Top Individual Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2015

$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. See more

$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. See more

$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.

$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 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.

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.

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.

$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.

$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.

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.

$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 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.

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. See more

$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 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 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.

$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.

$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.

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: Reduced and paid. A court-ordered $1 million remittitur cut the $22,474,102 verdict, Parsons accepted it on May 4, 2016, and the $21,474,102 judgment was affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court on August 25, 2017. See more

$20.45 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.

After trial: The jury awarded $24.06 million and put 85 percent of the fault on the drunk driver and 15 percent on the hotel. The Fourth District Court of Appeal ordered judgment for the hotel in 2017, so only the driver's 85 percent share, about $20.45 million, stands; the judgment entered against her is not public.