The Trial attorneys of Hamilton Wingo were asked to help the surviving family of Patrick Beck, Sr., his wife Janet Beck, and daughter Leah Beck after they were all killed in a fiery collision when a drunk driver crashed into them on the right shoulder of Interstate Highway 20.

Before running onto the shoulder of the highway and killing the three family members, the drunk driver had become intoxicated at a prominent bar in Dallas/Fort Worth where staff knowingly served him the equivalent of more than 10 standard drinks—past the point of obvious intoxication according to the drink count alone—with the express permission of management.

Hamilton Wingo attorneys sued the drunk driver for causing the deaths of Patrick Beck, Sr., Janet Beck, and Leah Beck. They also sued the prominent bar where the drunk driver had been drinking prior, alleging that their over-service of alcohol and negligence was a proximate cause of the collision in question and the tragic deaths of three family members.

Headlines will always sensationalize the amount one person had to pay another, but at the heart of this case were two teenagers killed in the prime of their lives, and a corporation recognized by every person on the planet that refused to accept responsibility.

The case against McDonald’s began as an insurance claim in an auto accident. Chris Hamilton was contacted by a law school classmate representing William and Nicole Crisp, whose 19-year-old daughter, Lauren, was killed in a car accident on February 18, 2012. As Chris listened, he learned that what had happened that night was much bigger than a traffic accident, and involved an incredible act of negligence by a multibillion-dollar corporation.

A prominent Dallas theater director was severely beaten and robbed outside the Cityplace Target. Hamilton Wingo attorneys sued Target Corporation, alleging that store security failed to protect him and even discouraged him from calling police.

“Do not let him call the police. Don’t call the police,” the lawsuit quotes the store’s head of security as telling employees. “We have a police officer here, and we will take care of it.”

But there was no security to be found in the parking lot as Derek Whitener left the store. And when he got to his car, he was attacked by the same masked men whose presence had worried him enough to alert employees on his way into the store on Haskell Avenue.