Because of this, our client sustained severe back injuries. We fought many obstacles throughout litigation, from bankruptcy filings to various motions filed by the defendant. In the end, we held the defendant accountable and secured our client’s future with this settlement. We are happy to seek the justice our client deserves and provide him a sense of relief in figuring out how he will provide for his family moving forward.

Attorneys Jason Itkin and Trent Shelton settled a case on behalf of a family who lost their daughter because of a defective product. The product was designed and marketed with defects, which ultimately led to the death of our client’s daughter. After years of litigation, the defendant finally accepted responsibility and settled the case.

“We are proud that we were finally able to bring closure to this family,” said Trent about the case. “No amount of money will ever make this family whole again, but being able to provide closure and a sense that justice was served in this instance does a lot. We are happy that we were able to give them that after this tragic situation.”

Attorneys Kurt Arnold, Jason Itkin, and Trent Shelton settled a case for $1,450,000. Our client sustained severe injuries when he was crushed against a roller machine due to the negligence of his employer. After a long-fought battle and two weeks before arbitration was set to begin, the defendant finally did the right thing and took responsibility for its actions.

“The defendant took a hard stance in this case that they would never pay more than $750,000,” said our attorneys. “We were able to prove that we were not going to take a discount for this case—that the defendant would have to pay every penny that our client deserved for his injuries.”

Arnold & Itkin attorneys settled a case on behalf of an injured longshoreman. Our client worked at a port and was significantly injured when the vessel failed to prepare the workspace for the longshoreman. After two years of litigation, we were able to hold the vessel owner accountable and get justice for our client.

In a statement, the attorneys said, "This case had numerous legal hurdles we had to overcome to hold this defendant accountable. After two long years of having to jump through all the challenges we faced, we were finally able to get our client a recovery that will assist him in recovering from his injuries."

Attorney Jason Itkin and the team settled a case on behalf of an injured grocery store worker. Our client was severely injured when the company required him to unload pallets of milk weighing in excess of 200 pounds. This incident caused our client to have a back fusion surgery, leaving him with the inability to return to any kind of manual labor job. This settlement can give him and his family some comfort going into the future.

"The defendants refused to accept responsibility and did everything in their power to prevent our client from getting the recovery that he was entitled to. We are glad that after 5 years of fighting with the defendant, we were finally able to hold them accountable," the attorneys said in a statement.

Attorneys Kurt Arnold, Jason Itkin, Caj Boatright, and Trent Shelton obtained a settlement on behalf of an injured railroad worker. Our client, through no fault of his own, was injured when an employee operating a piece of railroad equipment was not paying attention and collided with our client’s vehicle. Our client sustained a concussion and underwent a two-level cervical fusion. Since the injury, he has been unable to work and provide for himself and his family.

For over two years, the defendants tried to hide behind the law and claim they were not a FELA employer, making the lawsuit barred. However, we were able to defeat every motion filed by defendants trying to throw the suit out. Two weeks before the trial, we obtained a $1,250,000 settlement. The last offer before the settlement was $130,000. We are proud to represent this client and many other injured railroad workers all over the country.

“Our client worked in the railroad industry for his entire life and planned to continue working in the industry until retirement. That plan was disrupted when a negligent co-employee was not paying attention and crashed his hostler into our client’s vehicle, causing a severe collision,” said our attorneys. “This result is a continuing example that we will not be outworked, outthought, or out prepared at Arnold and Itkin.”