Webster Szanyi LLP has secured a defense verdict in favor of its longtime client, Daimler Truck North America LLC (“DTNA”) in Hunter v. Daimler Truck North America LLC. The verdict, on December 17, 2025, followed a six-week trial that began with jury selection on November 2, 2025, in the Waterbury Superior Court of Connecticut (C.A. No. UWY‑CV18‑6040217). After roughly two hours of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defense.
Webster Szanyi LLP partner Tom Lane was lead trial counsel for DTNA. Mr. Lane was assisted at trial by WSLLP attorneys Steven Hamlin and Tyler Garvey. Tony Sbarra, of the law firm Segal McCambridge, was co-counsel along with WSLLP.
The case involved allegations that a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia heavy truck was defective because it was not equipped with an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) with forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking features. WSLLP defended the case on several grounds including that heavy trucks can be safely operated with and without ADAS, and the subject collision with a rolled over box truck was beyond the technical capabilities of ADAS’s available in 2015 when the subject heavy truck was assembled and sold.
Mr. Lane noted: “The jury was incredibly attentive throughout the trial, and did a tremendous job understanding the highly technical expert testimony presented from multiple experts and other witnesses during the trial.”
The jury determined the Freightliner Cascadia truck was not defective or unreasonably dangerous after approximately two hours of deliberations.
The Hunter matter is considered a bellwether case in the heavy truck industry as it was the first trial to go to verdict involving claims of failure to equip a heavy truck with ADAS.
WSLLP serves as national counsel for DTNA in its cases involving ADAS.