Inside $15M Verdict in Challenging Van Rollover Case, with Tom Bosworth and Ben Phelps
Episode Summary
Tom Bosworth and Ben Phelps, of Bosworth Law, took calculated risks in their case against a staffing company and the driver it hired, who was taking employees of a potato chip factory to work when his van rolled over in a downpour. Several workers were injured or killed.
They did not, for example, call an expert on economic damages. Nor did they put their clients on the stand.
In this case analysis with host Brendan Lupetin, Tom and Ben outline why those strategies and others worked. The jury awarded a total of $15 million in damages to the three plaintiffs. They also detail challenges, including the staffing company filing for bankruptcy and its owner suing the insurance company, claiming fraud. Tom’s team has separate claims against the insurance company in federal court. And while they did settle with the factory, they pursued trial against the staffing company when it repeatedly refused to accept responsibility.
Episode Preview
- Background of Brown v. Global Solutions, in which Tom and Ben represented three victims of a rollover crash.
- Tom and Ben refused to give up when the insurance carrier for the staffing company that employed the van’s driver argued that its coverage included an “auto exclusion” – “which is insane because the only thing that this company did was drive people in automobiles.”
- The plot twist that sent Tom to bankruptcy court.
- How Tom and Ben navigated the “thorny” personal backgrounds of their clients when seeking damages.
- How Ben countered the defense argument that it wasn’t abnormal for the van driver to change lanes.
- Why the jury never heard that the driver pled guilty to a summary offense of reckless driving.
- How the team used the “tip of the iceberg” analogy when asking the jury to consider damages.
- How the jury’s $15 million award broke down for the plaintiffs.
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