Brunkenhoefer, Almaraz & Turman, P.L.L.C.

Mr. Almaraz has been recognized as one of the best attorneys in Texas by The National Trial Lawyers. The National Trial Lawyers is a national organization composed of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from each state. Membership is obtained through special invitation and is extended only to those attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications, leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and profile as trial lawyers, both civil plaintiff and criminal defense.
B.A.T. represented an oilfield welder who, along with others, suffered serious burns in an explosion that occurred when a gas pipeline operator and its on-site consultant failed to properly purge a pipeline before allowing Plaintiffs to begin work on the line. B.A.T.'s efforts on behalf its client resulted in more than $8 million dollars in pre-trial settlements for all the victims.
R. Blake Brunkenhoefer and Greg W. Turman have been named 2011 "Texas Super Lawyers" and, according to The National Trial Lawyers organization, they are two of the "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" in the State of Texas.
$9,421,898.44 (verdict) Plaintiff worked for a subcontractor setting barrels in a highway construction zone when an elderly driver swerved to avoid another vehicle, ran off the road and struck our client in the construction zone. We alleged that the driver was negligent for his inattentive driving, and that the general contractor overseeing the construction project was negligent for failing to maintain a proper "clear zone" adjacent to the roadway. A Nueces County, Texas jury determined that the driver, our client's employer and the general contractor were all negligent in causing our client's complete paralysis and partial blindness. See more
$19,566,610.14 (verdict) Our client was driving a vanload of laborers to a jobsite in New Mexico. While stopped in a construction zone, they were struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing them to then strike the flagman's vehicle, which was improperly parked too close to the roadway. Our client sustained significant head injuries, which resulted in impulse control issues and memory loss. See more
$3,111,789.66 (verdict) An oilfield compressor mechanic was injured when unexpected natural gas pressure at the wellhead caused the supply line to spin and strike him. He suffered a fractured leg and hand, had a concussion, and suffered blurry vision. The jury awarded damages to our client's wife as well, for her loss of consortium. See more
$2,050,000.00 (insurance policy limits settlement) The employee for an oilfield contractor was talking on his cell phone and, while so distracted, ran a rural stop sign, killing a father and an adult son, and injuring the wife/mother.
$6,920,000.00 (pre-trial settlement) of all claims in a case where two laborers were killed and five were injured in a collision between an 18-wheeler and the van carrying the laborers to a jobsite. We represented one of the injured, and the family of one of the deceased. Since the defendants blamed each other for the crash, we alleged that both the trucking company and the construction company (as employer of the van driver) were negligent for their respective drivers' speeding and failing to maintain a single lane through a construction zone, thereby resulting in settlements from both defendants. See more
When their shrimp boat caught fire, all three crewmembers abandoned ship and attempted to deploy the liferaft. They were unable to inflate the liferaft because it had been improperly inspected and repacked. As a result, two men died and one was traumatized. We sued the vessel owner under the "Jones Act" for causing the initial fire, and we sued the company that inspected and repacked the liferaft under the "Death on the High Seas Act." The case was settled prior to trial for $3,650,000.00.
Our clients drowned when their vessel caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico and they abandoned ship. Liability for the fire was contested, as the defendant claimed our clients caused the fire, while we contended that a defect in the vessel's wiring caused the inferno. With the help of one of the best marine fire experts in the country, we were able to secure a large, confidential settlement for the families of the deceased. See more
We represented three members of a land-based drilling crew that were injured when, while lifting pipe in the derrick, the top of the drill string (pipe) became caught under a cross-member in the derrick. Our clients were struck by the bottom of the pipe when the top of the pipe tore free from the point at which it was caught. We alleged that our clients' non-fatal injuries were caused by the oil & gas company's insistence that drilling operations continue in high wind conditions, instead of shutting the job down. B.A.T. obtained a pre-trial settlement of $1,150,000.00. See more
B.A.T. obtained a $1,800,000.00 pre-trial settlement in a trucking case wherein our client had to undergo spinal fusion surgery after a collision with an 18-wheeler that had crossed into out client's lane in a construction zone. See more
While working on a barge off the coast of Nigeria, Africa, our American client suffered massive injuries to his ankle and elbow when a heavy chain broke loose from a winch and began flying about the deck. As a result, our client underwent several surgeries and years of rehabilitation. The case was initially dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, but, following a trip to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the case was settled prior to arbitration. See more
Our client was a cargo inspector who was examining the contents of a tank trailer when the truck driver drove off. The cargo inspector suffered knee and back injuries and underwent spinal fusion surgery. A confidential settlement was obtained prior to trial. See more
B.A.T. secured a $1,244,730.37 settlement for an oilfield worker who sustained a back injury when, while be transported aboard a crewboat to an offshore jobsite, the vessel bounced on a wave and threw our client out of his seat. In our suit against the crewboat, we alleged that the vessel was being operated too fast for the rough seas then existing.
$1,254,000.00 (verdict) In this maritime case, the ship's steward on a petrochemical tankship was affected by excessive fumes from the ship's cargo of naptha as they traveled from Aruba to Houston. As a result, our client suffered from pneumonia and was hospitalized for about 10 days, and he alleged that he never regained his previous lung function, though the tests indicated our client made a full recovery from his injuries.
Our client was serving a captain of a shrimp boat when he drove his boat into an offshore platform and, thereby, suffered a serious neck injury. Through our investigation and the subsequent litigation, it was determined that both the voltage regulator on the platform lights and the battery that powered the foghorn had failed, thus rendering the platform all but invisible to our client. A confidential, pre-trial settlement was obtained for our client.