Transportation and Maritime

Catastrophic transportation and maritime accidents are a specialty of the firm. We have tried several trucking accident cases, earning exceptional awards and settlements. Mikal Watts has authored papers on serious trucking accidents and made presentations to hundreds of lawyers around the country on how to try and win these cases. He served as the Vice-Chair of the Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice section of the American Bar Association, and as Chairman of its Legislative Committee.

In one of our cases, a man lost his only son in a wreck caused by a trucking company's negligence. At trial, a jury found the company not only negligent but malicious. In another case, after a mother dropped off her two children at soccer practice and headed home, an 18-wheeler pulled across the road in front of her, killing her instantly. Within three months, the case settled on extremely favorable terms. In a third lawsuit, Cathy Houston was on her way to meet her children for dinner when a commercial truck caused a fiery collision that took her life. Within six months, a very advantageous settlement was paid along with an apology from the company at fault.

In Escoto v. The Estate of Robert Ambriz and Nabors Drilling Co.*, Ambriz was driving home at 6 a.m. following a twelve-hour shift when he fell asleep and hit a pickup truck with four occupants, all of whom died. The jury found the company liable for letting an exhausted employee drive home and for failing to educate employees about the hazards of post-night shift driving. The result: a $6,000,000 verdict. *Escoto: This matter is on appeal.

With offices along the Gulf of Mexico, Watts Law Firm also has special expertise in maritime matters. We have won major settlements in maritime and Jones Act cases. We have successfully litigated cases involving unseaworthy watercraft, defective life rafts and numerous other products causing deaths and injuries on the high seas.

Our award in De La Lastra v. General Chemical remains the largest jury award ever affirmed by the Texas Supreme Court. In another case, one of our clients lost her husband when a boat cable snapped, throwing him from his recreational boat. We took the cable manufacturer to court, winning a jury verdict. Mikal Watts was also named Lead Plaintiffs' Trial Counsel in litigation following the collapse of the the Queen Isabella Causeway. An overloaded tugboat ferried four barges into the side of the bridge, horrifically plunging motorists to their deaths in the Laguna Madre.