More on $17 Million Jury Verdict involving skidder obtained by Pittman, Dutton, Kirby & Hellums, P.C. attorney David Hodge

Pittman Dutton Kirby & Hellums, P.C. attorney David Hodge of Birmingham, along with Vance McCreary of The Gardner Firm in Mobile and James (Jimmy) Seale of Greensboro recently tried and received a verdict in the Circuit Court of Hale County in the amount of $17,559,700.

PDKH represented Charles Miller Chapman against Cummins, Inc. and Bama Logging Equipment Company, Inc. Chapman made claims of Fraud and Breach of Warranty involving the sale of a skidder- a large piece of equipment used to drag cut logs from the woods to a loading area where they can be loaded onto a log trailer.

Chapman claimed that he was sold the defective skidder alleging it was a “demo” unit when in fact it was a one-of-a-kind developmental prototype that had an engine manufactured and produced by Cummins. Cummins had internally determined the engine would not work in this prototype.

Chapman alleged that Cummins, Inc. knew the engine was not suitable for use in this piece of equipment and even before the machine was assembled, Cummins, determined the Tier II engine would not work in this configuration. No one disclosed this to Chapman. In fact, Cummins, Inc., provided Chapman with a warranty despite knowledge that the engine could not perform in that configuration.

This case was tried by Pittman, Dutton, Kirby & Hellums, P.C. shareholder David Hodge. David can be reached at davidh@pdkhlaw.com or toll free 866-515-8880.