Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 1998

New York State Tobacco Litigation: $25 Billion Recovery Against Four Major Manufacturers

Sullivan Papain was among the firms representing New York State against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard, securing a $25 billion recovery through the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

Texas Recovers $15.3 Billion From Tobacco Industry in Landmark 1998 Settlement

John Eddie Williams, Jr. served as one of five private attorneys retained by the State of Texas to sue the major tobacco companies, producing a $15.3 billion settlement in January 1998, the largest single-case settlement in U.S. history at the time.

Greene Broillet Helped Recover $3.3 Billion for Los Angeles County in the Tobacco Settlement

Acting as outside trial counsel for Los Angeles County, the firm then known as Greene, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler and Panish helped recover approximately $3.3 billion for the county through the 1998 nationwide Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

ValuJet Flight 592: $262 Million for 110 Everglades Crash Victims

Steven Marks of Podhurst Orseck served as lead liaison counsel for the state-court plaintiffs and on the federal MDL Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, helping recover more than $262 million across insurance settlements for the families of the 110 people killed in the May 1996 crash.

After trial: Combined settlements for the families of the 110 people killed in the crash.

$60 Million Verdict Over Fatal Gas Tank Fire

A Broward County jury awarded Robert and Connie McGee and their daughter $60 million in 1998 after the fuel tank of the station wagon they were riding in was punctured and exploded in a low speed collision, killing the couple's 13 year old son and severely burning the three of them. General Motors defended the tank as safe. The jury found the automaker liable for the burns caused by the fire and declined to award punitive damages. A trial court setoff briefly cut the family's recovery to about $33 million for the fault the jury assigned to the driver whose trailer broke loose, but Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal vacated that reduction, holding that comparative fault does not reduce damages for the enhanced injuries caused by a defective fuel tank, and the full verdict was entered by amended final judgment in 2003. A second appeal, decided in 2004, confirmed that interest runs from the May 18, 1998 verdict date.

After trial: Affirmed and paid. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the award on December 18, 2002 and vacated a trial court reduction to about $33 million, and an amended final judgment for the full $60 million was entered May 6, 2003. See more

$9.35 Million Verdict After Dump Truck Went Over State-Built Interstate Bridge Rail and Burned

Jerrod Snearl, 22, was riding in the middle of the front seat of his employer's empty dump truck on the way to a tree-clearing job when the driver swerved on the I-12 overpass at Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge, the brakes locked, and the truck rode up over the bridge rail and fell about 30 feet onto the bank of Ward's Creek, where it caught fire. The driver burned to death. Snearl, trapped with a broken pelvis, was burned over 51 percent of his body and lost both legs, his penis, a testicle and his spleen. An Iberville Parish jury found the state's bridge rail an unreasonable risk of harm and awarded him $9,352,826.67, which the First Circuit affirmed in 2001 while raising the driver's fault and reallocating it to the state.

After trial: Affirmed. The First Circuit reallocated fault but the state remained liable for the full $9,352,826.67, and the Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs on June 22, 2001. See more

$6.5 Million Verdict for Widow of Off-Duty Deputy Killed in Faulty Highway Construction Zone

A Sacramento jury awarded $6,471,242 to the widow of a 33-year-old sheriff's deputy killed while riding his motorcycle through a poorly configured highway construction zone managed by the State of California and Granite Construction, the largest wrongful-death verdict in Sacramento County at the time.

$6.17 Million Verdict for Skier Brain-Injured in Fall Off Unmarked Drop-Off at Massanutten Ski Resort

Thomas Hoar suffered disabling brain damage on January 19, 1992, when he slid off the edge of the Diamond Jim ski trail at Massanutten Ski Resort and fell about thirty feet. A jury found the resort negligent for failing to warn skiers of the hidden drop-off and returned $6,170,563 for his wife and guardian. The trial judge set the verdict aside, but the Supreme Court of Virginia reinstated it on November 6, 1998 and entered final judgment for the plaintiff.

After trial: The trial court set the verdict aside and entered judgment for the resort. The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed on November 6, 1998, reinstated the $6,170,563 verdict and entered final judgment for the guardian. See more

$2.39 Million Verdict for Woman Struck at Poorly Signed Country Club Exit

Robert Pasquale secured a $2.39 million jury verdict for Cynthia Cowee after a truck struck her vehicle as she exited a Wilmington Country Club driveway onto Route 52, with the Delaware Supreme Court ultimately reinstating that award after the trial court had ordered a second trial.

Court Awards $1.01 Million to Quarterboat Maintenance Man Pinned by Tow Line After Tug Fired Engines

Rayford Comeaux, a maintenance man on the quarterboat BARBARA, was pinned against a derrick on 10 September 1993 when a Bean tug fired its engines and a tow line snapped taut, breaking his left femur. After a bench trial the court entered a $1,006,466.79 judgment against C.F. Bean and Bean-Weeks, assigning no fault to Comeaux or his employer. The Fourth Circuit affirmed in December 1999.

After trial: The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment in full on 15 December 1999, including the denial of Bean's indemnity claim against Comeaux's employer. We did not check for a writ application or confirm payment.