$58.5 Million Verdict for Family of Man Killed by Tanker Truck Near Carlsbad, New Mexico

On the morning of March 3, 2010, Kevin Udy was driving west on U.S. Highway 62/180 near Carlsbad, New Mexico, when a tanker truck hauling water from a natural-gas well site turned left across his lane. The collision was fatal. Udy, a senior mechanical engineer for Intrepid Potash, left behind a wife and children.

The truck was owned by Zia Transport Inc., operated by driver Monte Lyons, and dispatched under a web of related companies including Standard E&S LLC and Bergstein Enterprises Ltd. Lead trial attorney Bill Robins, assisted by Salt Lake City attorneys Brad DeBry and George Waddoups, built a case that exposed safety failures across all three companies: Lyons was inadequately trained and likely fatigued at the time of the crash, the vehicle had a faulty tire and was not roadworthy, and the companies had accumulated repeated violations of federal and state trucking regulations. A pay-by-job compensation structure, the evidence showed, gave drivers a financial incentive to rush.

The trial ran for several weeks in Santa Fe before a First Judicial District Court jury. The jury found all four defendants negligent and determined that the conduct of the three corporate defendants rose to the level of malicious, willful, reckless, or wanton behavior, opening the door to punitive damages.

The verdict on March 20, 2013, totaled $58.5 million: $11.5 million in compensatory damages and $47 million in punitive damages. The jury assigned Bergstein Enterprises 70 percent of the fault and $14 million in punitive damages, Standard E&S 20 percent and $28 million in punitive damages, and Zia Transport 9 percent and $5 million in punitive damages. The driver bore 1 percent. At the time, the plaintiffs' team believed it to be the largest truck-accident verdict in state history, noting that a $54 million nursing-home verdict had been reported as the state's largest in 2007. The defense signaled it would appeal.