Nashville firm nets client $7.8M award in accident case

Joe Morris  Nashville Business Journal

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   Nashville law firm Cornelius & Collins has won a $7.8 million verdict

   for the children of a Tennessee state trooper in what may be the largest

   civil damage award in Madison County.

   The four-day trial ended Sept. 16 in favor of the three surviving

   children of a Tennessee state trooper killed two years ago. Lynn Ross

   was killed when Clifford Engum, a driver for Eck Miller Transportation,

   hit his patrol car. The vehicle exploded on impact, trapping Ross

   inside.

   Plaintiffs' attorneys from Cornelius & Collins, Nashville's 17th largest

   law firm, argued that the driver's fatigue and the employer's prior

   knowledge of his sleep apnea – a condition that leaves individuals tired

   and groggy – were contributing factors in the accident.

   "We knew we had a compelling case in that we had the loss of love and

   companionship of the father, which, with three minor children, is going

   to have some value," says Dan Berexa, a partner with Cornelius & Collins

   and one of three attorneys who represented the Ross children. "Another

   factor was the way that he died. He basically burned to death."

   The verdict was split into three sections: $6 million for the children's

   loss, $1 million for Ross' pain and suffering and separate amounts for

   loss of earnings and punitive damages.

   The verdict is likely to be appealed, but Berexa expects it to stand.

   "I think we're in good shape," he says. "They're going to have a tough

   time convincing the appellate court that there was any error made."

   Engum and Eck Miller Transportation were represented by Atlanta firm

   Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial and Memphis-based McWhirter,

   Wyatt Brannon & Elder.

   "We're still up in the air on whether to appeal," says Patrick Moore, a

   partner with Weinberg, Wheeler.

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