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Transportation Trials

Case Study

Transportation Trials

August 01, 2009
Robert M. Hanlon Jr.

Since entering private practice in 1996, Robert Hanlon, Jr. has served as lead trial counsel in more than 20 civil cases in nine states. They include:

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon was retained by a motor carrier to supervise this damages-only trial in Orange County, Florida in September 2015. The jury’s award was significantly less than the defendant’s pre-trial offer of judgment.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented a motor carrier in this case involving a rear-end, which resulted in significant injuries to a doctor and his wife. Suit was filed in the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The day before the trial was to start in May 2015, the matter settled for a fraction of what the plaintiffs’ demand had been up to that point.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon was retained less than one month before trial to serve as lead trial counsel for a multi-national beverage company and its driver. The accident involved a rear-end impact by a tractor-trailer. A liability judgment had previously been entered against the defendants and the damages case proceeded to trial in Bronx County, New York, in July 2013. The plaintiff, a 49 year-old male, initially underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and later required a complete knee replacement. The primary issue, which was addressed by medical doctors as well as accident reconstruction and biomechanics experts, was the disputed causal connection between that injury and the accident. The plaintiff sought to recover $2.6 million for economic losses plus damages for pain and suffering. The case settled after jury selection for 20 percent of what the plaintiff’s demand had been at mediation and when Mr. Hanlon was retained.

NEGLIGENCE—AUTOMOTIVE: Mr. Hanlon represented the defendant in this automobile negligence case, which was tried in September and October 2008 in Union County, New Jersey. The defendant illegally parked his car in such a way that its rear end extended into the travel portion of a roadway and it was subsequently broadsided by another vehicle. One of the defendant’s passengers was killed in the accident and another was seriously injured. Mr. Hanlon was retained as trial counsel by the defendant’s excess insurance provider because the case presented an exposure in excess of the $1 million primary policy. The jury returned a plaintiffs’ verdict and awarded damages totaling $770,000. The plaintiffs’ appeal challenging the sufficiency of the award was denied.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented the motor carrier and its driver in this wrongful death case, which was partially tried in/about July 2008 in Onondaga County, New York. The plaintiff’s decedent was exiting a truck stopped on the shoulder of a highway when he was struck and killed by a truck driven by Mr. Hanlon’s client. The case settled during pre-trial hearings.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented the defendant in this trucking case, which was tried in November and December 2007 in New York County, New York. The accident occurred as the plaintiff pedestrian was either standing on the shoulder of or in the process of crossing Montauk Highway on Long Island. He was struck by a truck driven by the defendant. The plaintiff sustained significant orthopedic injuries, brain damage, and facial nerve damage, and he lost vision in one eye. Following a three-week trial, the jury allocated 60 percent fault to the defendant driver and 40 percent fault to the plaintiff, and awarded $4 million in compensatory damages.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented the defendant in this trucking case, which was tried in March 2007 in New Haven, Connecticut. The defendant driver brought his truck to a stop in the center lane of a three-lane highway due to an accident blocking the road ahead. It was raining and the rear end of his trailer drifted into the left lane where it impacted the plaintiff’s vehicle. The plaintiff sustained injuries that required a cervical fusion. The jury returned a no cause of action verdict.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented the defendant in this trucking case, which was tried in November 2005 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The case involved an intersection collision between a tractor trailer and the plaintiff’s passenger car. The plaintiff had the right-of-way. The plaintiff alleged a laundry list of injuries, but the evidence suggested many of them were fabricated in an effort to sustain a pre-existing addiction to prescription pain medications. The jury returned a no cause of action verdict.

TRANSPORTATION—TRUCKING: Mr. Hanlon represented the defendant in this trucking case, which was tried in August 2005 in Onondaga County, New York. The case involved a lane-change collision between a tractor trailer and the plaintiff’s passenger car. The truck impacted the car three times before pushing it into a guard rail. The plaintiff sustained a closed head injury. The jury returned a no cause of action verdict.