Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2023

$12.5 Billion 3M PFAS Settlement: Paul Napoli Secures Largest Drinking-Water Recovery in U.S. History

As court-appointed co-lead plaintiffs' counsel in AFFF MDL 2873, Paul J. Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik negotiated a settlement requiring 3M Company to pay up to $12.5 billion to public water systems contaminated by PFAS compounds in firefighting foam, the largest drinking-water settlement in American legal history.

$2.28 Billion Verdict for Woman Raped by Her Stepfather From Age 5 to 14 in Lake Elsinore

A Riverside County jury awarded $2.28 billion on April 25, 2023, to a woman identified as Jane Doe who was sexually abused by her stepfather from age 5 until she was 14, at the family's Lake Elsinore home and at events and property of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The stepfather, who had pleaded guilty in 1997 to lewd acts with a child under 14 and served three years in state prison, admitted the abuse at deposition, then skipped the first day of jury selection and withdrew his answer rather than face a bench warrant. The church settled for $1 million and the mother for $200,000 before trial. The verdict, $836 million in compensatory damages and $1.44 billion in punitive damages after three days of deliberation, is one of the largest ever returned for a single survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

After trial: The defendant withdrew his answer and did not defend the trial, and no appeal has been reported. The Los Angeles Times called the award largely symbolic and unlikely to be paid in full, since he was the only remaining defendant; a church and the mother settled before trial. See more

Nearly 1,000 School Districts Settle With JUUL for $1.7 Billion Over Youth Vaping Crisis

Frantz Law Group, led by attorneys James Frantz and William Shinoff, represented nearly 1,000 public school districts across 38 states in multidistrict litigation against JUUL Labs, reaching a $1.7 billion settlement in 2023 that covered approximately 1,600 school districts, local governments, tribal entities, and individual consumers.

$1.185 Billion PFAS Settlement: Napoli Shkolnik Helps Secure Historic Recovery for U.S. Drinking Water Systems

As court-appointed co-lead counsel in AFFF MDL 2873, Paul J. Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik helped negotiate a $1.185 billion class settlement with DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva to compensate public water systems across the United States for PFAS contamination tied to firefighting foam.

Nevada Opioid Litigation: $1.1 Billion in Settlements Against 40+ Manufacturers, Distributors, and Pharmacies

Retained as outside counsel to the Nevada Attorney General, Eglet Adams drove more than $1.1 billion in opioid settlements across 12 agreements with over 40 defendants, including Walgreens, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and Johnson & Johnson.

$807 Million for USS Cole Survivors: Taitt v. Islamic Republic of Iran

A federal court in Washington, D.C. awarded $807 million to 58 USS Cole bombing survivors and immediate family members after finding that Iran provided material support to the al-Qaeda operatives who carried out the 2000 attack.

$745 Million Verdict Against Nitrous Oxide Distributor and Head Shop After Crash Killed a 25-Year-Old

A St. Louis County jury returned a $745 million verdict against nitrous oxide distributor United Brands and local head shop Coughing Cardinal after finding the companies conspired to sell Whip-It! canisters as an inhalant to a driver who passed out behind the wheel and fatally struck 25-year-old Marissa Politte outside her workplace.

After trial: The verdict was not overturned. The companies settled after the verdict for $5 million, as reported by the St. See more

$787 Million Verdict Against Absent Vietnamese Bunk Bed Maker After Toddler's Death

A federal jury in Columbus assessed $787 million in damages against Moash Enterprise Company Limited, the Vietnamese manufacturer of a bunk bed that killed a two-year-old boy, after the company was defaulted for never appearing in the case. The court later cut the award to $615 million under Ohio's punitive damages cap, and nothing in the record shows the judgment has been collected.

After trial: The jury returned $787 million but the judgment actually entered was $615 million, after the court cut punitive damages from $522 million to $350 million under Ohio's cap. The manufacturer never appeared and has no United States assets, so the judgment is effectively uncollectable; the American importers and retailer settled separately in July 2022 on undisclosed terms.

$1.56 Billion Verdict Against Monsanto for Four Roundup Plaintiffs

A Cole County jury returned $1.56 billion in November 2023 across four plaintiffs whose claims were consolidated for one trial: three Roundup users who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the wife of one of them on a loss of consortium claim. The trial court later cut the punitive awards to roughly nine times each plaintiff's compensatory damages, bringing the judgment down to about $611 million, and the Missouri appellate courts left that judgment standing.

After trial: The award covers four plaintiffs. In March 2024 the trial court left the compensatory awards intact but cut punitive damages from $1.5 billion to $549.9 million, pegging each to roughly nine times that plaintiff's own compensatory award, for a judgment near $611 million. See more

$485 Million Verdict Against Acadia Healthcare in Foster Care Abuse Case

A Rio Arriba County jury held Acadia Healthcare and its New Mexico foster care subsidiaries responsible for placing an 8-year-old girl with a foster father who raped her repeatedly, returning one of the largest single-plaintiff sexual abuse verdicts in the country.

After trial: Acadia Healthcare appealed, then in October 2023 settled this case along with two related New Mexico abuse lawsuits for a combined $400 million. The plaintiffs in this case received $200 million rather than the $485 million verdict.

Jury's $857 Million PCB Verdict for Sky Valley School Students and Parents

A King County jury awarded $857 million in December 2023 to seven people, five former students and two parent volunteers, who said they were sickened by PCBs leaking from light fixtures at the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington. The verdict included $73 million in compensatory damages and $784 million in punitive damages against Monsanto and its successor Pharmacia. In April 2024 a King County judge cut the punitive award to $365 million under Missouri's statutory cap on punitive damages, reducing the total to $438 million. Monsanto appealed, and Bayer said in February 2026 that Monsanto had settled the remaining Sky Valley jury verdicts on confidential terms, so what was ultimately paid is not public.

After trial: On appeal. King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers cut the punitive award from $784 million to $365 million on April 23, 2024, bringing the total to $438 million. See more

Acadia Healthcare Pays $400 Million to Settle Three New Mexico Foster Care Abuse Cases

Acadia Healthcare agreed to pay $400 million to resolve three civil cases arising from its Desert Hills and Familyworks foster care program in New Mexico, where licensed foster parent Clarence Garcia sexually abused multiple children in his care.

After trial: The $400 million settlement resolved three separate New Mexico foster-care abuse cases against Acadia Healthcare and its former subsidiary: the G.S. plaintiffs, whose case had produced the $485 million jury verdict, received $200 million, and plaintiffs in the two other cases received $100 million each. Acadia admitted no liability.

$860 Million Verdict in Dallas Crane Collapse Death, Entered as $360 Million Judgment After Exemplary Cap

A Dallas County jury found developer Greystar liable for the 2019 tower crane collapse that killed 29-year-old Kiersten Smith in her apartment, returning an $860 million verdict that Jason and Cory Itkin helped win for her family. The trial court cut the $500 million exemplary award under the Texas statutory cap before signing judgment in August 2023, entering $360,012,006 in compensatory damages jointly and severally against the three Greystar entities plus prejudgment interest, and Greystar's appeal, argued in February 2026, is undecided.

After trial: Reduced and on appeal. The $500,000,000 exemplary award was cut under the Texas cap before judgment in August 2023, leaving $360,012,006 in compensatory damages plus about $45,000,000 in prejudgment interest. See more

$325 Million Verdict for Child Sexual Abuse Survivor in Bexar County

A San Antonio jury returned the largest sexual assault verdict in U.S. history against a sole assailant, awarding $325 million to a child sexually abused by her grandfather over multiple years.

After trial: The verdict is against an individual defendant and is largely uncollectable.

St. Charles County Jury Awards $247.3 Million to Six Women Sexually Assaulted at Oasis Foot Spa

A St. Charles County jury awarded $247.3 million to six women sexually assaulted by an unlicensed massage therapist at Oasis Foot Spa & Massage in St. Peters, finding the spa and its owner liable for hiring him without any background check and ignoring an early complaint. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in full in 2024.

After trial: Affirmed in full by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on October 8, 2024. The award covers six plaintiffs.

Altria Pays $235 Million After San Francisco Schools Rest Their Case in First JUUL Bellwether Trial

San Francisco Unified School District's case was the first JUUL bellwether trial against Altria; after the plaintiffs rested, Altria agreed to pay $235 million to resolve roughly 6,000 pending e-vapor claims nationwide.

Houston Jury Awards $209.2 Million in Terra Energy Hantavirus Death

A Harris County jury awarded Laura Schneider and her three children $209.2 million after finding that Terra Energy Partners hid a known hantavirus danger that killed her husband, Karl.

$207.6 Million Verdict for Child Born With Cerebral Palsy After Penn Hospital Delayed C-Section

A Philadelphia jury returned a $182.7 million verdict, later reaching $207.6 million with interest and upheld through the Pennsylvania Superior Court in July 2025, against the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for a 45-minute delay in performing a C-section on a mother with a known uterine infection, leaving her child with permanent cerebral palsy.

After trial: The Pennsylvania Superior Court unanimously affirmed the $207.6 million verdict in full on July 10, 2025, rejecting the hospital's arguments on vicarious liability and remittitur. Reargument was denied that September, and it remained unclear whether the hospital would seek further review from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

$200 Million Verdict Against R.J. Reynolds for Boston Woman's Lung Cancer Death

A Suffolk County jury awarded $200 million in October 2023, the largest wrongful death award in Boston history, against R.J. Reynolds for the lung cancer death of Rita Jones, who first received free Newport cigarettes as a teenager in 1964.

Kline & Specter Wins $175 Million Roundup Cancer Verdict Against Monsanto

A Philadelphia jury awarded Ernest Caranci $175 million after finding that decades of Roundup use caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that Monsanto failed to warn of the risk. Kline & Specter tried the case, the first Roundup trial in Philadelphia, and the verdict was later upheld on appeal.

After trial: Affirmed in May 2025.