The family of a motorcyclist who crashed into a turning armored truck struck a settlement with security company GardaWorld shortly after a Texas state court jury began deliberations in a trial that could have resulted in a $100 million verdict.

Beyanca, wife of Virgilio Martinez, and Chris Hamilton share in telling the story.

 

Beyanca:
I felt something was wrong from the get-go, and so whenever we actually reached out to attorneys or law firms, we presented them with the details and stuff. And everybody said they couldn’t help because everything was against him, and nobody really wanted to take a chance and believe us.

Chris Hamilton:
When Beyanca first came to us, five lawyers had rejected her case and she was really at the end of the road and trying to figure out what to do. And this was a difficult situation where the police report was against us. The victim was dead and it didn’t really look like there were a lot of avenues, but Beyanca insisted that what she was being told by the police and by the defendant just didn’t make sense. And ultimately, there was just something that made us believe in Beyanca as a client that led us to this decision that we had to take this case, even though all the odds seem stacked against them.

Beyanca:
I mean, just talking with Paul, there was never a negative vibe. There was never… Not once did I feel like there wasn’t a chance. I felt from the moment I met him that he listened and then whenever I met Chris and Ray, I actually felt the sincerity, like they actually cared, that they actually took a real interest in it. And it wasn’t just, “This isn’t worth our time,” or, “We’re not going to take this risk because everything doesn’t add up in your favor.” Yeah. It was… I mean, initially, I knew he believed me.

Chris Hamilton:
And once we got into this case, it was clear that our belief in the client had paid off because what we uncovered was corporate misconduct on a scale that we had not imagined. And what we couldn’t have predicted was that this was a company that had taken advantage over and over and over again by blaming the victim, by covering up the cause of deaths and serious injuries, and by exploiting the fact that the victim’s families in the situation often weren’t able to find lawyers that could believe in them when the police reports were against them.

Beyanca:
There were things that I felt, but never could confirm it, and these guys… I never really had to come here and say, “This is what I think.” They were actively putting puzzle pieces together. They were reaching out to people. They were doing all of those things that normally, I would say somebody who had so much to prove because all the odds were against you. You would have to go out and prove those and give them that information versus me. I’m like, “Oh, they figured this out. They didn’t even have to ask me because…” That’s how I knew they were working. They didn’t really ever bother me for anything.

Chris Hamilton:
And so this was a situation where this case had to go to trial. This misconduct had to be exposed and we couldn’t take a second-best outcome on this case because we knew that it was going to happen again to somebody else if we didn’t go all the way.

Beyanca:
I mean, every single day I felt the energy level was increasing every single day versus decreasing. It becomes tiring. I think that I was the one that was one more on the downslope and they were just full… Barely getting their ammo. I felt that they were full force, actively fighting for justice for my husband.

Chris Hamilton:
Part of what made this work is we believed in the client and the client believed in us. And this company had gotten away with this so many times by dragging the clients through the mud, by blaming and shaming the victims by dragging it out. And then by making low ball offers of settlement that often lawyers gave in and took, and we had a client that was out for justice in this case. And Beyanca was not going to take no for an answer, and neither were we.

Beyanca:
I feel like, although nothing will ever bring my husband back, I do appreciate somebody actually believing in him and not giving up on him like we never gave up. And so just knowing that there’s other people, or even a law firm that actually has no ties to me or my family, to actually know that they sincerely cared and worked at it for a long time and just never gave up. I mean, it feels like it gives you a little bit of closure, just to know that somebody was there to help you fight this big fight.

Chris Hamilton:
And so this is one of those cases where believing in a client and a client believing in a lawyer creates an opportunity to really do something that can make a difference in people’s lives. And we’re just honored and privileged to represent Beyanca in this case and to obtain this outcome that we know will help protect the public and change the lives of the Martinez family. Even though we’ll never bring Virgilio back, it honors his memory, and it creates a situation where this family knows that Virgilio didn’t die in vain. Even though he died unnecessarily, Virgilio did not die in vain because this is going to create justice that’s going to protect other families and make sure that their fathers and mothers do make it home, even where Virgilio didn’t.

 

FULL FEATURED CASE FROM HAMILTON WINGO