A four-day personal injury trial at the Beaumont courthouse ended with a jury award of nearly $7.5 million in damages, according to one of the plaintiff’s attorneys who tried the case.
After being hit by a car while out walking, Steven Hebert filed a lawsuit March 17, 2014, in the Jefferson County Court against Larry Webster Rice and Price & Co., citing negligence.
The trial began Sept. 8 in Judge Gary Sanderson’s 60th District Court and ended Sept. 11.
“We are very appreciative of the work the jury did … sifting through the evidence and coming to the right decision,” said plaintiff’s attorney Chip Ferguson. “We are very pleased with the amount of damages awarded, because it will allow Steven Hebert to get the type of care that his injury will require for the rest of his lifetime.”
Ferguson said the jury put all the negligence on the defendant and none on the plaintiff.
The original complaint states on Jan. 14, 2014, Hebert was injured while walking along the shoulder of U.S. 69 near the FM 1007 intersection in Jasper County when Rice struck him with his vehicle.
At the time of the incident, Rice was operating the vehicle in the course of his employment with Price & Co., according to the complaint.
Plaintiff’s attorneys Bob and Brandon Monk of the Monk Law Firm also represent Hebert and filed the complaint on his behalf.
Ferguson, a former equity partner at Provost Umphrey who resigned in early August, said he was approached by the Monks a few weeks ago to help try the case.
“On a personal note, in the month since I left that other law firm, this is the first verdict in the history of the Ferguson Law Firm and I could not be happier and could not be prouder,” Ferguson said, adding that he could not be happier and prouder to have had the opportunity to work with Bob and Brandon Monk.
Attorney John Kilpatrick represents the defendant.
Jefferson County Court Case No. B195-507