Jake McElroy

A federal jury awarded $262.5 million after finding that a defective rear liftgate latch on a 1985 Dodge Caravan caused a six-year-old boy to be ejected and killed in a 1994 crash; the punitive damages were later reversed on appeal and the case settled confidentially in 2001.

A federal jury awarded $17 million to the surviving relatives of a Canadian Army private, his wife, and their infant son killed when an XPO Express 18-wheeler plowed into slowed construction-zone traffic on Interstate 95 near Florence, South Carolina.

A Berkeley County apartment complex that failed to equip its pool gates with code-required latching hardware settled the wrongful death claim of a three-year-old boy's family for six million dollars.

Joye Law Firm recovered $5 million for the estate of a Goodwill custodian killed when a terminal tractor with broken headlights made an illegal U-turn and struck her in a Joint Base Charleston parking lot.

A South Carolina man rear-ended by a drunk driver who fled the scene recovered $3.6 million after the driver's employer disputed vehicle ownership and scope of employment, with cervical fusion and knee surgery documented.