Wyeth E. Burrows commanded a Santa Monica courtroom as he secured a defense verdict on behalf of a trucking company and its driver in a personal injury action stemming from a rollover collision.
On an early January morning in 2018, Plaintiff was driving his pickup while transporting a trailer of cars over the grapevine, heading south on I-5 towards Los Angeles. Wyeth’s client was driving his tractor-trailer passing to the left of Plaintiff when, out of nowhere, the truck driver observed a large metal pipe directly ahead of him in his lane of travel. The truck driver braked and attempted to hold his lane, consistent with his training not to swerve for non-human road hazards. When the inevitable impact with the pipe occurred, the tractor-trailer jerked to the right, striking Plaintiff’s vehicle, which lost control and overturned. When police arrived on scene, the truck driver admitted he was travelling 3-5 mph over the speed limit. Police cited the truck driver as the cause of the incident. Plaintiff was transported from the scene to the hospital and began a course of treatment with orthopedic, pain management, and neurosurgery experts.
Further investigation into the incident revealed that the pipe in the middle of the freeway had fallen from another tractor-trailer shortly before the incident. Plaintiff eventually filed suit against both trucking companies and their drivers. During discovery the co-defendant's employee admitted that the load he was transporting was difficult to secure due to various pipes of different sizes having been placed on a flatbed trailer by their customer. While en route, the employee failed to stop within 50 miles of starting his journey to re-check that his load was secure, a requirement under the law. When the pipe fell off the truck that morning, the employee was apparently unaware.
At trial, the co-defendant presented evidence from a witness that Wyeth’s client was traveling at least 10 mph over the speed limit, made an unsafe lane change causing the collision, and admitted fault at the scene. The co-defendant further argued that the pipe was not involved in the collision and that our truck driver’s errant lane change caused the collision. The evidence was used to demonstrate that our client’s excessive speed undermined his ability to stop in time and/or maneuver to an open lane on his left instead of hitting the pipe, which at least two other truck drivers had done before the collision.
Wyeth skillfully defended his client with an argument centered on the sudden emergency doctrine that, when faced with the sudden emergency of a pipe in the middle of a freeway, his client’s decision to strike the pipe instead of swerving was not negligent even if a different course of action (moving to the open lane on the left) would have been a safer decision. Wyeth also argued that the witness’ testimony about the truck driver driving well above the speed limit and hitting Plaintiff due to a negligent lane change was not in agreement with the physical evidence identified by the CHP and should not be believed.
Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $3.1 million. The jury, despite being moved by Plaintiff’s closing argument, ultimately agreed with Wyeth and found the co-defendant and its driver solely responsible for the collision. Plaintiff was awarded $1.7M in damages against the co-defendant who dropped the pipe in the road. Wyeth’s client was completely absolved of any liability.
Prior to trial, Wyeth’s client issued a statutory offer for $130,000 to resolve Plaintiff’s claims, which offer was rejected, permitting Wyeth to seek recovery of his client’s costs from Plaintiff. Additionally, the co-defendant denied various requests for admission of liability in written discovery, subjecting the co-defendant to cost of proof sanctions. At the end of the day, Wyeth recovered over $200,000 in litigation costs and attorney’s fees on behalf of his client.
This trial was a testament to the dynamic and tailored approach to litigation which Burrows & Stutsman provides to all its clients. Even when there may be bad facts about the case, the attorneys at Burrows & Stutsman will work tirelessly to find a defense that can overcome those obstacles.
