© 2012 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden, JD
Senior Writer for The Texas Lawbook
Mark Lanier won his first trial when he was a junior in high school in Lubbock. A police officer saw that Lanier had parked on the wrong side of the street facing the wrong direction. The officer ticketed the youngster for driving the wrong way down a city street.
“I tried to explain to the officer that I didn’t drive the wrong way, but I made a U-turn and that if he was going to charge me with anything, it should be for making an illegal U-turn,” says Lanier.
The officer lectured the teenager that he shouldn’t argue with the police.
A few weeks later, Lanier appeared in court, pleaded “not guilty” and put the police officer on the witness stand.
“I was cross-examining the police officer about the fact that he charged me with the wrong offense when the judge called me over and said, ‘I can’t believe you’re a kid and you’re doing this,” Lanier says. “I told the judge, ‘I’m a kid who didn’t drive the wrong way down the street.’”
The judge ruled in Lanier’s favor, dismissing the charges.
In the 37 years since, Lanier went to law school and won dozens of million-dollar jury verdicts across the country, including a handful of judgments exceeding $100 million. The National Law Journal has named him one of the most influential lawyers in America. The accolades go on and on.
But until last week, Lanier had not tried a case in Lubbock since he was a teen.
“I was a little nervous being back home, but I think it went pretty well,” Lanier says.
Indeed.
Lanier represents Charles Robison, a delivery driver at West Star Transportation in Lubbock. In 2007, Robison was placing a tarpaulin over a piece of equipment on top of a tractor trailer when he lost his balance, fell 15 feet and landed head-first on a concrete driveway.
Robison suffered multiple skull and facial fractures and brain injuries that affect his speech and mental functions. He is no longer able to work, care for himself, and will require extensive medical treatment for the rest of his life, according to Lanier.
Originally, Lanier informed the defendant and their insurance carriers that Robison would accept the $300,000 the policy offered. However, Lanier says that lawyers representing the insurance companies didn’t accept the settlement offer within the required time period, allowing Robison to file his lawsuit.
The nine-day trial ended last week with the jury awarding Robison $5.5 million, including $1 million for physical pain, physical impairment and mental anguish; $411,724 for loss of earnings capacity; $3,716,575 for past and future medical expenses; and $400,000 for loss of consortium.
“Charles has a long road ahead of him in terms of recovery, and this verdict will go a long way to making sure he is able to receive the medical attention he needs,” says Lanier.
Lanier says that this is the first jury verdict of $1 million or more during the past decade in Lubbock.
“Lubbock is a very conservative community, which makes this jury award even more significant,” he says. “I’ve never had the opportunity to try a case in my hometown, so this was very special for me.
“I got to stay in our old house and sleep in my old bedroom,” says Lanier, who is a graduate of Texas Tech Law School. “My mom, who started the Food Bank in Lubbock, kept the house and still goes back to play bridge every so often.”
Jud Waltman, a partner at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston and Lubbock attorney Chris Carver worked on the case with Lanier.
Robert Duncan and William Wade, partners at Crenshaw, Dupree & Milam, represented the defendant. Neither responded to inquiries from The Texas Lawbook. Duncan is a state senator.
The case is Robison v. West Star Transportation Inc., No. 2009-546,118.
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