SAN ANTONIO (April 29, 2024) – Nationwide insurance and civil litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP has delivered a full defense verdict in a contested liability car accident case, saving their client $72,000. (Cause No. D-1-GN-21-005895; Cheryl Short v. Joie Curtner, Jr.)

The case involved an October 2019 car accident that occurred on a 4-lane road in the early morning. The plaintiff alleged she was driving 55 miles per hour with her headlights on when the defendant abruptly pulled out in front of her from a private driveway, causing her to rear-end his car. Both cars ended up in a ditch and EMS took both drivers to the hospital.

The trial took place in Travis County’s 455th Judicial District Court. Amanda James, Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Antonio Office, represented the defendant and used the firm’s proven defense methods of accepting responsibility, personalizing the defendant and providing a defense number, in addition to themes of common sense and reasonableness, to help secure the favorable outcome. The firm’s attorneys use these methods and themes in every trial. During voir dire, James introduced the defendant as a young family man and land surveyor, whose job is to judge time and distances. James asserted he acted responsibly by yielding to oncoming traffic safely, telling the jury he turned on the road at a reasonable speed and distance from the plaintiff’s car.

James provided the jury with a defense number of $5,500 throughout the trial but the jury ultimately decided the plaintiff was 100% negligent in the accident and therefore was owed nothing.

“Our client was not liable in the accident, and we’re pleased the jury came to this determination as well. We were able to show, using Google maps and photos of the damage to both vehicles, that our client’s estimates of his time, speed and distance made sense,” said James. “We wish the plaintiff well.”

Tyson & Mendes Associate Reese Swincher assisted James on the case pre-trial.

Serving 21 states nationwide, Tyson & Mendes is one of the fastest growing civil defense firms in the U.S. and is proud to offer one of the fastest and clearest paths to partnership for its attorneys of any mid-sized law firm in the U.S. The firm is honored to be recognized as a 2024 Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers’, named a 2024 Best Company to Work for: Law Firm by U.S. News & World Report, awarded the 2023 Liberty Mutual Insurance External Law Firm Partner of the Year Award, awarded the No. 1 “Ceiling Smasher” in Law360’s 2022 Glass Ceiling Report for female equity partnership, and shortlisted for Financial Times’ 2022 Innovative Lawyers North America Award.

For more information and to view career opportunities, visit www.tysonmendes.com.

About Tyson & Mendes LLP
Tyson & Mendes LLP is a nationwide, AV-rated litigation and trial firm specializing in insurance defense and protecting its clients from Nuclear Verdicts®. Robert Tyson and Patrick Mendes founded the firm in 2002 to defend corporations, insurance companies, and their clients in civil litigation matters. The firm has experienced tremendous growth in the past two decades, with offices across the U.S. serving clients in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Media Contact

Molly Pincherli / Jean Walcher, J. Walcher Communications
molly@jwalcher.com / jean@jwalcher.com, 619-295-7140

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