Summers

On March 12, 1993, a tragedy occurred which forever altered the lives of the Summers family. Jerry Lee Summers was driving his pickup track and became involved in an accident with a track pulling two trailers filled with com. Based on a series of events, the two trailers became detached and one tipped over onto Jerry’s track, burying it in corn. In a few short moments, a husband and father of two children was gone forever.

A wrongful death action was filed against multiple defendants alleging theories of liability based on nondelegable duty, negligent hiring and retention of an incompetent contractor, and under the doctrine of respondeat superior. By the time of trial, two of the three remaining defendants included Cotton, owner of the track and trailers, and Gilbert, owner of the corn.

On January 22, 1996, a legal tragedy occurred which, unfortunately, will also alter the lives of the Summers family. The Summerses’ counsel called as an expert witness Ellis Anderson, a lawyer who specializes in the field of transportation and practices primarily before the Public Utilities Commission. Anderson had an opinion on almost every imaginable subject related to the case. And he…