At first glance, the huge $89.6 million jury verdict Eric Penn and Zollie Steakley recently won against a trucking company seemed like an easy sell because of the horrific injuries their clients endured—a family had to bury one child and provide lifetime, 24-hour medical care for another after an 18-wheeler slammed into them on a frozen west Texas highway.

But proving that Werner Enterprises and its truck drivers were negligent for an accident that resulted in the death of seven-year-old Zack Blake and left 12-year-old Brianna “Destiny” Blake a quadriplegic proved to be quite difficult at trial because of how the accident happened, the plaintiff lawyers explained.