Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2017

DuPont C-8 Water Contamination: $671 Million Settlement After a String of Trial Wins

Cory Watson's Jon Conlin, a co-lead lawyer on the plaintiffs' steering committee, helped drive DuPont and Chemours to a $670.7 million global settlement resolving about 3,550 C-8 water-contamination cancer and injury claims.

Dallas Jury Awards $247 Million to Six New York Patients Over J&J's Defective Pinnacle Hip Implants

A Dallas federal jury awarded six New York patients $247 million against Johnson and Johnson and its DePuy unit, finding that the metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implant system was defectively designed and that the company concealed known risks from patients and surgeons.

After trial: The Pinnacle hip claims were later resolved in a global settlement of about $1 billion in 2019.

$227 Million Settlement for 19 Victims of the 22nd and Market Street Demolition Collapse

A Pennsylvania-record $227 million settlement resolved claims brought by 19 victims of the June 2013 Center City building collapse, in which an improperly braced wall fell during demolition and crushed the adjoining Salvation Army thrift store, killing seven people.

$160.5 Million Verdict, Then a Confidential Settlement, for a Brain Injury at the Cosmopolitan Nightclub

A Las Vegas jury awarded hedge fund manager David Moradi $160.5 million after Cosmopolitan security personnel beat him at the Marquee nightclub and left him with a traumatic brain injury, and a confidential settlement followed during deliberations on punitive damages.

After trial: Settled after the verdict: the jury returned $160.5 million in compensatory damages in April 2017, and the case settled on undisclosed terms that week while the jury was deliberating punitive damages. The settlement replaced the verdict, so what was paid is not public.

Record $148 Million Verdict for Dancer Paralyzed by O'Hare Shelter Collapse

A Cook County jury awarded Tierney Darden $148 million after a 750-pound pedestrian shelter toppled onto her at O'Hare and severed her spine, a record the city later settled for $115 million.

After trial: Rather than appeal, the City of Chicago and its insurer settled with Darden for $115 million after challenging the $148 million verdict.

The $227 Million Building Collapse Settlement and Mariya Plekan's $95.6 Million Award

After an unbraced brick wall toppled during a 2013 Center City demolition and crushed a Salvation Army store, Kline & Specter's Andrew J. Stern secured a $95.6 million award for survivor Mariya Plekan, the largest individual share of a record $227 million settlement.

$95.5 Million Illinois Record Verdict for Truck Driver Who Lost Both Legs

A Cook County jury awarded $95.5 million to a truck driver who lost both legs when improperly loaded carbon steel bundles fell from a crane during unloading, with a 10% comparative fault reduction bringing the net award to $85.9 million, the highest double-amputation verdict in Illinois history.

After trial: The jury returned $95.5 million; comparative fault reduced the judgment to $85.9 million.

Manhattan Jury Awards Former Cornell Student $71 Million After Driver Fell Asleep and Caused Head-On Crash

On September 28, 2017, a Manhattan jury awarded Morgan Wang $71 million against Neil Sexton, the driver who fell asleep at the wheel on state Route 79 in August 2012 on the way to Cornell University. Wang, a passenger, suffered a fractured back and a spinal cord injury. The award was $5 million for past pain and suffering, $6 million for future pain and suffering and $60 million for future medical care.

After trial: We found no reported appeal or post-trial reduction of the verdict. We could not confirm whether the judgment was finalized or collected.

$60 Million Judgment for Three Taekwondo Athletes Abused by Coach Marc Gitelman

A Los Angeles judge awarded $60 million to three female taekwondo athletes who were sexually abused by their coach for seven years, a case that later prompted the California Supreme Court to hold that national sports governing bodies owe a legal duty to protect athletes from abuse.

$57.1 Million Verdict Against Ethicon for Pelvic Mesh That Eroded Into a Woman's Urethra

A Philadelphia jury found that Ethicon's TVT and TVT-Secur mesh slings were defectively designed and awarded Ella Ebaugh $57.1 million, including $50 million in punitive damages, then the largest verdict in the city's pelvic mesh mass tort program. Kila Baldwin of Kline & Specter tried the case.

After trial: Ethicon appealed and the appeal was briefed into 2020, but no published opinion ever decided it and the verdict was never set aside.

Bexar County Jury Awards Lytle Woman $43.5 Million After Oilfield Company Employee Rear-Ends Her on I-35

A Bexar County jury in November 2017 returned a verdict reported at $43.5 million for Jenny Hennes of Lytle, who was rear-ended on I-35 in San Antonio in 2015 by an SUV that belonged to oilfield services company JC Fodale Energy Services and was driven by its employee Mickey Hunt. Jurors heard that Hunt had texted more than 2,000 times while driving in the five months before the crash. The award included $30 million in punitive damages against the company and $2.5 million against Hunt. While the defendants' appeal was pending, the parties settled on undisclosed terms that released the judgment, and the appeal was dismissed in January 2019.

After trial: Settled on appeal on undisclosed terms: the parties settled in late 2018, releasing the January 2018 judgment, and the Fourth Court of Appeals dismissed the defendants' appeal in January 2019. The amount paid is not public, and Texas caps punitive damages, so the signed judgment may have been lower than the jury's figure.

$41.5 Million Verdict for the Family of a Sanitation Worker Crushed Inside a Queens Garage

A Queens jury awarded $41.5 million to the widow and four children of Steven Frosch, a 43-year-old New York City sanitation worker crushed between two street sweepers inside a Maspeth garage.

$40 Million Verdict Against Detroit Medical Center After ER Missed a Fatal Blood Clot in 26-Year-Old

A Wayne County jury found the Detroit Medical Center liable for the death of 26-year-old Terrea Holly, whose pulmonary embolism was treated as a virus and sent home from the emergency room.

$39 Million Verdict in I-40 Pileup That Killed Four

A jury awarded nearly $39 million after a New Prime tractor-trailer jackknifed on icy Interstate 40 and triggered a multi-vehicle pileup that killed four people, including two members of a Texas family.

$36.1 Million Verdict for Child Left With Traumatic Brain Injury After School Bus Crossing

A San Bernardino jury awarded $36.1 million to a child who suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures after being struck by a car while crossing mid-block to reach her school bus stop, finding Durham School Services 80% liable for failing to prevent the dangerous crossing.

After trial: The jury put 20 percent of the fault on the boy's mother, who was not a defendant, and the $36.1 million is the figure before that reduction; the net depends on the verdict form's split between economic and noneconomic damages, which is not public.

$37.4 Million Verdict for NYU Student Paralyzed in Fall Through Illegal Fire Escape, $29 Million After Fault and High-Low Cap

In March 2017 a Manhattan jury found the owner of 82 Second Avenue liable after Anastasia Klupchak, then a 22-year-old NYU student, fell through an unguarded opening in an illegal vertical ladder fire escape in 2008 and was paralyzed from the waist down. The jury set her damages at about $37.4 million and found her 25 percent at fault, which brought the net figure to about $29.4 million. A high-low agreement signed before the verdict capped the payout, and Klupchak recovered $29 million.

After trial: The jury's $37.4 million in damages came to about $29.4 million after a 25 percent reduction for comparative fault, above the ceiling of a pre-verdict high-low agreement, so $29 million is the amount that stood. The agreement barred an appeal, and payment details are not public.

$28 Million Verdict for Family of Duke Energy Lineman Killed by Rotted Pole Utilimap Failed to Inspect

A Hamilton County jury returned a verdict of nearly $28 million against Utilimap Corp. after the firm's inspectors skipped a rotted utility pole that collapsed and killed Duke Energy lineman Keith Jester in 2014.

$26.5 Million Verdict for Paraplegic Worker After Contractor Ignored Its Own Fall-Protection Rules

A Dallas County jury returned a $26.5 million verdict for Fernando Canales, a construction decker left paraplegic after a two-story fall, finding that general contractor RJC Midwest bore full responsibility for failing to train subcontractors on the proper use of fall-protection equipment.

After trial: The parties later reached an agreement, and on November 9, 2018 the Dallas Court of Appeals, at their joint request, set the judgment aside without ruling on the merits and sent the case back for a take-nothing judgment. The settlement terms were not disclosed.

Columbus Hospital Held Liable For $26 Million After Missed Neck Hematoma Leaves Patient Blind

Sandra Williams, a 53-year-old Columbus, Georgia administrative assistant, went to St. Francis Hospital's emergency room three days after neck surgery with breathing and swallowing trouble caused by a hematoma pressing on her trachea. Hospital staff, including on-call physician Erik Westerlund, delayed treating the hematoma, and a subsequent intubation attempt triggered a respiratory collapse that left her blind, brain damaged and dependent on caregivers. A Muscogee County State Court jury cleared the treating pulmonologist and hospital nurses but found St. Francis Hospital fully liable for Westerlund's negligence, awarding Williams $26 million on December 11, 2017. The hospital then agreed to waive any appeal and pay rather than challenge the verdict.

After trial: Paid. St. See more

Cory Watson Secures $25 Million Verdict Against Nissan Over Infiniti Brake Defect

A Los Angeles jury found a defective brake sensor in a 2004 Infiniti QX56 caused the 2012 Hollywood crash that killed a mother and her two daughters, and the $25 million verdict was later upheld on appeal.