The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

NTL member Ryan Zehl obtains $23.5M settlement in head-on fatal wreck

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Andrew Findley

Accident with two carsNational Trial Lawyers Top 100 and Top 40 Under 40 member Ryan Zehl secured a $23.5 million settlement in March for the family of a woman killed in a head-on accident in Brazoria County, Texas. Mr. Zehl was assisted by Matt Martin and Eric Allen of his firm, Zehl and Associates of Houston, Texas.

On July 20, 2017, Christina Burley, 24, a homemaker, was driving a compact car south on County Road 2611, a two-lane road in Brazoria County. Her husband, James Ray Burley, 47, a trucker, was a passenger. Larry Wayne Sassin was traveling north in a large pickup truck. Traffic ahead of Sassin slowed, and Sassin swerved left. He and the Burleys collided head-on at about 65 mph. Mr. Burley sustained severe injuries to his head, colon, leg and other areas of his body. Ms. Burley’s injuries were fatal. 

Mr. and Mrs. Burley were taken by Life-Flight to the hospital. Mrs. Burley was pronounced dead on arrival, about an hour after the accident. She was survived by her husband and her mother, plaintiff Alberta Roberts. Mr. Burley was in a coma for about seven days and was in the hospital from July 20 to Aug. 30. He sustained about 23 broken bones and a colon injury, which required a colostomy. He also claimed a moderate traumatic brain injury. His head injuries included a subarachnoid hemorrhage, left cervical ICA (internal carotid artery) injury, left orbital floor fracture, Le Fort I fracture, Le Fort II fracture, mandibular fracture, maxillary sinus fracture and chin lacerations.

Injuries to the rest of his body included a right clavicle fracture, right scapula fracture, sternum fracture, fractures of ribs 2 through 8, left pneumothorax, pulmonary contusions, spinal fractures, multiple small-bowel avulsions, traumatic hernia, multiple mesenteric hematomas, aortic dissection, severed sigmoid colon, complex comminuted and displaced open left femur fracture, comminuted fractures of the left third and fourth metatarsals and left cuboid fracture.

Mr. Burley had numerous surgeries within days of the accident. On the date of the accident, his surgeries included exploratory laparotomy and resection of devascularized segments of the small intestine and colon. Surgeries the next day included irrigation and debridement of the clavicle and femur fractures, left knee arthrotomy, exploratory laparotomy, creation of colostomy and creation of small bowel anastomoses. His surgery on July 24 included open reduction and internal fixation of the clavicle fracture, and his surgery on July 27 included open reduction and internal fixation of the femur fracture. On July 28, a feeding tube and thoracostomy tube were placed by doctors. He also underwent open reduction and internal fixation of the left first, second and third tarsometatarsal joints and percutaneous pin fixation of the left fourth and fifth tarsometatarsal joints. The colostomy was reversed on March 5, 2018.

At the time of settlement, Mr. Burley claimed ongoing pain in his back, neck, and both knees and an inability to walk without a cane or walker. He also required assistance getting in and out of the bath and shower. He also claimed impairment of short-term memory, executive functioning and inability to work as a truck driver or most anything else, and speech impairment.

Mr. Burley also claimed depression and regular emotional outbreaks over the loss of his wife and the profound changes in his physical abilities and overall quality of life.
He moved in with his brother, who was still caring for him when the case resolved. Mr. Burley claimed that he would be hiring a home health aide soon to supervise and care for him 24 hours a day.

His paid or incurred medical bills were $1,123,000, and he claimed a life care plan of $6.1 million. His lost earnings and lost earning capacity were still undetermined when the case was resolved.

Mr. Burley and Ms. Burley’s estate sued Sassin and Sassin’s employer, Johnson Supply and Equipment Corp. The lawsuit alleged that Sassin was negligent in the operation of his vehicle, that Johnson Supply was vicariously liable for his actions on a theory of respondeat superior, and that Johnson was negligent and grossly negligent in its hiring, training, retention and supervision of Sassin. 

The plaintiffs alleged that (1) Sassin was not paying attention and, as a result, did not notice that traffic ahead had slowed until it was too late, (2) that Sassin should have swerved into a grassy field to the right of the roadway, rather than left into oncoming traffic, (3) that Sassin, who was a counter salesman, had never received any training and had no experience driving company vehicles and, therefore, should not have been permitted to drive Johnson Supply’s delivery trucks.

The defendants generally denied the allegations. The case settled for $23.5 million before any expert depositions and before any experts had been designated by the defense.

 

 

Posted in Blog | Tagged fatality, head on collision, settlement

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

Boy Scouts of America and The Hartford Enter $650 Million Settlement for Sex Abuse Claims

Boy Scouts of America and The Hartford Enter $650 Million Settlement for Sex Abuse Claims

April 19th, 2021

After years of legal dispute, The Hartford has entered into a settlement agreement and release with the Boy Scouts [Read More...]
Playland Operator Reaches $12 Million Bankruptcy Settlement

Playland Operator Reaches $12 Million Bankruptcy Settlement

April 19th, 2021

The Westchester County Board of Legislators last week approved a bankruptcy court settlement with Standard Amusements regardi[Read More...]
Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

Santa Fe Agrees To a $36M Settlement With the Firms Responsible For Constructing Its Water Project

April 9th, 2021

The board of the Santa Fe city and county’s joint Buckman Direct Diversion agreed to a $36 million settlement last wee[Read More...]
Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

Health Net Repaid $97.2M To Settle an Investigation Confirming It Over-Billed the U.S. For Veterans Care

April 7th, 2021

A Rancho Cordova health insurance company has repaid $97.2 million to settle an investigation into inflated claims submitted [Read More...]
Sessions at the 2021 Trial Lawyers Summit

Sessions at the 2021 Trial Lawyers Summit

April 5th, 2021

On May 4 - 7, 2021, The National Trial Lawyers will present the 10th annual Trial Lawyers Summit, hosted at the Loews Mi[Read More...]

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.