Why We Sued Tejano Singer Emilio Navaira

"... Emilio did not have the insurance that the law required a tour bus to carry."

Some of you may have seen the news stories about the trial we had in January against Tejano star Emilio Navaira.  Unfortunately, some in the media made it sound like our client was being greedy, and trying to take advantage of the situation.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 
The real reason that we went to trial is that Emilio did not have the insurance that the law required a tour bus to carry.  Buses are supposed to have at least $5 million in liability insurance.  Emilio’s bus only had a $100,000.00 policy.  So when he got drunk and crashed his tour bus, there was not enough money to even cover the medical bills of the people he injured.
Our client, Ricky Vega, had over $40,000.00 in medical bills.  Plus, he was out of work for some time as he recovered from the broken bones in his neck and shoulder, as well as a lacerated liver.  In fact, he never even got paid for performing the night of the crash.
Of course, we felt sorry for Emilio, who suffered a brain injury in the wreck.  But it made my blood boil to see all of the fund raisers and benefits people held for Emilio—who hurt himself by driving drunk—while ignoring the plight of the injured band members.
Before trial, Emilio’s insurance company would only offer $22,000.00, which was not enough to pay Ricky’s medical bills.  Emilio was unwilling to offer any more money, so we had no choice but to bring him to trial. The jury awarded a fair verdict, giving compensation for Ricky’s medical bills, lost wages, and pain.  The jury also awarded an additional $20,000.00 to punish Emilio for driving drunk.  Hopefully we will be able to collect this money and let Ricky move on with his life.