The nearly $1.7 million verdict won by Houston civil litigation firm Arnold & Itkin LLP for an offshore worker who was injured in a helicopter accident is being recognized as the top aviation verdict in Texas during 2013, according to the legal reporting service VerdictSearch.

Arnold & Itkin attorneys Cory Itkin and Caj Boatright represented Derek LeBlanc, a fire and safety inspector for drilling platforms, after he suffered back injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder from the accident. Jurors in Calhoun County’s 24th District Court issued a negligence finding against Louisiana-based helicopter services company PHI Inc. The evidence showed that PHI improperly installed flotation devices that caused the helicopter to roll upside-down when it landed in the Gulf of Mexico.

The case, Derek LeBlanc v. PHI Inc., No. 12-2-1545 , is highlighted in Top Texas Verdicts and Settlements of 2013, which appears in the May 26 edition of Texas Lawyer newspaper. The jury award was $1,496,000, but when the court calculated past medical bills, the total was nearly $1.7 million.

Since the firm was founded in 2004, Arnold & Itkin has earned national recognition for winning top-dollar jury awards and settlements for injury victims and families who have lost loved ones in accidents caused by corporate negligence. In the last 10 years alone, the firm has won more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for its clients. The firm represents clients nationwide. Many of the firm’s Gulf Coast clients work offshore or on land in the oil industry.

“I am proud that our lawyers are being recognized for the important work they do for workers whose safety has been compromised by careless companies,” says firm founder Kurt Arnold .

Adds co-founder Jason Itkin : “The total disregard for Mr. LeBlanc’s safety is typical of what we see in the industry. Hopefully, this verdict will cause companies to take a hard look at their safety practices so that accidents like this do not happen again.”

Arnold & Itkin LLP represents clients in high-stakes cases involving serious personal injury claims, maritime accidents, pharmaceutical injuries, products liability and business disputes.