A lawsuit filed by Howry Breen & Herman, LLP Partner Sean Breen has been covered by local media, including an article in The Daily Texan and a televised segment by KXAN. The reporting focuses on litigation brought on behalf of a University of Texas student who suffered life-threatening injuries in a late-night crash outside the Raising Cane’s on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard during Halloween weekend.
As reported, the crash occurred in the early morning of October 31, 2025, when our client and four other students were struck after a driver allegedly lost control of her vehicle. Our client suffered a brain injury and multiple orthopedic injuries and is expected to require multiple surgeries.
The media coverage has highlighted the human cost of the incident and the safety issues raised in the lawsuit, including the alleged lack of protective barriers for pedestrians in an area where customers were directed to congregate.
What the Lawsuit Alleges
In addition to claims against the impaired driver, the lawsuit filed by Breen and our firm asserts negligence claims against Raising Cane’s based on the conditions outside the restaurant.
The lawsuit alleges Cane’s employees instructed students to wait in line outside because the restaurant was at capacity and that the sidewalk lacked protective barriers (such as bollards) to protect pedestrians. It claims these conditions allowed the truck to drive over an “unprotected curb,” and that the restaurant ignored “reasonable, prudent protections like bollards.” In his interview with KXAN, Breen notes:
“Had some simple safety devices that are used all over the country called bollards been used, they protect pedestrians from vehicles, then this never would have happened.”
These types of protections, Breen went on to discuss, would have been particularly important at the time of the crash. As Breen stated:
“Canes is open until 3 o’ clock in the morning, specifically, we believe, because they want to get all the business that comes out of the bars at 2 a.m. And that’s exactly what happened in this case. A couple intoxicated young women in a pickup truck came to Raising Cane’s.”
When Liability May Extend Beyond the Drunk Driver
In many drunk driving crashes, the impaired driver is the primary defendant in the civil case. But serious injury claims can sometimes involve additional defendants when the facts support it, especially where a business’s crowd control practices, pedestrian layout, or safety protections allegedly created an unreasonable and foreseeable risk to customers.
Premises liability claims in Texas are highly fact driven. In general terms, courts have explained that premises owners typically have no duty to protect invitees from criminal acts of third parties, but a duty can arise where the risk is “unreasonable and foreseeable.”
That’s why these cases often turn on details like what a business knew (or should have known) about the risk, how the area was configured, how customers were directed to queue or congregate, and whether reasonable protective measures were available.
You can read the full media coverage featuring Sean Breen’s comments here:
You can read the full article featuring quotes from Sean Breen here.
Sean Breen is a Partner at Howry Breen & Herman, LLP and a nationally recognized trial attorney with a reputation for handling complex and high-stakes cases. Over his years in practice, he has amassed a record of success that includes millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements, victories against powerful corporations, and record-setting recoveries, including a $53.9 million verdict for a burned and paralyzed client in 2023.
If you have questions about our team or a potential case, call (512) 430-4844 or contact us online.