$730 Million Truck Accident Verdict
In 2021, Nelson J. Roach won $730 million in a case arising from a truck accident, the fourth-largest jury verdict in the United States and third-largest in Texas that year. The case was filed by the family of East Texas resident Toni Combest, a 73-year-old great-grandmother who was killed in a collision with an oversize-cargo truck hauling a propeller for a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine.
The accident occurred on February 21, 2016, when the defendants attempted to cross a narrow bridge on U.S. Highway 271 in Titus County, Texas. As he approached the bridge, the truck's driver left his authorized lane of travel and struck a vehicle driven by Mrs. Combest at approximately 65 miles per hour. She died at the scene.
The jury awarded $480 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages.