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A Record Setting Maritime Accident Recovery
VerdictSearch has reported the largest published maritime personal injury recovery for a single plaintiff in Texas history* among cases in which the full details have been made public.
The Plaintiff, Cody Karl, was represented by Houston attorney Scott C. Krist of The Krist Law Firm, P.C. The recovery was in the amount of $15,120,000 (less 40 percent for attorney fees and $370,768 in expenses). It followed a three-year-long battle taking place in three different trial courts and appeals to the Houston Court of Appeals, as well as the Texas Supreme Court.
* The result in this case should not be viewed as a predictor of the likely outcome in any given personal injury claim, as each case is highly reliant on its own facts.
On June 1, 2008, Mr. Karl was struck in the head by a mooring cable that parted during the docking of a 600-foot oil tanker at the Magellan terminal located on the Houston Ship Channel. Karl was part of the mooring crew and was on a small mooring skiff when struck by the cable. Magellan owned the cable, which according to Krist was badly deteriorated.
Mr. Karl suffered a brain injury, despite wearing a hard hat. Medical expenses were approximately $300,000. While Karl remained capable in the day-to-day activities of living, he suffered a slight weakness of his left side, along with short term memory and concentration issues. Magellan argued that Karl suffered no cognitive injury, and that the source of his poor cognitive test results was his pre-accident low level of intelligence, as reflected by his failing all TAKS tests in the 10th grade, dropping out of school in the 11th grade, and pre-existing dyslexia. They also asserted, through their expert, that Karl could easily obtain employment as a salesman. Magellan further blamed Karl for his own injury, asserting that he was the one that used the cable to moor the ship, and that he therefore had a duty to inspect the cable prior to using it, and should not have used it if it was deteriorated.
When asked to explain the unusually large result, Krist said that it was a classic case of a Defendant denying its responsibility until the evidence against it became insurmountable. Magellan made no early attempts at resolution, and Mr. Krist relied on a tactic he has become well known for — he made no offer of settlement, simply pushing ahead with the development of the case until the defendant came to him wanting out. He believes that this sets up a dichotomy that needs to be established, to wit, that it is the defendant that needs something from the plaintiff, to get out of the suit, not the other way around.
In this case, the defendant waited too long, and as a result, the evidence was overwhelming. It was proven that inculpating documents were withheld and Magellan's corporate representative was caught red-handed in a lie. Krist even went to the length of deposing defense counsel to establish his claims.
The case style is Cause No. 2008-74209; Cody Karl v. Magellan Terminals Holdings, LP, et al.; In the 125th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas.
