In January of 2024, Devin Fadaol and Chris Lomax secured a victory for Walmart in a one-week jury trial in Baton Rouge state court. The plaintiff alleged neck and lower back injuries from a box which fell on her after it was pushed or contacted by another customer. The box fell from a stocking cart that was allegedly left unattended by Walmart employees. Walmart defended the case on liability, medical causation, and the extent of alleged past and future damages.
Plaintiff asked for over a million dollars in total damages for injections/rhizotomies, a lower back surgery, and a future neck surgery. After deliberating for several hours, the jury returned a favorable verdict for Walmart assessing 65% comparative fault on the third-party customer. The jury did not award damages for any future anterior cervical disc fusion surgery and did not award any past medical specials for the lumbar surgery. The final verdict was over a million dollars less than that requested by the plaintiff in closing argument.