LCBF obtains recovery of almost $5 million for Amtrak and Union Pacific Railroad after 4-week trial in Nevada

Amtrak sued John Davis Trucking ("JDT") in federal court in Reno, Nevada for damages to its equipment and for expenses arising from a 2011 crossing collision in Lovelock, Nevada, which resulted in six fatalities and several serious personal injuries, when JDT's tractor-trailer struck an Amtrak train. LCBF also represented Union Pacific ("UP"), which JTD sued. JDT claimed the warning devices at the crossing failed to activate properly and that the Amtrak train illegally accelerated on the approach to the crossing. JDT also argued that spoliation of evidence provided a strong inference in its favor on the issue of the crossing devices not functioning properly. Prior to submission of the case to the jury, District Judge McKibben directed a verdict for Amtrak on JDT's counterclaim against it. The jury found that JDT was 100% at fault for the accident. In the damages phase of the trial, the jury awarded over $4.5 million in damages to Amtrak and $210,000 to the UP. The LCBF trial team was headed by Mark Landman and Bill Ballaine.