Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2015
The 20 largest personal injury recoveries from 2015, nationwide, ranked by amount, with 81 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.
What the 2015 list shows
4 of the 14 jury verdicts in the Top 20 of 2015 are on appeal, were reduced after trial, or cannot be collected.
- Together they account for $199.3 million of the $662.86 million the 14 verdicts add up to (30 percent).
- Of those, 3 were reduced after trial and 1 was won against a defendant who is uninsured, bankrupt, closed or in prison. See the uncollectable results
- None of the 14 verdicts are confirmed paid in full. Most never say: settlements after a verdict are usually confidential, and courts rarely record whether a judgment was satisfied.
As of November 7, 2026. Every verdict still ranks at the amount that legally stood, with its label. How outcomes are labeled
- ~$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.
- $159 millionVerdictGroup recovery
$159 Million Verdict for Workers Burned in Valero Refinery Explosion
A Houston jury awarded $159 million to five oilfield workers burned, and the family of one man killed, in a 2012 liquid-fire explosion at Valero Energy's Memphis, Tennessee refinery.
- $122.5 millionVerdictNot collectable
$122.5 Million Verdict Against Doctor Who Taped a Hand Grenade to Medical Board Chairman's Spare Tire
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 but uncollected. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the $122,500,000 judgment 5 to 2 on December 1, 2016 (2016 Ark.
- $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.
After trial: 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 in Jeep Rear Gas-Tank Fire That Killed Four-Year-Old Remington Walden
Jeb Butler co-tried the first Jeep rear-fuel-tank wrongful-death case to a Georgia jury, which returned a $150 million verdict in 2015 later affirmed at $40 million by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2018.
- $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.
- $34.56 millionVerdict
Los Angeles Jury Awards $34.56 Million to Cyclist Who Lost His Leg When a Big Rig Drove Over a Sidewalk
On January 29, 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $34,555,220 to Alan Casillas, who was 19 when a Landstar Ranger tractor-trailer drove over a South Los Angeles sidewalk during a right turn and crushed his left leg, which was amputated below the knee. Landstar admitted negligence at the start of trial, so the jury decided only damages. The verdict was unanimous and was followed by a confidential settlement.
After trial: A confidential settlement was reached after the verdict, and its amount was not disclosed. We found no appeal, and we could not confirm what was ultimately paid.
Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP2015 · Los Angeles County Superior Court, Los Angeles, CARead the full story → - $32.5 millionVerdict
$32.5 Million Verdict Over a Jackknifed Semi Left in the Median Without Warning Triangles
A Lake County jury awarded Kristen Zak $32.5 million after a J.B. Hunt Transport semi-truck jackknifed in the median of Interstate 65 during a snowstorm and was left without warning triangles, and the car she was riding in struck the wreck about an hour later, leaving her with permanent brain damage.
After trial: The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the $32.5 million judgment in full. No further appeal is reported.
Schafer & Schafer LLP2015 · Lake Superior Court, Indiana (Judge Diane Kavadias Schneider); affirmed by the Indiana Court of AppealsRead the full story → - $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.
- $26 millionSettlement
$26 Million Settlement for Montana Missionary Left Quadriplegic and Brain-Injured in 2009 Rollover
Jeremy Vangsnes, a 21-year-old cross-country athlete who was left quadriplegic and brain-injured after a 2009 rollover on Interstate 90 near Belgrade, Montana, settled for $26 million against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention after a judge ruled the driver was acting within the scope of his agency with the organization.
Hoyt & Blewett PLLC2015 · Gallatin County District Court, Montana (Judge Mike Salvagni)Read the full story → - $25.4 millionVerdictReduced from $73.0 million
Tenant Burned in Apartment Gas Explosion Awarded $25.4 Million After Damages Cap
Stephen Wells was engulfed in flames on Memorial Day weekend 2010 when gas from an uncapped line in the Sandy Springs apartment he was moving into ignited as he stepped inside. He suffered burns covering more than half his body and was treated in the burn unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. A Fulton County jury found the complex's owner, Aslan Commons, LLC, and its manager, WSE LLC, fully responsible and awarded $17.9 million in compensatory damages, $7.16 million in attorney's fees, and $47.9 million in punitive damages, a total of about $73 million. The trial judge then applied Georgia's statutory cap to reduce the punitive award to $250,000, bringing the enforceable judgment to about $25.4 million.
After trial: Reduced. The judge cut the jury's $47.9 million punitive award to $250,000 under Georgia's punitive damages cap, leaving the compensatory damages and attorney's fees intact.
Law & Moran, Attorneys at Law2015 · Fulton County State Court, Georgia (Atlanta)Read the full story → - $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.
- $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.
- $22 millionVerdictReduced from $40 million
$22 Million Verdict After TGI Friday's Served 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.
After trial: The jury awarded $40 million, all for noneconomic loss, and put 45 percent of the fault on the two attackers, who were not defendants, so under California's Proposition 51 the restaurant operator owes its 55 percent share, $22 million.
Largest verified result of 2015 in each state
28 states have a verified personal injury result from 2015 so far. Each row is the largest individual result in that state, and links to its full story.
All 2015 verdicts and settlements
81 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.
A Houston jury awarded $159 million to five oilfield workers burned, and the family of one man killed, in a 2012 liquid-fire explosion at Valero Energy's Memphis, Tennessee refinery.
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 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.
Jeb Butler co-tried the first Jeep rear-fuel-tank wrongful-death case to a Georgia jury, which returned a $150 million verdict in 2015 later affirmed at $40 million by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2018.
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.
On January 29, 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $34,555,220 to Alan Casillas, who was 19 when a Landstar Ranger tractor-trailer drove over a South Los Angeles sidewalk during a right turn and crushed his left leg, which was amputated below the knee. Landstar admitted negligence at the start of trial, so the jury decided only damages. The verdict was unanimous and was followed by a confidential settlement.
A Lake County jury awarded Kristen Zak $32.5 million after a J.B. Hunt Transport semi-truck jackknifed in the median of Interstate 65 during a snowstorm and was left without warning triangles, and the car she was riding in struck the wreck about an hour later, leaving her with permanent brain damage.
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.
Jeremy Vangsnes, a 21-year-old cross-country athlete who was left quadriplegic and brain-injured after a 2009 rollover on Interstate 90 near Belgrade, Montana, settled for $26 million against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention after a judge ruled the driver was acting within the scope of his agency with the organization.
Stephen Wells was engulfed in flames on Memorial Day weekend 2010 when gas from an uncapped line in the Sandy Springs apartment he was moving into ignited as he stepped inside. He suffered burns covering more than half his body and was treated in the burn unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. A Fulton County jury found the complex's owner, Aslan Commons, LLC, and its manager, WSE LLC, fully responsible and awarded $17.9 million in compensatory damages, $7.16 million in attorney's fees, and $47.9 million in punitive damages, a total of about $73 million. The trial judge then applied Georgia's statutory cap to reduce the punitive award to $250,000, bringing the enforceable judgment to about $25.4 million.
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 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.
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.
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.
A federal jury in Seattle awarded $21.5 million, including $16.5 million in punitive damages, to an Illinois businessman struck in the head by an automatic sliding-glass door aboard Holland America's M/S Amsterdam in 2011. In January 2016 the judge vacated the verdict and ordered a new trial after his former assistant said he had deleted emails sought in discovery. Nothing stood, and in June 2016 the parties stipulated to dismiss the case with prejudice on terms that were not made public.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.