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

Virginia Jury Rejects $35 Million Demand in Admitted Negligence Case involving Teen Fatality

Thursday, May 28, 2026
1:00 pm Eastern

Add to your Outlook calendar.
Add to your Google calendar.

In February 2026, Ashley Winsky, Eric Reeves, and Nia Jones, of the Moran Reeves & Conn firm secured a favorable outcome on behalf of USA Truck. The seven-day trial occurred in a notorious Virginia jurisdiction against a nationally-recognized plaintiff’s attorney.

The defendant driver parked his tractor-trailer in the right travel lane of a three-lane roadway and ran into a nearby restaurant to use the bathroom. While the truck was parked, an unlicensed sixteen-year-old (who was driving four high school friends home from school) came speeding down the same roadway. The young driver made an aggressive lane change and struck two other passenger vehicles before losing control and striking the tractor trailer. Plaintiff’s decedent was the rear passenger and died as a result of the accident. He was seventeen years old.

Plaintiff demanded $34 million in compensatory damages for his mother and two siblings and $1 million in punitive damages, arguing that the truck driver’s actions constituted willful and wanton conduct. Defendants stipulated that it was negligent to park the tractor trailer in a travel lane but argued that such negligence did not proximately cause the accident. The jury awarded only $2.25 million, which was a small fraction of the request to the jury.

Join us as Ashley shares the successful trial strategy and some key takeaways from a great result in Virginia.

 Register Now