Undefeated Oilfield Injury Lawyers Win Record $12.7 Million Settlement
Our clients were working in a snubbing unit on a workover rig in Pyote, Texas when the workover rig toppled over. Our clients sustained catastrophic injuries as they were tossed and jostled in the snubbing unit.
Our Undefeated Oilfield Injury Lawyers established, through the course of discovery, that the workover rig was not properly secured—one of the guy wires that is used to secure the workover the rig was not actually attached at all.
This case involved seven different oilfield company defendants:
- an operator
- multiple service providers
- a crane company
- independent contractors, and
- a staffing company
After more than 30 depositions, we proved that the wellsite was extremely dangerous—numerous contractors were working excessive hours; the operator was not monitoring its contractors or its company man; the company man was not monitoring the contractors; there was a lack of communication between the contractors; and the speed of the work was more important than the workers’ safety.
In short, we demonstrated that safety was an afterthought, and that this incident was entirely preventable had any one of the defendants put safety before profits.
We also hired a world-renowned sleep expert who concluded that the contractors at this wellsite were suffering from significant fatigue-related symptoms by the time the rig toppled.
Our sleep expert concluded that the contractors on-site were so fatigued that it was as if they were drunk by the time the rig toppled. On average, the contractors were working 14-18 hours per day, not including lengthy drives to and from the wellsite from their respective housing. It was ultimately discovered during depositions that the operator was behind schedule, which contributed to the rushed work environment and lack of safety.
We argued that the complete lack of safety at this wellsite started with the operator and trickled down to everyone under them, creating a snowball effect. By the time the workover rig toppled, there was a complete disregard for the safety of the service providers. It was only a matter of time before something catastrophic occurred.
As trial approached, the defendants were all blaming one another and attempting to deflect liability from themselves—it didn’t work. The case was ultimately resolved in the courtroom during the pre-trial hearing for a record-setting $12,700,000.