Nuclear verdict settlements against trucking companies have become so lucrative that financial speculators are now investing in cases.
Just when I think my faith in humanity can’t sink any lower, something comes along that makes my faith in humanity sink even lower.
A couple of weeks ago, Heavy Duty Trucking ran a story on a bill in the U.S. House of Representative that would require “transparency” detailing third-party payments in lawsuits.
It turns out financial speculators have been looking around for promising accidents that could result in big-time nuclear verdicts and investing in litigating those cases.
A Court System Out of Control
And should the jury come through for them and deliver a big jackpot settlement, the investors walk away with a big chunk of the settlement money in their pockets.
It’s worth pointing out here that nuclear verdict settlements against both trucking fleets and now OEMs are skyrocketing.
Last summer, for example, Wabash National was hit with a $462 million verdict after an accident killed two passengers in a car that went underneath a trailer in St. Louis. The rear underride guard on the trailer failed.
That very same month, Daimler Truck North America was hit with a $160 million verdict in an Alabama truck-rollover accident that left a man paralyzed.
Those are the kind of huge settlements these third-party investors are looking for.
And I’ve got a pretty basic question about all of this:
What kind of ghoul thinks this is OK?
How badly damaged a human being do you have to be to think that investing in the pain, suffering and death of your fellow human beings is acceptable?
Not mention helping fund the destruction of businesses and companies that are absolutely vital cogs in our economy. Businesses that move freight to every corner of the country and provide jobs and pay taxes.
It’s wrong.
Just plain wrong.
Do Facts Matter Anymore?
Of course, lawsuits play an important role in helping hold companies accountable for following regulations and being safe.
They’re also an effective means of removing bad actors from our society and punishing companies that knowingly break the rules and endanger the public.
But it’s no secret that plaintiffs’ litigation targeting companies involved in accidents is rife with abuse.
Jennifer Akre is a Houston-based defense attorney who specializes in defending trucking companies in high-stakes litigation cases. At the HDTX Fleet Exchange Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona last fall, she told attendees that the rules in courtrooms around the country are now rigged in the plaintiff attorney’s favor.
According to Akre, trucking companies that were not at fault in accidents are found “guilty” because plaintiff attorneys “piss off” juries.
Her words. Not mine.
They do this by going through every single detail and facet of a fleet’s operation and seizing on anything they find that paints it in a bad light.
As an example, Akre pointed to fleet she defended that gave a driver a paid day off and let him skip a safety training session because he’d achieved a million accident-free miles in his career.
Not long after, that driver was involved in an accident. It wasn’t his fault. But the plaintiff attorneys told the jury that the skipped safety session was proof that the fleet didn’t care about public safety and deserved to punished harshly with a huge settlement for its “negligence.”
Again: The driver wasn’t at fault. And he had a million accident free-miles on his driving records.
This is the kind of environment that now has shady third-party investors looking to fund “iffy” lawsuits and bring them to trial.
And they do that because they know that even if they actual facts in the case don’t necessarily point to negligence or malfeasance on the part of the defendants, there’s still a good chance they can win a huge settlement if they get the case in front of the right judge and jury.
A Step in the Right Direction
The bill in the House – introduced by Darrell Issa of California, Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, and Mike Collins from Georgia – would require that lawyers disclose any third-party speculators investing in a trial to the judge and jury.
And that’s a good start.
Although I really don’t understand how this is even legal in the first place.
Justice is supposed to be blind. A courtroom is supposed to be the one place where we are all guaranteed to get a fair hearing before a jury of our peers.
That’s not always the case, of course.
But now we have outside investors bidding up questionable lawsuits in hopes of sending them to trial and winning.
And they’re doing it because they know the system is rigged in their favor and they stand a good chance of walking away with a fortune in hand.
And that is something that should outrage every American – in the trucking industry or not.
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