Nashville office of personal injury law firm to fight for severely injured I-240 driver from Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A severely injured Memphis motorist has filed suit against Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) citing the company’s neglect and reckless care of a utility pole located in the median of I-240 as the cause of his hospitalization for severe brain injuries and head trauma.
On the evening of May 8, 2019, 25-year-old Samuel Butler was traveling along Interstate 240 when his Chevrolet Camaro left the roadway in the wet conditions. As the vehicle spun out of control, an 80-foot-long, nearly 800-pound metal utility pole left on the median by MLGW impaled the car from the driver’s side window passing through the cockpit to the passenger side window – striking the driver in the head as it passed through the vehicle.
Butler was seriously injured as a result, with life-threatening head injuries that caused bleeding on the brain. The 25-year-old was pinned in his seat while several Good Samaritans worked to free him from the car. He is now hospitalized and continues to receive critical medical care, including emergency brain surgery. At the time of this release, Butler remains in critical condition. Though he has been taken off the ventilator, the young man now faces a long road to recovery.
“It’s troubling that no one has explained how or why this 800-pound pole was downed,” said lead plaintiff’s attorney, J. Curt Tanner of Cory Watson Attorneys. “This lawsuit sends a message that there are people willing to stand up and hold these utility companies accountable. Yes, they have a job to do, but they must keep our roads safe and clear of dangers for all drivers.”
The lawsuit, filed by Butler and his mother, Artena Butler, charges that Memphis Light, Gas and Water “failed to maintain a safe and hazard-free roadway.” The suit also claims that the utility company “failed to exercise due care in its maintenance and control of the utility/light pole” and did not warn of an improperly placed pole on the interstate, “gravely endangering the lives and well-being of the public.”
MLGW officials say they had no record of a pole being down at that location.
“Whether the pole was downed by weather, a previous accident, or was there as a part of a construction project, the public expects MLGW to know the status of their equipment — particularly when it’s an 800-pound metal utility pole sitting in a median on one of the busiest roadways in Memphis,” said co-attorney Hamilton Jordan of Cory Watson Attorneys.
The lawsuit is filed in the Circuit Court for Shelby County in the state of Tennessee.
“Our goal is to get justice for Samuel and his family, and by bringing this to court, make sure that this preventable tragedy never happens again,” explained Tanner.
About Cory Watson Attorneys
Cory Watson Attorneys is a nationally recognized personal injury law firm with offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee. The firm has recovered more than 4 Billion for clients across the country. Attorneys are frequently at the forefront of major class actions and multidistrict litigations involving dangerous pharmaceuticals and product liability, and are often appointed to leadership positions in national cases. Firm practice areas include Personal Injury, Product Liability, Class Action, Asbestos, Business & Commercial Litigation, Dangerous Pharmaceuticals, Defective Medical Devices, and Environmental/Toxic Torts.
Click here to download the full press release. Click here to view the filed complaint. Related News: WREG (CBS-Memphis):
- May 21, 2019 - Family Sues MLGW After Pole Impales Car on I-240, Leaves Driver with Brain Injuries
- May 9, 2019 - Nurse Describes Rescuing Driver After Pole Crashes Through Car on I-240
- May 9, 2019 - New Accounts Suggest Driver Slid Off I-240; Hit Light Pole Before It Impaled Car
- May 8, 2019 - Pole crashes through car on I-240; driver hospitalized
- May 9, 2019 - Utility pole impales car in Tennessee