Jury Awards $47M in Damages After Schneider National Found Liable in Fatal Truck Accident

Mistie Nance, Individually and as Surviving Spouse of Jarvis Nance, Deceased, et al vs. Highridge Grading, LLC, et al

Case Background

On April 11, 2018, Plaintiff Mistie Nance filed a Truck accident lawsuit in the Cherokee County State Court, Georgia (Case number: 18SC0211-AJ). Judge W. Alan Jordan presided over this case.

Cause

The plaintiff, the surviving spouse of Jarvis Nance, filed a lawsuit after Nance was tragically killed in a truck accident on Interstate 285 South. On August 17, 2017, Nance's truck became disabled against a median wall, and he exited his vehicle. At the same time, Phillip Taylor was driving a GMC pickup truck nearby. Taylor testified that a Schneider tractor-trailer, driven by Darryl Joachim, swerved into oncoming traffic, forcing Taylor's truck into the left lane and shoulder, where Nance was standing. Taylor initially was named as a defendant but settled before the trial. The case proceeded with Schneider National as the sole defendant. This tragic truck accident raised concerns about the safety of commercial trucking operations, particularly the catastrophic injuries often caused by truck accidents involving large commercial vehicles.

Injuries

Nance suffered multiple orthopedic injuries, including a severe fracture to his femur. However, his fatal injury was a transected aorta, which led to massive internal