Nall & Miller attorneys Quinn Bennett and Sydney Tardy recently secured a complete defense victory in a multi-vehicle collision case pending in Bartow County, Georgia. The Court granted a Motion for Summary Judgment as to all of Plaintiff’s claims against a motor carrier and driver.

The case arose from a series of collisions involving several tractor-trailers and a personal vehicle driven by the Plaintiff. Plaintiff alleged that our driver failed to keep a proper lookout and failed to apply his brakes timely. Plaintiff also brought claims of negligent hiring and retention against the employer, as well as punitive damages and attorney’s fees. The medical damages totaled more than $300,000 and projected future care costs of $1.7M.

Building the record through discovery and deposition testimony, we demonstrated that our driver acted reasonably given the circumstances and was unable to avoid the collision with Plaintiff’s vehicle. Where the core negligence claim against the driver failed, Plaintiff’s additional claims necessarily failed. The Court agreed with the arguments set out as to all claims and granted the motion in full, removing the driver and motor carrier from the suit. These results underscore the importance of conducting thorough and strategic discovery on issues of liability and causation in complex motor vehicle accidents.