Case Results

At The de la Garza Law Group, we fight to obtain justice and fairness for our clients in personal injury litigation. Our results speak for themselves, and our clients’ actions speak louder than words when they continue to hire us and recommend us to colleagues, family, and friends.

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Victory For Survivors Of A Young Father Killed By Drunk Driver And The Bar That Served Him: $11,162,529

Kristopher Stow was a hero. He was the caring father of two. He was a loving, devoted husband to Erin. He was a loving, dutiful son to Katy. Kristopher made those around him laugh and smile. He was a ray of sunshine. He made this world a better place. But that all ended on the night of June 17, 2011. Kristopher was riding his motorcycle heading north on SH 36 near Caldwell, Texas, with his daughter as they headed to meet the family to celebrate her birthday. Hold this image in your mind.

Earlier that afternoon, Thomas Raymond Pennington got off of work as a meat cutter, went home, and immediately started drinking, having about 3 16oz beers. Then he picked up his dad, and they went to the Longhorn Bar & Grill, where Pennington had another eight to 10 beers. While he was at the Longhorn, he fell off a stool, but the bartenders “kept ’em coming.” After Pennington and his dad left the Longhorn, they went to dad’s house, where Pennington smoked a joint and drank half a 24 oz. beer. Then he left and headed home, but he just couldn’t resist the urge to stop at a convenience store and get a six-pack for the road.

Pennington stood by the beer fridge about 10 minutes, trying to figure out what he could buy with the few bucks in his pocket. Finally, he decided on Bud Ice. He walked out to his old red Suburban, six-pack in hand. He got behind the wheel and drove southbound on SH 36.

Meanwhile, here come Kristopher and his daughter, traveling northbound on SH 36. Pennington attempts to turn from southbound SH 36 onto FM 60, but he fails to yield. Kristopher tries to stop. The motorcycle tire marks the pavement before colliding with the Suburban. Kristopher is thrown underneath the Suburban and dies. His daughter is thrown to the side of the road, suffering minor injuries.

Mario E. de la Garza presented this tragedy, with all its devastating detail, to the jury. They presented the testimony of a toxicologist, who explained Pennington’s level of intoxication at the time of the tragedy. They got to know Kristopher through many powerful memories cherished by Erin and Katy and shared these with the jury so that the jury would too know Kristopher. Mario de la Garza showed the jury how Kristopher’s death caused spiritual amputations to Erin, his widow, and Katy, his surviving mother.

The jury climbed the highest mountain and loudly declared justice for the whole world to hear: Pennington and the Longhorn were negligent and killed Kristopher, and they awarded Erin and Katy over $11 million. Pennington is in prison, and the Longhorn is out of business.

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A Moment Of Negligence Results In Two Deaths

Mario de la Garza recently obtained justice for two families totaling millions of dollars. The victims, a young couple, were traveling in their car in hopes of enjoying a Friday night at the movies. Suddenly, the defendant, driving on the opposite side of the road, swerved and struck them head-on, killing the young couple instantly. The families turned to Mario de la Garza. Mr. de la Garza sued the driver and the owner of the vehicle and recently obtained justice for the families.

Kernicterus: Success For The Victims

More than half of all babies suffer from neonatal jaundice, a condition that results from the build-up of bilirubin in the blood. Left unchecked, bilirubin can rise to dangerous levels and cross the blood-brain barrier, resulting in life-long neurological damage with devastating consequences. This condition is called Kernicterus. Because neonatal jaundice is so easily treated, Kernicterus is considered a “never event,” meaning it should never happen.

Yet, tragically, it does happen and did happen to a charming young boy during the first days of his life in the NICU. The boy’s mother retained Mario de la Garza to seek justice for her son. Mr. de la Garza fought an expensive and complicated fight against some of the best medical malpractice defense lawyers in Texas, who were armed with powerful, pro-hospital case law. Yet in January of 2014, Mr. de la Garza obtained justice for the little boy and his mother, reaching a confidential settlement agreement with the doctors and the hospital.

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Trauma At The Track

A bright, young IT specialist was video recording a high-performance driving exercise at a Houston-area track. Suddenly, a car lost control, spun, and collided with a “protective” concrete barrier. Debris went flying, striking the young man in the head, causing him a traumatic brain injury.

Mario de la Garza proved that the barrier had been negligently designed, placed, built, and maintained. What’s more, they proved that a significant portion of the barrier had been compromised in a prior collision. Yet the track operator failed to repair it and failed to warn about this danger. After a hard-fought battle with significant legal obstacles, including a purported waiver, signed by the young man, Mr. de la Garza obtained justice for their client, reaching a favorable confidential settlement with the track operator.

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Success For Victims Of Horrific Bus Rollover

Mario de la Garza recently secured a favorable settlement for a Houston-area couple and their little boy who suffered severe injuries in a horrific bus rollover near Laredo, Texas. The family were riding in the bus on their way back from an Easter vacation in Mexico, when the driver failed to keep a proper look-out, saw that he was about to collide with the car ahead, and then turned to avoid the car, thereby losing control of the bus and causing it to roll over onto the side of the road. Because the bus had not been retrofitted with seatbelts, the passengers flew out of their seats and were thrown about, suffering severe injuries.

Mario de la Garza secured favorable confidential settlements not only against the bus company for the negligence of its driver but also against the distributor of the passenger bus, which was a defective product due to its lack of seatbelts. While nothing will erase the horrible memories of this tragedy that this sweet family will live with for the rest of their lives, the substantial compensation that Mario de la Garza obtained for them has meaningfully changed their lives for the better.

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$8,000,000.00 Recovery

Mario de la Garza assisted in the recovery of $8,000,000 for a manufacturer of oilfield equipment. A dispute arose between the client and a distributor of its equipment. The distributor filed suit against the client alleging that the client was cheating the distributor out of millions of dollars by distributing its equipment in breach of the agreement and intentionally hurting its business. Mario de la Garza assisted in the prosecution of successful counter-claims against the distributor for breach of contract and fraud.

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Appellate Victory Saves Client Tens Of Millions In Business

Mario de la Garza of The de la Garza Law Group served as lead appellate counsel for Jiangsu Jinshi Machinery Group Co. Ltd. d/b/a JMP Technologies and Helios Oil & Gas Equipment, LLC (“clients”) in their case against Kana Energy Services, Inc. (“Kana”). Kana sought a temporary injunction against clients, seeking to prevent clients from selling their API-6A products to many of clients’ customers. When the trial court denied Kana this relief, Kana appealed, bringing arguments based on breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of trade secrets. As lead appellate counsel for clients, Mr. de la Garza scoured the record, researched and analyzed the law, developed winning arguments on each of Kana’s points, and then fully executed this strategy, resulting in an appellate victory that will save clients tens of millions of dollars in business.

See Kana Energy Services, Inc. v. Jiangsu Jinshi Machinery Group Co. Ltd., ____S.W.3rd____, 2018 WL 4868945 (Tex. App.— Houston (14th Dist.) October 9, 2018)

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Truck Accident Injury: $5.5 Million

After a young trauma surgeon and his father-in-law were severely injured in a truck rollover caused by the driver of a commercial box truck, Mario de la Garza worked tirelessly to ensure that they received just compensation. He worked closely with the young trauma surgeon’s treating hand surgeon to fully understand the nature and extent of the injury as well as ramification for the young surgeon’s future. Mario de la Garza took the complexities and nuances of medicine and, through his work with preeminent experts in various fields, was able to tell the story of how this young surgeon’s injury had effectively ended his promising career. After a hard fought battle, through advocacy on behalf of the two men and their spouses, Mario de la Garza secured a combined settlement for the clients of $5,500,000, with the funds distributed as follows:

	Young Surgeon	Surgeon’s Spouse	Father-in-Law	Mother-in-Law
Total Settlement	$4,600,00.00	$75,000.00	$750,000.00	$75,000.00
Net-to-Client	$2,645,169.02	$45,000.00	$247,101.73	$45,000.00
Attorney Fees	$1,840,000.00	$30,000.00	$300,000.00	$30,000.00
Case Expenses	$52,130.52	$0.00	$7,789.75	$0.00

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Faulty Equiment Injury: $3.5 Million

A Texas utility pole worker was severely injured as a result of faulty equipment. The attorneys of The de la Garza Law Group secured a settlement for the clients of $3,500,000, with the funds distributed as follows:

Total Settlement	$3,500,000.00
Net-to-Client	$1,945,598.20
Attorney Fees	$1,400,000.00
Case Expenses	$154,401.80

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Bicycle Accident Injury: $3.25 Million

A bicyclist who was catastrophically injured in a truck accident. The attorneys of The de la Garza Law Group were able to secure a settlement for the clients of $3,250,000, with the funds distributed as follows:

Net-to-Client	$952,353.01
Medical Expenses	$1,161,485.25
Attorney Fees	$1,083,333,34
Case Expenses	$52,828.01

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Negligence by Electrical Easement Contractor Injures Bystander

DE LA GARZA WINS SETTLEMENT OF $2.25 MILLION FOR VICTIMS OF ELECTRICAL EASEMENT COMPANY’S NEGLIGENCE

A young father and construction worker was severely injured when an electrical easement company negligently used its equipment while clearing vegetation.  The company’s mower sent a piece of fencing debris flying, which struck and lacerated the worker’s arm. Mario de la Garza worked tirelessly to ensure that the worker and his family received just compensation. He worked closely with the client’s treating surgeon to fully understand the nature and extent of the injuries as well as the ramifications for his client’s future. After a hard fought battle, through advocacy on behalf of the client and his family, Mario de la Garza secured a settlement for the client of $2,100,000.00, and for each of his children of $50,000.00, with funds distributed as follows:

	Injured Client	Child 1
TOTAL SETTLEMENT	$2,100,000.00	$50,000.00
NET-TO-CLIENT	$1,057,240.16	$33,333.33
ATTORNEY FEES	$700,000.00	$16,666.67
CASE EXPENSES	$99,145.34	$0.00

	Child 2	Child 3
TOTAL SETTLEMENT	$50,000.00	$50,000.00
NET-TO-CLIENT	$33,333.33	$33,333.33
ATTORNEY FEES	$16,666.67	$16,666.67
CASE EXPENSES	$0.00	$0.00

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Wrongful Death: Fatal Injuries to HVAC Subcontractor

After an HVAC subcontractor fell onto his head from a 10-foot ladder while working from above 6 feet without fall protection, he went into a coma for six months before he finally died.  The attorneys at The de la Garza Law Group fought a challenging legal battle against the worker’s employer and against the HVAC subcontractor as well as the construction site general contractor. Armed with powerful Texas law that protects general contractors from liability for injuries to subcontractors, the defendant companies fought hard.  In the end, the attorneys at The de la Garza Law Group were able to overcome these legal obstacles and obtain a confidential seven-figure settlement.

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Fatal Injuries to Demolition Subcontractor

A demolition subcontractor was operating a skid steer loader, clearing debris around open pits at the demolition site.  However, the demolition company and other responsible entities failed to protect workers from the dangers of the pits, including by failing to install stop logs or other protective barriers.  Tragically, the demolition subcontractor and the skid steer loader he was operating fell into the unprotected pit.  The worker was ejected from the loader, and then the loader fell on him, crushing him to death.  Armed with powerful Texas law that protects general contractors from liability for injuries to subcontractors, the defendant companies fought hard.  In the end, Mario de la Garza of The de la Garza Law Group was able to overcome these legal obstacles and obtain a confidential seven-figure settlement for the demolition worker’s family.

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Workplace Accident Injury: $1.60 Million

In a workplace accident where a young agricultural worker was crushed by farm equipment. The attorneys of The de la Garza Law Group were able to secure a settlement for the clients of $1,600,000, with the funds distributed as follows:

	Widow	Two Sons (each)	Daughter	Estate of Deceased Worker
Total Settlement	$1,445,000.00	$85,000.00	$85,000.00	$15,000.00
Net-to-Client	$963,333.33	$54,706.99	$54,707.00	$1,710.92
Attorney Fees	$481,666,67	$28,333.34	$28,333.34	$5,000.00
Case Expenses	$0.00	$1,959.67	$1,959.66	$8,289.08