A Texas jury recently awarded $25 million in a drunk driving accident lawsuit to the family of a man killed after his friend drove while intoxicated.

The verdict will resolve claims in a drunk driving accident lawsuit regarding a case where the Dallas Cowboys’ Josh Brent was allegedly driving drunk. The December 2012 accident resulted in the death of his teammate and best friend, Jerry Brown.

Brown’s mother was awarded $25 million by a jury after they found that Brent was 48 percent at fault, Brown was 4 percent at fault, and the owners of the bar where Brent and Brown were drinking were 48 percent at fault. Due to being equal part at fault, both Brent and the bar owners will pay equal parts of the $25 million settlement in the drunk driving accident lawsuit.

“I’m sure Jerry’s looking down and happy,” Brown’s mother said after the verdict, according to The Dallas Morning News. Some of the $25 million settlement will reportedly be directed toward a nonprofit organization dedicated to Brown.

“I’m still going to have the same feeling that I had on Dec. 8, 2012,” Brown’s mother told The Dallas Morning News. “But if this can help somebody else where they don’t go through what I’m going through, it was well worth it.”

While the drunk driving accident lawsuit went through a trial, counsel for the bar owners argued that Brent was not drunk when he arrived at or left the nightclub. They also reportedly argued that Brent chose to drive drunk and that he was therefore entirely responsible for Brown’s death.

“He had many options. He ignored them all,” the bar’s attorney said in closing arguments. “Nobody forced him to drink. Nobody forced him to drive.”

However, jurors ultimately denied this argument – reportedly finding that Brent was obviously intoxicated when the nightclub served him alcohol on the night of the crash.

These findings align with plaintiff arguments that the nightclub staff could have prevented the accident by requiring the waitstaff to monitor consumers using bottle service. They also argue that the bar should have warned their customers not to pour their own drinks from bottles.

Other bars who have served drunk patrons have also paid out personal injury settlements from drunk driving accidents.

Drunk Driving Settlement

Evidence shown in court reportedly showed Brent drinking directly from a bottle and shaking bottles of alcohol.

At the time of the crash, which reportedly occurred six minutes after the two left the nightclub, Brent allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.18 percent.

A toxicologist reportedly testified during the trial that Brent would have had to drink at least 17 drinks in order to reach that blood alcohol level – over twice the legal limit. Brent was reportedly driving over 110 mph in a 45 mph zone, after which he flipped his Mercedes Benz.

“I hope that this sends a message to bars — especially bars that do bottle service — to say if they’re going to undertake that type of business, they need to do it safely,” plaintiff’s counsel told The Dallas Morning News. “They need to protect the public. They need to make sure that their patrons aren’t being served drinks when they’re intoxicated. And our hope and prayer is that, through this verdict, it may save a life in the future.”