TIDA's Victories & Setbacks Series

One of the biggest benefits of TIDA is learning from the experiences of other TIDA members. That is true when things go well... and when they don’t. For over a decade, the plaintiffs’ bar has coordinated their discovery and trial strategies in an effort to drive up verdicts and settlements in trucking cases. And there is no doubt that their strategy has worked.

In an effort to coordinate the defense, TIDA hosts a series for defense attorneys and trucking claim professionals entitled “Victories & Setbacks” to share information about recent trial results – so that we can all be more effective in defending the trucking industry. Each installment will feature an in-depth discussion about a recent verdict in a trucking case, from a brief recitation of the facts, through discovery challenges, motions practice, voir dire, trial, and verdict. The goal is to give you practical take-aways that you can implement in your own work.

If you have a recent trial result (good or bad) that you would like to share in a future installment of this series, submit your request to be featured here.

Upcoming Webinar

Defense Verdict in New York State Court in a Sideswipe Collision Case after the Truck Driver’s Guilty Plea for Unsafe Lane Change was Admitted into Evidence

Wednesday, April 22, 2026
1:00 pm Eastern

Attorneys Robert Hanlon, Jr. and Matthew Levy of the law firm of Goldberg Segalla recently obtained a defense verdict in White Plains, New York for a commercial truck driver involved in a collision with a passenger car.

The primary dispute was whether the truck changed lanes just before or just after the impact with the plaintiff’s car.  The video footage from the truck's dashboard camera was inconclusive, so defense counsel presented expert video analysis to show that the plaintiff’s car drifted into the truck’s lane.

The investigating New York State Trooper testified that the truck driver told him at the scene that he was changing lanes when the accident happened. The trooper cited the truck driver for making an unsafe lane change, and the driver’s criminal lawyer entered a guilty plea on the truck driver’s behalf.

Plaintiff required four surgeries, and the parties stipulated to damages of $850,000 before trial.

Despite the problematic liability and damages evidence, the jury returned a defense verdict after concluding that the truck driver did not operate his vehicle in a negligent manner that caused this accident.

Come hear Bobby Hanlon talk about lessons learned from this win. You will leave this session with some practice pointers that you can use in your litigated cases.

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