Fight For Justice Leads to Record Verdict

They were cautioned that they were taking an “unwinnable” case. Thankfully for their client, a grieving mother, the trial attorneys of Lyons & Simmons are at their best when the result means everything.

Pushing to comply with his company’s inclement weather policy, an energy services company employee sped down a West Texas highway early on a rainy morning. Losing control on the slick road, his truck slammed into a car carrying three minor children, all of whom died.

Looking at the policy, which required attendance at a job site to be paid during inclement weather, Michael Lyons and Chris Simmons knew that the driver’s employer must also shoulder responsibility for the accident.

But justice wouldn’t come easy. Not only was the trial team facing off against an oil field construction company in a case tried in the heart of the West Texas energy industry, but the team also found that crucial evidence had been destroyed. It took a court-ordered forensic examination to fully reveal pertinent documents.

When Lyons & Simmons laid out the facts the jury agreed on responsibility, returning an award of $5.8 million, believed to be the largest-ever wrongful death verdict in Midland County, one of the state’s most conservative venues.