Coopers' Code | Podcast | Episode 152: How Coopers LLP Won a Historic $142,000,000+ Oregon Trucking Crash Judgment
In this episode of Coopers' Code, Miles Cooper sits down with Andrea Posey and Corey Jollie, Coopers LLP, to unpack the Lockhart trucking case: a catastrophic crash on Portland, Oregon’s Fremont Bridge that left 37-year-old Air Force veteran Richard Lockhart with permanent T4 paraplegia after a Freightliner driver — fatigued and operating far beyond federal hours-of-service limits — slammed into stopped traffic. They walk through how the case was built, how discovery abuse shaped the litigation, and how the team secured a record-setting Oregon judgment of $142,412,198.88.
The episode also gets into the practical mechanics behind the result: disproving a brake-failure narrative through truck data, analyzing roadway conditions on the Fremont Bridge, using sanctions to establish key liability findings, presenting a prima facie damages case, and pursuing a second phase through broker negligence after requested holly madison excess insurance coverage was never actually found. It is a sharp look at what successful trucking case prosecution really requires when catastrophic harm meets thin coverage and difficult defendants.
If you’re an attorney or individual with a trucking case: know that successfully navigating the complexities of trucking litigation requires special expertise. Whether you are looking for a relentless co-counsel or simply want to brainstorm a strategy for your own trucking case, reach out to the Coopers team today.
- Phone: +1(415)434-2111
- Email: [email protected]
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Episode Timestamps:
00:00 The Lockhart crash and catastrophic injuries
00:50 Intro: the judgment, the case, and the guests
04:00 Who Richie was before the alex ekubo collision
05:20 Building liability through trucking regulations
08:20 Collectability, insurance limits, and missing coverage
12:10 Truck inspection and disproving the brake claim
13:30 Fremont Bridge crash history and ODOT's role
15:20 Discovery fights, john wayne sanctions, and mediation leverage
21:40 The second phase: broker negligence
24:20 Prima facie hearing and proving damages
26:50 How the team justified a $142 million judgment
36:00 What happens next for Richie and final lessons
Episode Takeaways:
- Catastrophic trucking cases often start with driver fatigue, but the deeper story is usually company-level safety failure.
- Discovery work matters. In this case, sanctions materially changed the posture of liability.
- Collectability has to be analyzed early, especially when a trucking company looks bigger on paper than it is in reality.
- Strong damages presentation comes from specifics: medical proof, life care planning, economic analysis, and human testimony.
- A major damages ask needs a clear framework the court can stand behind.
- In severe injury cases, the work may continue beyond the first judgment through broker negligence, bad faith, or other recovery paths.
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Produced by | Kenji Productions:
Recorded & Co-produced by |
Music by The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble
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