One of the most notorious and deadly truck accidents from 2014 appears to be nearing resolution. As we highlighted last fall, the truck accident involving a semi-truck owned by Wal-Mart crashed into a limousine van that comedian Tracy Morgan and several others were riding in sparked a great deal of controversy.
Not only was it troubling given the rules regarding hours of service regulations for truckers, the position that Wal-Mart took (that it was Morgan and the other injured parties’ fault that they were injured) showed a lack of responsibility and remorse; especially given that another person was killed in the crash.
Nevertheless, the retail giant reached a settlement with the family of James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, who lost his life in the accident. The settlement was praised by the family’s attorney and showed that Wal-Mart could possibly show some compassion and responsibility for what happened.
It appears that the previous settlement was prophetic. It was recently announced that Wal-Mart reached a settlement with Tracy Morgan. While the terms were not publicly disclosed, Morgan released a statement indicating that Wal-Mart “did right” by him and his family, and that he was pleased with the settlement.
The story is indicative of the work that is done by experienced personal injury attorneys “behind the scenes” in order to negotiate a reasonable settlement for their clients so that they can spare the expense of going to trial. After all, litigation can be expensive, cumbersome and take a great deal of time; all the while the client may not receive the compensation they need to pay for critical medical expenses.