Fort Lauderdale attorneys won a $1.48 million verdict for a man hurt in a tractor-trailer collision in a quarry-filled area outside Fort Myers. The verdict, which assigned 100 percent liability to the defendant driver, came after three years of tussling over who had the right-of-way during the April 2014 crash.

The plaintiff, Octavio Naranjo, was driving a 14-wheeler down Alico Road near Florida Gulf Coast University for his job trucking sand, peat rock and other materials to construction sites. Realizing he forgot something, he waited at the stoplight at Ben Hill Griffin Parkway before making a U-turn. Defendant Yosbani Cuesta, headed the opposite way on Alico Road in an 18-wheeler, slammed on his brakes but collided with Naranjo's tractor-trailer.

The case began in July 2014 when Cuesta sued Naranjo for violating the right-of-way, and Naranjo quickly filed a countersuit, with the parties disagreeing about whether Naranjo had a green light or a red one. Cuesta settled his claims in December after mediation, but attempts to mediate the countersuit ended in an impasse. Naranjo's case went to trial last month in Collier Circuit Court before Judge James Shenko.