Of the half-dozen cases El Paso litigator Sam Legate has filed against tire manufacturers on behalf of professionals who get injured mounting rubber onto wheel rims, he said the defense is the same—it’s always his client’s fault.

Yet Legate recently convinced an Arkansas state jury that his independent tire shop owner client Michael R. Snyder did nothing wrong when a Chinese-made tire exploded on him during the mounting process, winning him $2.5 million in damages.