Firm News
BTNL Attorneys Obtain Jury Trial Win for Railroad Maintenance Company
BTNL attorneys Bruce Barze and Todd Lowther obtained a defense verdict after a seven-day trial in a wrongful death case arising from a 2021 train derailment at the ACIPCO foundry’s main rail yard in Birmingham. The case was tried in Jefferson County (AL) Circuit Court starting on September 15, 2025.
We are grateful the jury considered the evidence and returned the proper verdict in favor of our client Morrow Railroad Builders, Inc.
Bruce Barze
Plaintiff’s decedent was employed by ACIPCO as a switchman and was riding on the front of a locomotive on the morning of July 1, 2021. The locomotive derailed and impacted rail cars parked on an adjacent track, killing Plaintiff’s decedent. Plaintiff argued there was a defect in a rail switch that caused the derailment and that Morrow was negligent and wanton for failing to find and correct the alleged defect.
Barze and Lowther demonstrated that there was no defect in the switch and that the derailment was caused by the train running through a switch that was lined for the wrong track. ACIPCO’s employees are trained not to run through switches, and ACIPCO has a rule that forbids trains from running through switches. BTNL’s lawyers emphasized that Plaintiff’s decedent was a switchman, whose primary job was to make sure switches were lined properly for the movement of the train. They proved that, on the day in question, he did not perform his job properly, which led to the derailment.
As part of their case, Morrow’s defense team put on expert testimony from Gary Wolf, one of the country’s leading experts on railroad derailments and author of the book The Complete Field Guide to Modern Derailment Investigation. Mr. Wolf demonstrated that the cause of the derailment was an improperly lined switch that did not close properly when the train ran through it.
During closing arguments, opposing counsel asked the jury to award $10–15 million. After approximately 4½ hours of deliberation, the jury returned a defense verdict for Morrow on all of Plaintiff’s claims.
About Barze Taylor Noles Lowther LLC: Barze Taylor Noles Lowther LLC is a Birmingham, Alabama-based law firm with a national practice focused on litigation, insurance coverage issues, and environmental matters. For more information, visit www.btnllaw.com or follow @BTNL_law_firm.