BRS Receives Favorable Decision on Appeal for Civilian Truck Drivers Killed in Iraq

On May 28, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a favorable decision in a case involving private military contractors. The decision represents a major victory for our clients, who include the families of several civilian truck drivers killed while transporting fuel in Iraq.

The core question in the case was whether a federal court may hear a lawsuit by civilian employees against their civilian employer for injuries suffered while assisting the U.S. military in Iraq. The families of the drivers sued Halliburton-KBR, alleging that the defendants sent civilian employees into dangerous war zones after having recruited the drivers with false promises that they would perform low-risk work far from the front lines. When a federal district court agreed with Halliburton-KBR that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, the drivers and their trial team hired Beck Redden to help seek reversal.

Beck Redden's David Gunn argued the appeal in the Fifth Circuit, with help on the briefing from Beck Redden's Matthew Whitley and the entire trial team. The unanimous ruling on appeal overturned the lower court's dismissal. The case is styled Lane v Halliburton and Fisher v Halliburton. With Beck Redden's appellate work now done, the case will go forward with the trial team, which includes Texas lawyers Tommy Fibich, Scott Allen, and Sam Houston, and California lawyers Ramon Lopez, Christina Fountain, and Roger Hawkins.