Eric M. Palmer, Keller, Woods & Thompson, P.A.

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Eric Palmer practices personal injury litigation at Keller, Woods & Thompson, P.A. with a heavy emphasis on semitrucks and trailers. Cars aren’t a match for those vehicles, and his practice takes him all over Minnesota, particularly in rural areas.

He came to the practice because he has a background in technology which is highly involved in the trucking industry. Many of the investigations into trucking accidents involve a complex look at corporate protocols.

The industry is highly competitive and “every second counts,” Palmer said. Moving such heavy vehicles under time constraints can become problematic. “Semis are trains on the highways,” he said.

Palmer becomes involved in cases upon referrals from other lawyers who can use help with the complex issues. With Amazon conducting the amount of trucking on deadline that it does, the issue becomes one of liabilities for the truckers who are not Amazon employees. That’s one reason Alonzo v. Menholt is pending at the Minnesota Supreme Court, which heard arguments on April 9. The court is asked to recognize a tort claim for the negligent hiring of an independent contractor, a trucker in that case.

Palmer recently won a $5.8 million verdict in Sherburne County for a woman with a mild traumatic brain injury who was struck by a semitruck that was driving on Highway 169 with no headlights (which the defendant denied). The jury assigned 100% of the fault to the trucker. The case included significant pain and suffering damages, loss of earning capacity and loss of consortium to the driver’s husband, Palmer said.