How Rex Parris' Fervent Argument on Fault Helped Secure $52M+ Verdict in Truck Crash Case

Damages-only trials can raise a unique set of hurdles for a plaintiff’s attorney, who must guard against jurors implicitly placing some blame on the plaintiff, regardless of stipulations to the contrary, and reducing their damage award accordingly. At trial over a truck crash that seriously injured a pair of brothers, Rex Parris delivers a passionate closing to ensure a California jury kept blame squarely placed on the defendant trucking company’s driver when delivering an 8-figure verdict. 

Matthew and Michael Lennig suffered traumatic brain and other injuries in a 2014 crash with a tractor-trailer driven by CRST’s Hector Contreras. 

In closings of the damages-only trial, Rex Parris, of PARRIS Law, representing Matthew Lennig, emphatically reminded jurors of fault in the case. 

“They’re 100% at fault. We all know that,” Parris told jurors in closings. “But fault is a little bit different of a word. You don’t get to nitpick it. You don’t get to try to find a piece of fault here or a piece of fault there.”

Parris urges jurors not to let defense hypotheticals erode the fault placed on the defendant. “Remember that whole thing about ‘Couldn’t [Lennig] have seen the truck 1,000 yards down if Mr. Contreras…’” Parris' voice trials off, referring to insinuations that Lennig should have seen the truck. “You don’t get to do that! It’s 100 percent of fault. And you don’t get to parse it out like that.”

Parris goes on to vividly detail the crash, highlighting evidence of Contreras’ roadside response in the immediate aftermath. 

“The thing I cannot get over in this case. I just can’t get over it,” Parris says. “Is [Lennig] is down the street, bleeding to death. And [Contreras] never got out of the truck.”

Parris continues, comparing Contreras' actions with how he argues a reasonable person would respond. “We all know that they have first-aid kits in those trucks. And what does every rational human being with any sense of humanity still left in them do?” Parris asks. “You get out and run to see if you can help. That’s what human beings do. That’s what people do. That’s what we all would do. 

“And [Contreras] stayed in that truck. And then lied about why he had to.”

Parris goes further, contrasting Lennig’s struggle in the wreck’s aftermath to the response of Contreras and the defense as a whole. 

“It’s amazing to me how quickly our lives can just almost evaporate because of somebody’s willingness to just…” Parris shrugs, as if playing the part of someone who doesn’t care. 

Parris’ passionate closing helped secure a $52.8 million total verdict for the two brothers.