In 2018, an innocent bystander was burned over 40% of his body from an explosion during an oilfield operation. The entire operation was caught on video by two high-definition cameras making liability all but assured. The plaintiff sued a number of oilfield service companies and an operator for $750 million. Instead of employing insurance panel counsel, the client selected Bradley to go toe to toe with the quality of the plaintiff’s attorneys. The team, which was led by Jim Collura, developed a strategy to exit the case with zero liability for Bradley’s client. This move was blocked at every turn by the other defendants who wanted as many parties as possible to share the liability. However, after the parties collectively spent two days picking a jury, observing Collura’s rapport with the panel and reviewing Bradley’s demonstratives for trial, the other defendants realized Bradley’s strategy was a winning one. Prior to opening statements, the other defendants conceded their opposition, and Bradley won a reconsidered summary judgment – a defense judgment of zero liability for the plaintiff.
However, Bradley’s team was not yet done. Bradley had a cross claim against one of the other parties for defense and indemnity. This case was bifurcated, meaning that when the first case ended the indemnity case immediately commenced. After a week, the explosion case suddenly resolved. The Bradley team had to spring into action, return to the courthouse and try the matter. Collura tried the case to the jury arguing that the contracts at issue provided that Bradley’s client was entitled to recover its expenses in the explosion litigation. The challenge was to convince a jury who had just spent a week hearing an explosion case to switch gears to a complex commercial matter and award attorneys’ fees and costs. Again, Bradley’s strategy prevailed. After deliberating for only one hour, the jury unanimously awarded Bradley’s client a 100% victory – over $1.4 million. It was the first time in Collura’s career that he won a defense judgment and a plaintiff’s verdict in excess of $1 million in the same case in the span of a week.
Bradley’s team included Jim Collura, Justin Scott, Saira Siddiqui, Molly Maier, and Charjean Neuer (paralegal).
