Patton & Ryan

Abigail J. Marz v. Carter J. Brittain, et al.

Patton & Ryan recently reached  a very favorable settlement in this fatal highway accident. On March 17, 2001, Steven Marz, his pregnant wife Linda, and their two children Abigail, age 4, and Nicholas, age 2, were traveling on I-65 in Indiana. An unexpected snowstorm hit, causing the roads to become slick and ice-covered. Defendant Brittain Carter was also traveling southbound in a semi tractor-trailer. Carter claimed that as he was driving, he noticed the brake lights of the vehicle in front of him come on, and so he tapped his brakes. Carter’s tractor-trailer then went into a spin and jackknifed. The Marz vehicle was unable to stop in time and slid under Carter’s trailer, causing the death of Mr. and Mrs. Marz and their unborn child. Abigail and Nicholas, now orphaned, survived.

The plaintiffs claimed that Carter was traveling too fast for conditions and that his truck should not have been in service due to having four out of ten brakes out of adjustment. Carter was cited by the Indiana State Police for the brake violations. The defendants argued that Marz was also traveling too fast as well as following too closely, and failing to pay proper attention to the roadway.

A settlement conference was held on August 24, 2004. Plaintiffs’ initial demand was $16.5 million dollars; defendants’ initial offer was $1 million. The case was settled for an amount which was extremely favorable to the defense. The final settlement details are confidential pursuant to court order.

Patton & Ryan and its clients in this case were highly pleased with the result. Given that the plaintiffs were the orphaned young children of an attractive couple, a potential jury award could have been boundlessly large, even taking into account the fact that liability was arguable. Instead, Patton & Ryan reached an agreement that was well within our projected settlement values for the matter.