In January 2017, Anne Marie O’Brien and Daniel J. Hassing received a defense verdict after a five day jury trial in Douglas County District Court.  The Plaintiff had sued under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, a federal statutory scheme governing workplace injuries for railroad employees working in furtherance of interstate commerce.  The Plaintiff alleged that he had suffered whiplash injuries to his cervical spine when the locomotive he was sitting in was “coupled” or “joined” with another locomotive in an unreasonably unsafe manner.  Over the course of the five-day trial, Ms. O’Brien and Mr. Hassing presented hours of testimony regarding the customs of railroad operations, the physics involved in railroad “couplings,” and the biomechanics of how the human body reacts in such situations.  Relying on the testimony that Ms. O’Brien and Mr. Hassing presented, the jury returned a verdict for the defense.