The Law Offices of Frank Branson Secures $44M Verdict in I-35 Truck Accident

A Dallas County jury just sent a message that was impossible to ignore. 

Jurors last week returned a $44.1 million verdict against a trucking company and its driver for a fatal crash during the February 2021 winter ice storm on I-35 — a verdict significant enough to be reported by The Dallas Morning News, underscoring the broader public importance of the decision. The evidence showed the driver lacked adequate winter-weather training and was traveling at an unsafe speed for conditions. Jurors found gross negligence and imposed $20 million in punitive damages, holding the company accountable for putting an unfit driver on the road. This decision wasn’t about second-guessing an accident. It was about responsibility. It was about deterrence. And it was about jurors doing exactly what the civil justice system asks of them: protecting their community when safety rules are ignored, and human life is treated as secondary to schedules and profits. Congratulations to the trial team who carried this case to verdict — Frank L. Branson, John Burkhead, Tim Newsom, Debbie Branson, and appellate counsel Jeffrey Levinger — and to the jurors who took their responsibility seriously and spoke for the community.