Wichita attorney wins $12M personal injury suit against Oklahoma electric coop
Wichita Business Journal
Friday, December 18, 2009
A Wichita attorney last week won a record $12 million jury verdict
on a personal injury case against an electric cooperative in Oklahoma.
Dustin DeVaughn, a partner with McDonald, Tinker, Skaer, Quinn & Herrington PA, represented plaintiff Marry Scott, who was involved in an August 2005 car accident with a person driving a Caddo Electric Cooperative vehicle.
Scott suffered a brain injury that requires constant medical
attention. The verdict, reached Dec. 11 in Caddo County District Court,
is one of the largest in Oklahoma history and the highest amount
rendered in 2009.
The verdict is significant, attorneys say, because personal-injury
lawsuits tend to favor the defendants — especially when there is a
corporation involved.
“It was David versus Goliath,” DeVaughn says. “This jury really came
through for us. My clients are being given the financial resources to
be able to cope with the nature and extent of (Mary Scott’s)
devastating injuries.”
Travis Burk, a partner at Patterson, Gott & Burk LC, says Oklahoma and Kansas tend to be conservative states with laws favoring corporations.
In conservative states, “if you go in as a plaintiff you are already behind,” Burk says. “It’s an uphill battle.”
DeVaughn, a civil defense attorney, took over the case in September
from an Oklahoma criminal attorney who had worked on the case for more
than a year. DeVaughn’s brother, an Oklahoma attorney, recommended him
for the case.
The jury assessed 60 percent of the fault against Caddo Electric
Coop for its driver’s negligence. Scott was assessed the remaining 40
percent.
Scott will receive $12 million, or 60 percent of the $20 million
total damages awarded because of her liability in the case. According
to Oklahoma law, a judge can reduce the amount of damages awarded based
on the percentage of shared liability.
DeVaughn says the electric coop has a $5 million insurance liability
policy, but because of confidentiality agreements he can’t disclose how
the $12 million will be paid.
Calls to attorneys representing Caddo Electric were not returned.
Oscar Codopony, Caddo’s director of operations, says the company will
not comment on the case since it has concluded.
It is unclear whether Caddo will appeal the ruling.
Finding Fault
Burk says proving liability in a personal injury depends on the case.
“If the facts are dispute it can be harder to prove,” he says.
That is the case in this situation.
DeVaughn says the Oklahoma Highway Patrol
initially determined Scott failed to yield a right-of-way and made a
left-hand turn in front of Bryan Lopez, the driver of the Caddo
Electric vehicle, when the accident occurred in 2005.
Scott’s defense team refuted that fact and ultimately tried to prove
she wasn’t turning — instead going straight across the road — and was
hit when Lopez unnecessarily swerved.
DeVaughn says Caddo Electric’s insurance carrier AIG offered to
settle the case before the trial for $100,000, claiming Caddo had
“absolutely no liability.”
Burk says when someone is severely injured, as Scott was in this case, a jury might look more favorably on that person.
“I still believe any time someone is severely injured there is going to be a possible sympathy factor,” Burk says.
DeVaughn says while the verdict sounds significant, the Scott family
still could face millions of dollars in medical bills in the coming
years.
“The fact we were able to help a family that was in such dire need of help is what is most rewarding,” DeVaughn says.