$44 Million Crane Accident Verdict
Kurt Arnold discusses a case where we helped an individual catastrophically injured by a crane collapse. In this case, we recovered $44 million. See why Kurt describes it as one of the best days of his life.
I was fortunate to represent an individual who was severely injured in a workplace accident. It was a normal day. He was on an upward trajectory at his firm. He had been promoted several times. Young man who had a wife and two kids. Next thing you know, a crane collapses.
Tens of thousands of pounds fall on his leg. Causing my client to lose his leg at a young age and face 5 decades worth of prosthesis and other necessary medical treatment. Totaling more than $10 million.
We quickly put together a team of experts. We preserved the site. We inspected the site. We tested the metallurgy of the crane to understand why it collapsed. I personally took more than 20 depositions and tracked down the key witnesses. We were able to show that they ignored all of the warning signals. The hoses that contained the oil were so over-pressured that they were literally bursting and spraying oil. The crane literally saying “Overload. Overload.” They continued to push and, ultimately, the crane collapsed.
They knew that they were putting lives at risk and they didn’t care because it was going to cost them 2 days on the job if they stopped the job to fix it. The company, you would think, recognizing all of these facts would do the right thing. The answer was “No. We’re not going to offer you anything.” They would litigate and they would rather spend millions on their lawyers than taking care of the family.
So we tried the case in Brazoria County for a little over three weeks. The jury gave my client $44 million. You could not have a more deserving family. To be able to help them…one of the best days of my life.
