FEE, SMITH & SHARP’s Senior Associate Ashley Snell Smith speaks at the 39th Annual Texas Bar’s 2023 Advanced Personal Injury CLE Program. Ashley presented to attorneys across the state on Texas’s Commercial Motor Vehicle Accident Statute (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 72 AKA House Bill 19) which applies to cases filed after September 1, 2021. The statute intends to bifurcate the presentation of evidence of a driver’s negligence and the jury’s decision on compensatory damages as a result from evidence of a company or motor carrier’s direct negligence and potential punitive damages to curb unsubstantiated nuclear verdicts.
