We Get Results!
Smith & Fuller principal, Hugh N. Smith, has represented both plaintiffs and tire company defendants in tire failure cases since the 1970's – a level of experience in the field that few lawyers nationwide can claim. Aside from his extensive experience over the last thirty years in 
bringing justice to those whose lives have been shattered by needless tragedies involving failed tires, from 1974 through 1986, Mr. Smith represented The BFGoodrich Company, one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers, in all of its tire failure cases filed in Florida. He tried a large number of those cases to verdict.In the process of defending BFGoodrich, Mr. Smith learned as an insider how tires are built, how they are designed, and why tires sometimes fail and cause tragic accidents.
For the last fifteen years, Mr. Smith has taken his experience from representing the tire industry and used it to help those who have suffered at the hands of tire companies. He now focuses his attention entirely on representing those who have sustained catastrophic injuries or the deaths of family members as a result of defective tires. Mr. Smith’s results speak for themselves.
The verdicts and settlements noted herein are but a representative sample of numerous cases that Smith & Fuller, P.A., has settled or taken to trial with successful results for their clients. Many cases have settled in the multi-million dollar range, but specific amounts cannot be disclosed due to tire company insistence that the terms remain confidential.
As noted, Smith & Fuller, P.A. does not limit its practice to Florida. The firm has successfully tried and settled cases across the country for its clients. The firm today has cases ongoing in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Utah, Florida, Arizona, and other states as well. The firm is available to act as lead counsel or co-counsel in cases pending anywhere in the United States involving failed tires.
Pirelli to pay $17.7 million in Sarasota woman’s death By Scott Bernard Nelson of the Tampa Tribune
“Italian manufacturer Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corp. has agreed to pay a former Sarasota resident [Jensen] $17.7 million in the wrongful death of his mother in an Interstate 4 crash. Federal Judge Thomas Wilson signed off on the settlement Friday. ‘[T]his is the end result of an extraordinarily tragic accident,’ said Tampa lawyer Hugh Smith, who represented Jansen. ‘We’ve gotten a terrific result under unfortunate circumstances.’
At the time of the accident in December, 1993, Jensen was 4 years old. His parents, Alwin and Virginia, were killed when the family’s van flipped on the way back from Disney World.
Investigators said the accident was caused by tread ripping free from one of the van’s tires....”
See full story.
Cooper Tire Ordered by Texas Jury to Pay $10 Million Verdict El Paso Texas (Bloomberg) --
“A Texas jury ordered Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., to pay $10 million after concluding that a company tire caused a fatal accident....
‘They did the kitchen sink defense. They threw everything at the jury,’ said [one of the] plaintiff’s lawyers] who tried the El Paso case with ... Hugh Smith of Tampa, Florida.”
See full story.
Boy Wins $5.4 Million for Accident- Tiremaker [Pirelli] Failed to Warn of Danger: Jury
By David C. Miller, Pinellas County Review
“A circuit judge in Tampa has awarded a 5-year old boy $5.4 million for the death of his father in an automobile accident that occurred when a tire disintegrated as the family was driving home from Disney World.
...’This was not an easy case by any stretch of the imagination,’ said Hugh Smith of Tampa’s Smith & Fuller, who represented Matthew, who is now 5 and living with a cousin in New York. The jury returned its verdict March 9.
...The size of the award...is garnering interest in Tampa Bay, [Florida].
See full story.
Goodyear quietly settles separation suits
By Davan Manaraj, Los Angeles Times
“In December, 1997, the tread [of a Goodyear Load Range E tire] separated ... on a 1990 Ford Econoline van transporting six migrant farm workers, killing two.
‘Frankly, the quick [confidential] settlement surprised me,’ said Hugh N. Smith, a Tampa-based attorney for the Mexican survivors of one of the dead workers.... ‘I’ve never seen a tire manufacturer go down easier.’”
See full story.
Multi-Million Dollar Settlements
Smith & Fuller, P.A. has settled numerous multi-million dollar lawsuits across the country on behalf of clients who were seriously injured by tire company wrongdoing and on behalf of those who have lost family members due to tire company negligence. Tire companies typically make terms of those settlements confidential.
Successful results against varied manufacturers...
Smith & Fuller, P.A., has extensive experience in pursuing litigation against numerous major tire manufacturers. The firm has brought successful actions against:
- Bridgestone/Firestone
- Cooper Tire & Rubber
- Goodyear
- Pirelli Armstrong
- Kelly Springfield Tire
Just to name a few. The firm has amassed voluminous information, documents and know-how pertaining to most of the major tire manufacturers that sell tires in the U.S.
