News & Insights

Lightfoot Trial Selected as a ‘Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdict of 2018’ by CVN

January 22, 2019

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC’s recent victory on behalf of U-Haul has been chosen for the “Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts of 2018” by Courtroom View Network (CVN). The online service that provides video and editorial coverage of high-stakes litigation ranked the firm’s September 2018 success in Wing v. U-Haul at No. 2 on its list.

The personal injury case arose out of a 2014 rollover accident in Arizona involving a pickup that was using a tow dolly rented from U-Haul to tow another vehicle. The plaintiff sought more than $130 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

After weeks of testimony and two days of deliberation, the jury cleared U-Haul on all counts. U-Haul was represented by Lightfoot partners Banks Sewell and J. Chandler Bailey. 

The Lightfoot team overcame a pre-trial obstacle when the judge ruled that the tow dolly used by the plaintiff violated an Arizona law requiring any vehicle trailer in excess of 3,000 pounds to have independent brakes. However, Lightfoot’s attorneys argued that the supposedly one-off finding was the first such decision in the statute’s 40-year history, and that tow dollies were generally not classified as trailers in the rental truck industry.

According to the CVN article, “Overcoming that hurdle, the fact few U-Haul tow dolly cases have gone to trial, and taking on a plaintiff represented by a firm with a national reputation for both its plaintiff and defense work landed this case in the No. 2 spot on our list of most impressive defense verdicts of 2018.”

Watch footage from the trial here.