Terry D. Dugger
Terry is a tested, seasoned and skilled trial lawyer that has tried approximately 70 jury trials throughout the state of Arkansas, in both state and federal court. Terry always knew that he wanted to present cases to juries on behalf of clients, so after earning his law degree from the University of Tulsa, where he was a member of Tulsa Law Journal and Delta Phi Fraternity, Terry accepted an offer to work with some of the best trial lawyers in the state of Arkansas and joined the firm of Huckabay, Munson, Rowlett & Moore. This firm primarily practiced in the area of insurance defense, which means that members of the firm were retained and paid by insurance companies to defend all kinds of lawsuits in which the payment of money by an insurance company was at issue, whether that be on an catastrophic personal injury claim, an underinsured motorist claim or on some other kind of claim where the insurance company had been sued directly. This type of practice gave Terry the opportunity to try many cases and to fine tune his skills as a litigator.
Ultimately, Terry developed a successful insurance defense practice while with the Huckabay, Munson, Rowlett & Moore (formerly Huckabay, Munson, Rowlett and Tilley) law firm from 1994 – 2004. He was a partner when he left to form his own law firm with Julia Busfield. At the time of his departure, Terry’s practice primarily focused on defense of personal injury claims and accidents involving tractor trailers. His representative clients included New Prime, Inc. d/b/a Prime, Inc., J B Hunt, Conway Transportation, Barnhart Crane & Rigging, and Tyson Foods, just to name a few. He was also regularly retained by State Farm Insurance Company, Allstate Insurance Company, Great West Casualty Insurance Company, Reliance Insurance Company and many others.
Due to a great many changes in the insurance industry, including the manner in which insurance companies often times treated its insureds and because of Terry’s desire to help real people, he left his partnership at the Huckabay law firm in 2004 and discontinued his representation of insurance companies and other big corporations. Terry now uses his skills as a trial lawyer and the experience and knowledge he acquired to tenaciously advance the interests of real people and their families and ensure that they receive fair compensation in cases where a client has been wronged and injured because of the negligent actions of a trucking company or tractor trailer driver, by a doctor, a hospital, a defective product, a nursing home, and yes, even by an insurance company.
Terry is no stranger to hard work, as he earned money to go to college in the oil fields of West Texas and as a salesperson for the Southwestern Publishing Company. After beginning his undergraduate work at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Terry completed his undergraduate education at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with special honors earning a Bachelor of Arts. Terry is currently a member of the Arkansas and American Trial Lawyers Associations and the Arkansas Bar Association. Terry is a former member of the Trucking Industry Defense Association, the Defense Research Institute and the Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel, all of which are organizations in which Terry discontinued his membership when he changed the emphasis of his practice to helping people rather than big corporations.
Terry has also given presentations at Continuing Legal Education seminars for attorneys through the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, which involved and focused on tractor trailer accidents and considerations under state and federal law, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
If the law and facts entitle an individual to a recovery of damages, the experience, knowledge and tenacity of Julia and Terry will help to ensure fair and adequate compensation. In Terry’s words, “While most cases settle without going to trial, it clearly helps and advances the interests of our clients when the insurance company knows that the attorney is an experienced trial lawyer and has no reservations about presenting your case to a jury.”