Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney in Odessa, TX

Representative Clients

• Exclusively those who are injured, survivors of wrongful deaths, and victims of wrongful deaths.

Bar/Professional Activity

• Admitted to Texas
• Admitted to New Mexico
• Admitted to Federal Courts of the Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, and New Mexico
• Member, Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Member, New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association
• Member, Permian Basin Trial Association
• Member, Ector County Bar Association
• Member, Midland County Bar Association
• Member, College of the State Bar of Texas
• Member, Texas Bar Association
• Member, Federal Bar Association
• Member, American Bar Association

Educational Background

• The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Bachelor’s Degree in History, summa cum laude

Honors/Awards

• Awarded for her contributions to the betterment of her colleagues through mentorship, knowledge sharing, and professionalism on the TTLA List Server., John Howie Spirit of Mentorship Award, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, 2018

Scholarly Lectures/Writings

• Continuing education presentations at 2020 Commercial Vehicle & Trucking Virtual Seminar CLE.  Discussion of laws affecting commercial vehicles, particularly in the oilfield, and prosecuting injury cases.  , Author and Presenter, Commercial Vehicles in the Oilfield, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Legal, 2020
• Presentation with leading defense counsel on typical personal injury damages following a car wreck.  , Author and Co-Presenter, She Said, He Said: Plaintiff and Defense Perspectives on Damages, UT Law School - CLE, Legal, 2020
• New client intake for personal injury firms - discussing methods, ethical considerations, and managing client expectations.  , Author and Presenter, Managing Client Expectations at Intake, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Legal, 2020
• Texas Bar approved continuing legal education presentation and paper on Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 95, its application particularly in oil and gas-related personal injury cases, and a review of recent Texas appellate cases considering Chapter 95., Author and Presenter, Chapter 95 and Duties Owed to Contractors, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Commercial Vehicle, 18-Wheeler & Oilfield CLE, Legal, Oil, Gas, Construction, 2019
• Presentation of paper to annual meeting of members of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association on the top thing plaintiffs' attorneys are doing to lose their cases or to leave money on the table.  Presentation approved for Texas Bar continuing legal education credit., Author and Presenter, 7 Ways Plaintiffs Can Destroy Their Own Cases & How to Avoid Those Pitfalls, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, 2019 Annual Meeting & CLE , Legal, 2019
• Presentation on an attorney's ethical duties to keep clients informed.  , Author and Presenter, “The Client’s Right to Know, The Attorney’s Duty to Disclose.”, Permian Basin Trial Lawyers Association, Legal, 2017
• Law school casebook for the study of Community Property law in Texas, with Bernard Reams, ISBN: 9781454881445, 848 pages, published July 2016 by Aspen/Wolters Kluwer Law & Business., Co-author, Texas Community Property and Matrimonial Law: Cases, Statutes, and Commentary. Second Edition., Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Publishing, 2016
• Article on new Texas civil procedure rule governing discovery of a defendant's net worth.   Plaintiffs will no longer be able to obtain net worth information by making a discovery request; they instead have to file a motion for the information and show they have a “substantial likelihood” that their claim will be successful., Author, New net worth discovery law gives defendants more protection, Texas Bar Blog, 2015
• A survey and discussion of the Federal and Texas laws regulating background and driver's history checks of CDL and non-CDL drivers, specifically focused on the energy sector., Author, Criminal Hiring or Hiring Criminals: Legalities of background investigations for drivers in the energy sector, Well Servicing Magazine, Energy, Oil & Gas, Trucking, 2014
• Book review of the penultimate treatise on federal qui tam and false claims. Book covers case preparation for relators and defendants, procedural requirements, drafting, statutory provisions, legislative history, and trends., Author, Book Review: Civil False Claims and Qui Tam Actions, 4th ed., John T. Boese, ed, San Antonio Lawyer Magazine, 2014
• Featuring extensive original research, the Article explores Texas Republican Sen. Tower’s rejection of the Civil Rights Act through his own words and letters from his constituents. This is juxtaposed against the actions and words of Texan Lyndon Johnson, both as a Senator and as President., Author, Sen. John G. Tower: A Republican's Dissent to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 21 J. S. LEGAL HIST. 109, 2013 (Journal of Southern Legal History, Mercer Law School, Macon, Georgia) (March 2014), 2014
• A study of 2013 antitrust decisions made in the United States Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Courts of Appeals.  35 TEX. BUS. LITIG. J. 4, (Fall 2013), with Leslie S. Hyman., Co-author, Antitrust Review 2013, Texas Business Litigation Journal, 2013
• Book review of the multi-volume treatise on federal commercial litigation.  San Antonio Lawyer Magazine, 13 (Sept.–Oct. 2013)., Author, Book Review: Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, 3d ed., Robert L Haig, ed., San Antonio Lawyer Magazine, 2013
• Law school casebook for the study of Community Property law in Texas, with Bernard Reams, ISBN: 9781454839040, published July 2013 by Aspen/Wolters Kluwer Law & Business., Co-Author, Texas Community Property and Matrimonial Law: Cases, Statutes, and Commentary, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Publishing, 2013
• Review of antitrust cases decided in 2012 in the Fifth Circuit and Texas state courts., Co-Author, Antitrust Review, Texas Business Litigation Journal (volume 34, issue 4), 2012
• Texas Department of Public Safety established its Tactical Marine Unit, outfitted the unit with armored gunboats, and tasked it to patrol the international lakes and the Rio Grande on the U.S.–Mexico border.  The Article discusses the unilateral action by Texas in light of almost two centuries of international treaties, state sovereignty over waterways, and the 2012 Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. United States., Co-Author, Border Wars and the New Texas Navy: International Treaties, Waterways, and State Sovereignty after Arizona v. U.S., The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Minority Issues, Legal, Academic, , 2013
• A discussion of the highlights of the Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 which went into effect in 2012., Co-Author, Recent Changes in Jurisdiction, Removal, and Venue, San Antonio Lawyer Magazine, 2012

Verdicts/Settlements

• $8,000,000 settlement - Carlos & Joe were stopped in construction traffic on SH302 near Kermit.  Defendant Smith was driving CompanyA’s Ford F550 and towing a trailer with 3 large spools of cable.  The truck and trailer weighed almost 50,000 pounds.  Smith was recruited by CompanyB from Washington State to be assigned to work for CompanyA in Texas.  Smith admitted he fell asleep while driving.  He slammed into the back of Plaintiffs’ truck at 55mph. CompanyA’s job description required a CDL. CompanyB represented Smith as having a CDL.  However, by federal law, no one under the age of 21 can have an interstate CDL. Therefore, Smith did not have a valid CDL in Texas. CompanyA did not know the weight of the truck/trailer Smith was operating. Smith received no training on fatigued driving until almost 2 months after the wreck. CompanyB did not properly screen Smith.  Carlos had a cervical fusion with total medicals of $455,019.  Joe had a lumbar fusion with total medicals of $395,650.    , 2022
• $1,695,000.00 settlement - J.D. was 18 years old when he stopped for a red light at Highway 191 and Loop 338 in Odessa.  When the light turned green, he headed through the intersection.  The port-a-pottie truck on Loop 338 ran the red light and t-boned J.D.  He had $56,000 in medical expenses, which included shoulder surgery, physical therapy, and treatment for PTSD., 2022
• $775,000.00 settlement - On January 2nd, a welder went to a rig and welded a platform.  The next morning, M.H. stepped out to place handrails on the platform.  He put one foot on the section the welder had repaired the day before.  The weld failed.  M.H. fell 14-feet to the ground.  He suffered a broken hip and was rushed to the hospital.  M.H. was off work several months, but made a full recovery.  His medical bills were just over $33,000., 2022
• $1,750,000.00 settlement - J.A. was heading back to Odessa after a day installing solar panels in Big Spring.  As he and his coworkers neared Stanton, traffic on I-20 backed up due to construction.  An 18-wheeler hauling crude behind J.A. never stopped or slowed down.  The crude hauler caused a 5 car pileup.  J.A. suffered a broken pelvis, among other injuries.  He had about $240,000 in medical expenses. , 2021
• $765,000.00 settlement - On New Year's Eve, 21 year old B.M. was driving his truck and towing a trailer back to Midland with his coworkers when a truck ran a stop sign right in front of him.  The other driver only had a $30,000 policy.  B.M.'s medical bills were over $28,000 when the Defendant driver's insurance company refused to offer the policy limits.  B.M. sued.  The surgeon said he needed back surgery, but wanted him to wait as long as possible since B.M. was so young.  By the time he was 24, B.M. was having bladder incontinence issues, extreme back pain, and scheduled spinal fusion surgery. , 2021
• $2,250,000.00 verdict - Gilbert was heading South on Highway 17 near Pecos, when a duststorm came up, reducing visibility to 3 feet.  Gilbert slowed to a crawl, hugging the shoulder.  Heading north was a Deepwell Energy water truck.  Deepwell sent the truck out, knowing there was a duststorm with no visibility, but never told the driver what to do.  The Deepwell Energy driver saw the pickup ahead of him "disappear" into the dust, but he didn't pull over.  That pickup slowed to a crawl.  The Deepwell driver rammed the back of the pickup and it shot across the center line and slammed into Gilbert who was halfway on his shoulder.Gilbert Arcides v. Raul Angel Rojas & Deepwell Energy, Cause 20-01-23349-CVR in the 143rd District Court of Reeves County ​Date of Injury: November 19, 2019 Date of Trial: October 23, 2021, 2021
• $3,000,000.00 settlement - W.A. was 25 years old when he stopped behind traffic at a red light in Pecos, Texas.  The driver behind him was towing a trailer full of oilfield pipe and never stopped.  The defendant driver literally drove right on top of W.A.  Miraculously, W.A. survived with a minor brain injury., 2021
• $195,000.00 post-verdict settlement - Johnny was heading to work on Business 20 in Midland, when a Buckeye Partners employee failed to stop in the median before attempting to cross Business 20.  The Buckeye Partners employee t-boned Johnny. Johnny had a little over $19,000 in past medical bills. At trial, the jury failed to compensate Johnny adequately for his pain and for his mental anguish, even though there was evidence to support the amount requested. Because of that, Rachel Ambler announced she intended to appeal and seek a new trial.  Zurich, Buckeye Partner's insurance company, realized they would probably not be so lucky with the new jury and agreed to settle for $195,000.00.Johnny Jordan v. Mark Allen Reedy & Buckeye Partners, LP, Cause CV54683, in the 441st District Court of Midland County ​Date of Injury: October 13, 2017 Date of Trial: April 13, 2021 Date of Settlement: September, 2021, 2021
• $700,000.00 settlement -  David was an independent drilling contractor working on a rig for one of the large producers in the Permian Basin.  A tool was stuck, so a fishing crew was called out.  David cleared the floor and subfloor, then stepped into the doghouse before the jarring operation started.  He was just inside the door, keeping an eye on the pressure gauge, when a plug shot out of the jar accelerator and straight through his arm.  The equipment was poorly maintained, poorly inspected, and improperly reassembled.  The plug was crossthreaded and the wrong size.   David had $19,420 in medical bills and lost two months work., 2020
• $4,400,000.00 settlement - E.G. was 26 years old and managed two crews for his employer.  As he was driving between locations, he came around a blind curve in a 35 mph zone.   A driver coming the other direction decided to pass a pickup and two 18-wheelers, in a no-passing zone, at 72 mph.  E.G. had less than 2 seconds before he was hit head-on.  E.G. spent a month in hospital.  In less than 2 years, he had 5 surgeries on his knee and ankle.  He had $159,376 in medical bills., 2020
• $3,150,000.00 settlement - O.L. was driving his empty crude tanker on I-20 in Odessa, when another trucker rear-ended him at high speed.  O.L. suffered a debilitating low back injury and underwent injections and ablations, and is facing a multi-level fusion.  His workers' compensation lien for medical bills and lost wages was just over $66,000.00., 2020
• $3,000,000.00 settlement -  M.F. and his passenger had gone out to bid on a tile installation job.  As they headed back to Odessa on Highway 285, they were rear-ended by a man driving his company work truck.  The impact caused their Jeep to flip 1 1/2 times.  M.F.'s neck was snapped, but he survived 3 days.  His passenger suffered severe injuries such that he will never be able to work again.     The man who hit them had an extensive criminal history for drugs and DWIs, that his employer knew about.  His employer also knew the man did not have a license to drive at the time of the wreck or when it gave him the keys to its truck., 2020
• $125,000.00 settlement -  M.P. tripped on a floor mat and fell as she left a store.  When she fell, she broke her shoulder.  While she was recovering with her arm in a sling, she tore her rotator cuff in the other shoulder.  The rotator cuff tear had to be repaired surgically.  M.P. had less than $9,700 in medical bills., 2020
• $125,000 settlement - N.E. was almost 15 years old when she took the family pickup to the store.  As she was pulling out to go home, a drunk driver ran a stop sign and t-boned her.  N.E. suffered a large gash on her forehead, but luckily no major injuries.  Her total medical bills were $2,177., 2020
• $320,000.00 settlement - G.P. and Family were driving down 1788, heading to the DPS office near the Midland-Odessa airport, when they were rear-ended by an 18-wheeler.  The family's angels were watching over them because no one was critically injured, no broken bones, and no one needed surgery.  Between the 2 adults and 2 children, they had $28,888.00 in combined medical bills., 2020
• $2,400,000.00 settlement - S.W. was a commercial truck driver who was permanently injured when a pickup towing a trailer made an illegal u-turn right in front of his 18-wheeler.  S.W. was represented by an attorney from Houston who called on Rachel Ambler to join him as local counsel., 2019
• Susie R. Maldonado v. Blaine R. Chavez, Cause 20,480, in the 109th District Court of Andrews County ~ Jury verdict:  100% liability on Defendant, awarded Susie $6,780 (with costs and interest = $10,769.79) ~ On December 11, 2014, Susie was driving a FedEx van, waiting to turn left on FM 1212 in Martin County.  Just as she began to make her turn, Chavez attempted to pass her, causing Chavez to crash into her.  Susie was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but, luckily, did not suffer any life-threatening injuries., 2018
• Joseph Knighten v. Gardendale Volunteer Fire Department, Cause D-16-04-0382-CV, in the 358tht District Court of Ector County ~ Jury verdict:  75% liability on Defendant, 25% liability on Plaintiff: Awarded Plaintiff $40,500.00 (including costs) ~ On June 28, 2014, Joseph was heading East on Yukon Drive in Odessa.  He had a green light as he went through the intersection at US-385/Andrews Highway.  Clifford Morgan, a Gardendale volunteer firefighter, driving his personal vehicle, ran a red light and t-boned Joseph.  Both pick-up trucks were totaled.  Witnesses testified Morgan did not stop or even slow down.  Joseph had $4,141.76 in medical bills., 2018
• Petra Parras and Cindy Gutierrez v. Ellis B. Norwood, Cause D-16-06-0615-CV, in the 358th District Court of Ector County ~ Jury verdict:  100% liability on Defendant: Awarded Petra $11,989 (with costs & interest = $13,994.63); Cindy $8,508 (with costs & interest = $10,200.45) ~ On August 14, 2014, Petra and Cindy were driving from one office cleaning job to the next.  As the headed north on Grandview Avenue, Norwood suddenly made a left turn right in front of them.  In rush hour traffic, Petra had no escape.  Her Tundra pickup was totaled.  Petra and Cindy went through months of physical therapy.  They continue to feel the affects of the wreck when the weather changes, and still have nightmares and panic attacks when they see car wrecks. ** New trial granted due to no damage award for pain & suffering.  New trial set for January, 2019., 2018
• Maria D. Soto v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, Cause CC18679, in the County Court at Law #2 of Midland County ~ ​ Jury verdict:  Maria $108,088.21, but this was reduced to $50,000 which was Maria's UIM policy limit (offer pre-trial $15,000) ~  At 4 am on August 10, 2014, a drunk driver crashed into Maria's bedroom.  She was pinned between the bumper of the drunk's pickup truck and her own bedroom wall.  EMS as to crawl over the pickup truck, break through her wall, and lift her up and over to rescue her.  She had two broken ribs, a broken ankle, and herniated disks in her back.  The drunk driver's insurance paid his policy limits within 2 months.  However, Maria's medical bills were substantially higher.  Maria had almost $40,000 in past medical bills and a $59,000 surgical estimate.  Maria had purchased Underinsured Motorist Insurance (UIM) through Allstate, so she filed a claim.  For almost 4 years, we fought with Allstate., 2018
• Rosalia Lopez Mendoza v. Jerrett Russell Clemence, Cause CV54085, in the 441st District Court of Midland County ~ Bench verdict:  100% liability on Defendant: Awarded Rosalia $230,473 ~ On April 12, 2017, as Rosalia slowed to make a turn from Highway 349, Clemence hit her from behind.  Clemence was arrested for DWI at the scene., 2018
• $3,524,500.00 - personal injury settlement, car wreck, 2017
• $1,125,750 - personal injury settlement, wrongful death, 2017
• Lara, Thompson v. Texas Dep't of Transportation, Cause 17-02-21857-CVR, in the 143d District Court of Reeves County ~ Jury verdict:  Carlos $175,000, Ansel $50,000 ~ On March 10, 2015, Carlos was driving on FM 652 in Loving County, Texas, when he encountered large pot holes in the roadway that caused him to go off the road, travel through the ditch, and hit a barb wire fence.  Minutes later, a septic truck driven by Ansel hit the same pot holes.  The pot holes caused Ansel to lose control of his truck, sent him into a side skid, and then his truck rolled over.  Ansel’s  truck slammed into Carlos's truck. Carlos broke his ankle and had to undergo surgery to repair it.  Ansel suffered bruises and soft injuries., 2017
• Yolanda Howington, et al. v. We-Haul Transport, LLC, Cause No. B-135,412, in the 161st Judicial District Court of Ector County, Texas ~ $650,000.00 - settlement gross negligence wrongful death under Workers' Compensation part B ~ Richard was driving a tractor-trailer that had been poorly maintained by his employer.  He had never driven that particular tractor-trailer before that fateful day.  8 of the 10 sets of brakes were not working properly.  As Richard took a curve, he was unable to maintain control and the rig went off the road and overturned.  Richard was horribly injured with many broken bones and a massive brain injury.  Richard underwent many surgeries.  But, finally, after suffering for months, he died from his injuries.  To make matters worse, his employer went out of business while his case went on.  Richard's family sued his employer for gross negligence and wrongful death under Texas Workers' Compensation statutes., 2017
• $890,000.00 - personal injury settlement, second chair, 2016

Industry Groups

• Civil Litigation
• Hydrogen Sulfide Injuries
• Oilfield Injuries
• Personal Injury