Our client — a New Jersey dump truck driver — was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler, shoved into the right lane, and t-boned by a second tractor-trailer speeding past on the right. Broken ribs, soft tissue injuries, no surgery. $1.5M recovered.
Our client drove a dump truck for a living — a heavy, slow-moving vehicle navigating one of the busiest commercial corridors in the country. On the day of the crash, he was traveling in the right lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike, doing exactly what every other driver around him was doing: moving with traffic.
Two tractor-trailers were about to change his life in a matter of seconds.
Without warning, an 18-wheeler slammed into the back of our client's dump truck. The force of the rear-end collision shoved his vehicle sideways and out of its lane, pushing him into the right lane of travel.
He had no time to recover, no time to steer, no time to brace.
As our client's dump truck slid into the right lane, a second tractor-trailer — speeding past the first one on the right — t-boned him broadside.
Two commercial trucks. Two violent impacts. One working New Jersey driver in the middle of it all.
“One truck hit him from behind. The next one finished the job from the side.”
Our client walked away with broken ribs and significant soft tissue injuries. No surgery was required. To a defense insurer, that's an invitation to lowball — to argue the case is worth a fraction of what a surgical case would bring.
We refused to let that narrative stand. Two commercial carriers, one catastrophic chain of events, and a working man whose body and livelihood were both on the line. The damages were real, documented, and provable — surgery or no surgery.
$1.5 million recovered. A working New Jersey family protected. A reminder that 'no surgery' doesn't mean 'no case' — it means the lawyer has to work harder to make the jury feel what the client feels every morning when he wakes up.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case turns on its own facts.
TODO — within hours of the crash, retained and on the scene.
TODO — spoliation letter to the carrier locks down the ECM, dashcam, dispatch logs, and HOS records before they can be overwritten.
TODO — complaint filed; carrier removes to federal court, then back.
TODO — driver, safety director, and corporate designee deposed.
TODO — retained expert reconstructs the impact using ECM data; carrier's theory collapses.
TODO — one week before jury selection.
I never saw the second one coming. I just remember the sound — and then trying to breathe with broken ribs.
Evidence disappears in days. The conversation should start now.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case turns on its own facts. Names and identifying details on this page have been changed or omitted to protect client confidentiality.
