Bridgeport Jury Awards Injured Man $1.2 Million

NEW HAVEN, CT, January 31, 2013 (Press-News.org) On January 10, 2013 a Bridgeport jury awarded a man injured in a car wreck on Interstate 95 more than Nine Hundred Thousand ($900,000.00) Dollars. With interest, the final judgment will be $1.2 Million Dollars. The plaintiff, Manuel Vasquez, was severely injured on June 3, 2008 when two wheels from the defendants' tractor-trailer came loose, separating from the truck and bouncing over the median into oncoming traffic. Six vehicles were damaged, and both side of the highway were closed by the state police.

The case, entitled Manuel Vasquez v. Road Service Network, et al, was tried for two weeks before the jury returned its verdict. The plaintiff was represented by Attorneys John Mills and Maria Cahill of Mills Law Firm, LLC in New Haven. The defendants were represented by Attorney Brett Szczesny of Halloran & Sage in Westport.

The plaintiff was employed as a limousine driver, and was in the course of driving a client from the airport to his home in Greenwich, when his vehicle was crushed by an eight hundred (800) pound wheel assembly. The defendants, Edward Robinson and Fleet Car Lease, Inc., denied responsibility for the collision, pointing the finger at the co-defendants, Orlando Otero and Road Service Network, for putting a set of spindle nuts on backwards while doing brake repair work on the rig a short time beforehand. Otero and Road Service Network did not appear at trial.

The attorneys for the plaintiff presented expert testimony from Donald Hess, a trucking safety expert, who explained to the jury that the owners and operators of the truck were responsible for hiring a qualified mechanic to undertake the repairs. Hess also testified that the truck driver was negligent for continuing to operate the truck on the highway when he saw smoke coming from the rear wheels a short time before the collision occurred.

Plaintiff's counsel John Mills stated that he was very pleased with the verdict: "There was no dispute that Mr. Vasquez was severely injured, requiring multiple surgeries that left him unable to return to all of his life's activities, including soccer, which was so important to him as a former World Cup soccer player. The fact that the mechanic was uninsured and never appeared was a very real problem, but we are satisfied that the jury apportioned responsibility to the owner/operator, who decided to hire a fly-by-night mechanic to repair the truck on the street in downtown Bridgeport."

The Mills Law Firm, LLC, has developed a reputation as experienced trial attorneys who successfully obtain jury verdicts on behalf of clients with serious injuries. Attorney John W. Mills has individually tried more than 50 cases to verdict in state and federal court. He is a Board Certified Trial Advocate by the National Association of Trial Advocacy. Along with attorney Maria Cahill, clients of the Mills Law Firm benefit from more than 30 years of practice in personal injury law. For more information, go to www.millslawfirm.org.