Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2015
The 20 largest personal injury recoveries from 2015, nationwide, ranked by amount, with 57 independently-sourced results to browse. Individual client results and group recoveries are both listed and labeled. Each links to the full story, the firm, and the record behind the number.
Every result on this list holds a ProvenVerdicts designation, the largest verified personal injury result of 2015 or one of the Top 20, which the firm can display with a badge from its results page. The ranking is live and moves as results are verified.
- ~$1 billionSettlementGroup recovery
NFL Concussion MDL: Anapol Weiss Serves as Co-Lead Class Counsel in ~$1 Billion Settlement for Retired Players
Sol Weiss and Larry Coben of Anapol Weiss served as co-lead class counsel in the landmark NFL concussion multidistrict litigation, securing a settlement valued at nearly $1 billion for thousands of retired players diagnosed with serious neurological conditions.
- $765 millionSettlementGroup recovery
NFL Concussion MDL: Uncapped Settlement Surpassing $1 Billion for Retired Players
Steven Marks and Ricardo Martinez-Cid of Podhurst Orseck served on the NFL Concussion Litigation Plaintiffs' Executive Committee, helping negotiate an uncapped settlement projected to exceed $1 billion for more than 20,000 retired players suffering traumatic brain injuries.
After trial: (initial); uncapped, exceeded $1 billion.
Podhurst Orseck PA2015 · U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaRead the full story → - $165.5 millionVerdict
$165.5 Million Verdict for Family Killed in FedEx Truck Crash on I-10
A Santa Fe jury awarded $165.5 million, the largest verdict in New Mexico history, to the survivors of a young mother and her daughter killed when a FedEx tractor-trailer plowed into their stopped pickup at highway speed on Interstate 10.
After trial: The verdict was affirmed on appeal. The New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld it, and on May 19, 2022 the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the full $165.5 million award.
- $122.5 millionVerdictNot collectable
A Hand Grenade Was Taped to a Spare Tire Outside His Front Door. The Doctor Who Put It There Is Serving Life, and a Crittenden County Jury Put $122.5 Million on Him.
Dr. Trent Pierce, then chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board, found a spare tire propped against his car on the morning of 4 February 2009. A hand grenade was duct-taped to it, rigged to fire when the tire was moved. He lost the sight in his left eye and the hearing in his left ear. The man who sent him there was a physician whose prescribing authority the board had revoked.
After trial: Affirmed and uncollected. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the $122,500,000 judgment 5 to 2 on 1 December 2016 in Mann v.
- $67.47 millionVerdict
Nueces County Jury Returns $67.47 Million for Paralyzed Passenger in Oilfield Company-Vehicle Crash
A Nueces County jury awarded $67.47 million to Christopher Arnold, paralyzed from the waist down after a Weatherford US oilfield employee rear-ended the vehicle he was riding in on FM 624 near Calallen; a pre-agreed high-low cap limited actual recovery to $9 million.
Thomas J. Henry2015 · Nueces County Court at Law No. 4, Texas (Arnold v. Weatherford US L.P., Cause No. 2012CCV62311-4)Read the full story → - $64.5 millionVerdict
Hillsborough Jury Awards $64.5 Million to Worker Crushed by Collapsing Building at Mosaic Mine Site
A Hillsborough County jury returned a $64.5 million verdict for Robert Matthews, a young construction worker left permanently disabled after an 11,000-pound prefabricated building shifted and collapsed on him at a Mosaic fertilizer company mine site.
- $46.5 millionVerdictGroup recovery
Two Workers Killed at a Kraft Plant, and a $46.5 Million Verdict Against the Security Company
A Philadelphia jury awarded $46.5 million, including $38.5 million in punitive damages, against U.S. Security Associates after its guards fled rather than warn workers during the 2010 Kraft plant shooting that killed Tanya Wilson and LaTonya Brown. Kline & Specter's Shanin Specter, Dominic Guerrini, and Patrick Fitzgerald tried the case.
- $41 millionVerdict
$41 Million Maritime Verdict for Seaman Who Died from Spider Bite Aboard Ship
A Starr County, Texas jury awarded $41.1 million to the family of seaman Jose Flores, who died after being bitten by a brown recluse spider while working aboard a dredging vessel, on maritime claims of unseaworthiness and negligence against the vessel operator. The case later settled for $10 million.
The Buzbee Law Firm2015 · Starr County, Texas (state district court, maritime claim)Read the full story → - $40 millionVerdict
$40 Million Verdict After TGI Friday's Staff Served Alcohol to Underage Patron Who Fatally Stabbed Orlando Jordan
A Riverside jury awarded $40 million to the parents of Orlando Jordan after finding that TGI Friday's and its franchise operator bore 55 percent of the responsibility for his death, having repeatedly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated underage patron who then stabbed Jordan inside the restaurant.
- $38 millionVerdict
$38 Million Verdict for Child Born with Spina Bifida After In-Utero Depakote Exposure
A St. Louis jury returned a $38 million verdict against Abbott Laboratories for failing to adequately warn patients and physicians that Depakote, taken during pregnancy to control epilepsy, could cause severe birth defects including spina bifida.
Williams Hart & Boundas2015 · Missouri Circuit Court, City of St. Louis (Barron v. Abbott, Case No. 1222-CC-0247901; affirmed Missouri Supreme Court No. SC96151, 2017)Read the full story → - $35.4 millionVerdict
Marathon Runner Paralyzed After Childbirth Stroke Wins $35.4 Million Verdict Against Dedham Medical
A Norfolk Superior Court jury awarded Andrea Larkin $35.4 million after finding that Dedham Medical Associates failed to document a known brain abnormality, leaving her obstetrician unaware of a condition that made vaginal delivery dangerous.
- $31 millionSettlement
$31 Million Settlement After Two-Point Lap Belt Paralyzed an 11-Year-Old in a Ford Escort
Hoyt Tessener of Martin and Jones, joined by co-counsel Kent Emison, secured a $31 million settlement for a boy left paraplegic when a two-point rear lap belt in a 1999 Ford Escort jackknifed him during a crash, while other occupants of the same car came away with comparatively minor injuries.
- $29.4 millionVerdictReduced from $79.8 million
Retired Officer Wins $79.8 Million After Defective Ethicon Stapler Causes Permanent Colostomy
A jury awarded Florence Kuhlmann $79.8 million after an Ethicon PPH03 hemorrhoid stapler from a defective, recalled lot misfired during surgery, occluding her rectum and leaving her with a permanent colostomy.
After trial: Reduced on appeal; $79.8 million gross verdict.
Alexander Law Group2015 · Alameda County Superior Court (Case No. RG 13675753); affirmed in part on appeal, First District, Case No. A147945Read the full story → - $29 millionVerdict
$29 Million Verdict for Family of Oilfield Worker Killed by Exploding Battery in Conroe
A Harris County jury awarded $29 million to the family of Garland 'Rickie' Kelley, an oilfield services worker killed when a lithium thionyl chloride battery exploded at a Professional Directional Enterprises facility in Conroe, Texas.
- $25 millionVerdict
$25 Million Verdict for Widow After Drunk Driver Kills Husband on I-65
A Lake County jury awarded $25 million to Patricia Amsden after her husband Phillip was struck and killed on Interstate 65 by a driver with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, holding the driver, his employer, and two bars that served him accountable.
- $24 millionVerdict
$24 Million Verdict for Widower of Pregnant Woman Killed at Fort Lauderdale Hotel Cabana
A Broward County jury awarded $24 million to the widower of Alana DeMella, a seven-months-pregnant hotel guest killed when a drunk driver crashed into a pool cabana at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale in 2012.
The Maher Law Firm2015 · Broward County Circuit Court, Fort Lauderdale, FloridaRead the full story → - $22.6 millionVerdict
$22.6 Million Verdict for Port Trucker Left Permanently Disabled After On-the-Job Crash
A Wayne County jury awarded $22.6 million to port truck driver Burt Holt, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and permanent disability when a negligent driver struck him while he inspected his trailer at a Detroit shipping terminal in 2011.
- $21.5 millionSettlement
$21.5 Million Settlement After Exposed Trolley Rail Left Man Paralyzed at San Diego Transit Station
David Long tripped on two inches of exposed trolley track left by construction grinding crews at the 12th and Imperial MTS station and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him quadriplegic; the case settled for $21.5 million.
Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc.2015 · San Diego County Superior Court, Central Justice CenterRead the full story → - $21.5 millionVerdict
$21.5 Million Verdict for Navy Veteran Left with Locked-In Syndrome After VA Missed Second Stroke
Michael Farley, a Navy veteran, was left permanently conscious but nearly paralyzed after the Manchester VA failed to properly evaluate and treat his first stroke, allowing a second, massive stroke to occur six weeks later.
National Trial Law2015 · U.S. District Court, D. New Hampshire, No. 13-cv-261-LMRead the full story → - $21.47 millionVerdictReduced from $22.5 millionPaid
Chicago Railroad Conductor Wins $21.4 Million After Foot Crushed Between Railcars
Michael Parsons, a Norfolk Southern conductor, had his left foot crushed between two railcars at the company's 51st/55th Street yard in Chicago after 2010 track work narrowed the clearance between two adjacent tracks to as little as 10 feet 6 inches. A Cook County jury found Parsons zero percent negligent and awarded $22,474,102 in November 2015. The trial court ordered a $1 million remittitur from the lost-earnings portion of the award, which Parsons accepted, reducing the judgment to $21,474,102. The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed that judgment in August 2017, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied Norfolk Southern's petition for further review in October 2018.
After trial: The jury's $22,474,102 verdict was cut by a court-ordered $1 million remittitur that reduced the lost-earnings award from $1.5 million to $500,000. Parsons accepted it on May 4, 2016, leaving a final judgment of $21,474,102.
Cogan & Power, P.C.2015 · Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court, First District)Read the full story →
All 2015 verdicts and settlements
57 results, largest first
Sol Weiss and Larry Coben of Anapol Weiss served as co-lead class counsel in the landmark NFL concussion multidistrict litigation, securing a settlement valued at nearly $1 billion for thousands of retired players diagnosed with serious neurological conditions.
Steven Marks and Ricardo Martinez-Cid of Podhurst Orseck served on the NFL Concussion Litigation Plaintiffs' Executive Committee, helping negotiate an uncapped settlement projected to exceed $1 billion for more than 20,000 retired players suffering traumatic brain injuries.
A Santa Fe jury awarded $165.5 million, the largest verdict in New Mexico history, to the survivors of a young mother and her daughter killed when a FedEx tractor-trailer plowed into their stopped pickup at highway speed on Interstate 10.
Dr. Trent Pierce, then chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board, found a spare tire propped against his car on the morning of 4 February 2009. A hand grenade was duct-taped to it, rigged to fire when the tire was moved. He lost the sight in his left eye and the hearing in his left ear. The man who sent him there was a physician whose prescribing authority the board had revoked.
A Nueces County jury awarded $67.47 million to Christopher Arnold, paralyzed from the waist down after a Weatherford US oilfield employee rear-ended the vehicle he was riding in on FM 624 near Calallen; a pre-agreed high-low cap limited actual recovery to $9 million.
A Hillsborough County jury returned a $64.5 million verdict for Robert Matthews, a young construction worker left permanently disabled after an 11,000-pound prefabricated building shifted and collapsed on him at a Mosaic fertilizer company mine site.
A Philadelphia jury awarded $46.5 million, including $38.5 million in punitive damages, against U.S. Security Associates after its guards fled rather than warn workers during the 2010 Kraft plant shooting that killed Tanya Wilson and LaTonya Brown. Kline & Specter's Shanin Specter, Dominic Guerrini, and Patrick Fitzgerald tried the case.
A Starr County, Texas jury awarded $41.1 million to the family of seaman Jose Flores, who died after being bitten by a brown recluse spider while working aboard a dredging vessel, on maritime claims of unseaworthiness and negligence against the vessel operator. The case later settled for $10 million.
A Riverside jury awarded $40 million to the parents of Orlando Jordan after finding that TGI Friday's and its franchise operator bore 55 percent of the responsibility for his death, having repeatedly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated underage patron who then stabbed Jordan inside the restaurant.
A St. Louis jury returned a $38 million verdict against Abbott Laboratories for failing to adequately warn patients and physicians that Depakote, taken during pregnancy to control epilepsy, could cause severe birth defects including spina bifida.
One hundred twenty-nine former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory workers, most of them over 50, shared a $37.25 million settlement after a series of jury trials established that the lab breached their employment contracts during a 2008 mass layoff that followed privatization of the facility.
A Norfolk Superior Court jury awarded Andrea Larkin $35.4 million after finding that Dedham Medical Associates failed to document a known brain abnormality, leaving her obstetrician unaware of a condition that made vaginal delivery dangerous.
Hoyt Tessener of Martin and Jones, joined by co-counsel Kent Emison, secured a $31 million settlement for a boy left paraplegic when a two-point rear lap belt in a 1999 Ford Escort jackknifed him during a crash, while other occupants of the same car came away with comparatively minor injuries.
A jury awarded Florence Kuhlmann $79.8 million after an Ethicon PPH03 hemorrhoid stapler from a defective, recalled lot misfired during surgery, occluding her rectum and leaving her with a permanent colostomy.
A Harris County jury awarded $29 million to the family of Garland 'Rickie' Kelley, an oilfield services worker killed when a lithium thionyl chloride battery exploded at a Professional Directional Enterprises facility in Conroe, Texas.
C. Steven Yerrid, retained as Tampa's special counsel, secured a $27.4 million settlement from BP for economic damages the city sustained after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill -- the largest BP payout to any single U.S. municipality.
A Lake County jury awarded $25 million to Patricia Amsden after her husband Phillip was struck and killed on Interstate 65 by a driver with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, holding the driver, his employer, and two bars that served him accountable.
A Broward County jury awarded $24 million to the widower of Alana DeMella, a seven-months-pregnant hotel guest killed when a drunk driver crashed into a pool cabana at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale in 2012.
A Wayne County jury awarded $22.6 million to port truck driver Burt Holt, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and permanent disability when a negligent driver struck him while he inspected his trailer at a Detroit shipping terminal in 2011.
Michael Farley, a Navy veteran, was left permanently conscious but nearly paralyzed after the Manchester VA failed to properly evaluate and treat his first stroke, allowing a second, massive stroke to occur six weeks later.
David Long tripped on two inches of exposed trolley track left by construction grinding crews at the 12th and Imperial MTS station and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him quadriplegic; the case settled for $21.5 million.
Michael Parsons, a Norfolk Southern conductor, had his left foot crushed between two railcars at the company's 51st/55th Street yard in Chicago after 2010 track work narrowed the clearance between two adjacent tracks to as little as 10 feet 6 inches. A Cook County jury found Parsons zero percent negligent and awarded $22,474,102 in November 2015. The trial court ordered a $1 million remittitur from the lost-earnings portion of the award, which Parsons accepted, reducing the judgment to $21,474,102. The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed that judgment in August 2017, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied Norfolk Southern's petition for further review in October 2018.
In the summer of 2015, after an eleven month trial over the May 30, 2008 tower crane collapse on East 91st Street in Manhattan, a jury held crane owner James Lomma, New York Crane & Equipment Corp., and J.F. Lomma, Inc. liable for the deaths of construction worker Ramadan Kurtaj, 27, and crane operator Donald Leo, 30. The awards against the Lomma defendants for Kurtaj's estate came to $55.5 million: $7.5 million for preimpact terror, $24 million for conscious pain and suffering, and $24 million in punitive damages, part of roughly $96 million in combined verdicts for the two families. Susan M. Karten of Susan M. Karten & Associates was trial counsel for the Kurtaj family. The honest frame: on September 12, 2017 the Appellate Division, First Department found the awards excessive and reduced the Kurtaj figures to $2 million, $7.5 million, and $9.5 million, a total of $19 million, and the Leo figures to $16 million, cutting the combined awards to about $35 million.
A Colorado jury delivered what was then the state's largest medical malpractice verdict after a four-day-old girl suffered cardiac arrest and permanent brain damage when hospital staff administered an incorrect prostaglandin dose before congenital heart surgery.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.