Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2024

$4.037 Billion Settlement for Maui Wildfire Victims

Leavitt, Yamane and Soldner represented Maui wildfire survivors and victims' families in the $4.037 billion global settlement resolving approximately 450 lawsuits arising from the August 2023 Lahaina fire.

After trial: Global, multi-firm.

$1.956 Billion for USS Cole Victims: Carlson Law Firm's Second Iran Judgment

A federal court in Washington, D.C. awarded $1.956 billion to 114 survivors and Gold Star family members in Carlson Law Firm's second successful default-judgment lawsuit holding Iran liable for the October 2000 USS Cole bombing.

$725.5 Million Verdict Against ExxonMobil for Mechanic's Leukemia, Reported as Largest Benzene Award

A Philadelphia jury awarded $725.5 million to former Mobil service station mechanic Paul Gill, who developed acute myeloid leukemia after years of cleaning car parts with benzene-containing gasoline and solvents, in what was reported as the largest benzene verdict in U.S. history; the court later added over $90 million in delay damages, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment in October 2026.

After trial: Post-trial motions were denied in September 2024 and delay damages brought the judgment to roughly $816 million. On October 15, 2026, a divided panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment (No. See more

$550 Million Wrongful-Death Verdict After Driver Hit 107 mph on Drugs and Alcohol

A Clark County jury awarded $550 million, $50 million compensatory and $500 million punitive, to Nimfa Escobia after her husband Marcial was killed by a driver traveling 107 mph while impaired by alcohol, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana.

After trial: Nevada caps punitive damages at three times compensatory damages, which exposes the $500 million punitive portion of this verdict to reduction toward roughly $150 million if that cap is applied on appeal; no appellate ruling has been reported yet. The verdict is against an individual driver, Kevin Raspperry, whose insurer had already paid policy limits to the vehicle's owner rather than to him, so the judgment against him personally is largely uncollectable.

$495 Million Verdict Against Abbott for Failing to Warn That Similac Caused NEC in Premature Infant

A St. Louis jury awarded $495 million against Abbott Laboratories after finding the company failed to warn that its Similac cow's milk formula could cause necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants.

After trial: Abbott appealed and lost: a Missouri appeals court upheld the $495 million verdict. Rather than pay the judgment plus accrued interest, Abbott in August 2026 reached settlement agreements resolving the Gill case together with roughly 2,000 other NEC claims for an aggregate of about $670 million; the portion paid to the Gill family specifically was not disclosed.

Kline & Specter Wins $2.25 Billion Roundup Cancer Verdict

A Philadelphia jury found that Monsanto failed to warn that Roundup could cause cancer and awarded John McKivison $2.25 billion. The trial judge later reduced the award to $400 million.

After trial: The trial judge cut the verdict by more than 80 percent, to $400 million ($50 million compensatory and $350 million punitive). The plaintiff appealed the reduction and Monsanto appealed the liability finding.

BASF Pays $316.5 Million to Settle U.S. Public Water Systems' PFAS Firefighting Foam Class Action

BASF Corporation agreed to pay $316.5 million to resolve claims by public water systems across the United States over PFAS contamination tied to firefighting foam. The sum is a $312.5 million settlement fund plus $4 million for notice and administration. Judge Richard Gergel approved it on Nov. 22, 2024, in the federal multidistrict litigation over aqueous film-forming foam. It is a class recovery shared among many water systems, not one plaintiff's award.

After trial: Final approval was entered November 22, 2024, and the court later confirmed that order was a final judgment. A 2025 motion by the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to intervene and amend the approval was withdrawn in May 2025, and no appeal appears on the docket. See more

$310 Million Verdict Over Teen's Fatal Orlando FreeFall Ride Fall, Manufacturer Never Appeared

An Orange County jury awarded $310 million to the parents of Tyre Sampson, the 14-year-old who fell to his death from the Orlando FreeFall drop tower at ICON Park in 2022, in a case tried by Kimberly Wald and Michael Haggard against ride manufacturer Funtime Handels GmbH, which sent no lawyer or representative to the trial, leaving collection of the judgment from the absent Austrian company uncertain.

After trial: Uncontested verdict against an absent Austrian manufacturer; collection uncertain; the family's compensation came from prior settlements.

$300 Million Judgment for a Child Abused in Caretakers' Custody, the Largest Entered in Missouri in 2024

A St. Charles County judge entered a $300 million bench-trial judgment for a child, identified only as G.T., who was physically and sexually abused between the ages of three and five while in the care of Susan and James McLaurie, though one defendant died before the suit was filed and the only known insurance was a $303,000 policy.

After trial: The judgment is roughly a thousand times the only known insurance coverage; one defendant died before suit. Collection prospects are minimal.

$262.5 Million Verdict for Odessa Man Left Quadriplegic After Bar Overserved His Attacker

An Ector County jury awarded $262.5 million to Isaac Sanchez, left quadriplegic when a drunk driver who had been served 19 drinks at Linx Bar and Grill rear-ended his motorcycle at a North Odessa intersection in June 2021.

After trial: The jury apportioned 60 percent of fault, and of the verdict, against the individual drunk driver Rogelio Lujan and 40 percent against Linx Bar & Grill, so collectability likely depends mostly on the bar's liquor liability insurance rather than the driver. No appeal or reduction has been publicly reported.

$360 Million Verdict for Three Patients Abused by Cumberland Hospital Director

A Richmond Circuit Court jury awarded $360 million to three former adolescent patients who were sexually abused by Dr. Daniel Davidow, the medical director of Cumberland Hospital for Children, during what he called routine femoral pulse exams.

After trial: A judge reduced the September 2024 jury verdict from $360 million to just over $241 million. More than 40 plaintiffs in the broader Cumberland Hospital litigation reached a confidential settlement in August 2026, ending the six-year case.

Alabama Secures $220 Million From Opioid Distributors Cardinal Health and Cencora

Beasley Allen, representing Alabama on contingency, secured $220 million from opioid distributors Cardinal Health and Cencora after roughly 18 months of litigation, with every dollar directed to statewide opioid abatement programs.

Bexar County Jury Awards $210 Million in Wrongful Death of Andreen McDonald

A Bexar County civil jury awarded $210 million to the family of Andreen McDonald, killed by her husband in 2019, in what is reported to be the largest personal injury verdict in county history.

After trial: Andre McDonald is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter plus 5 years for evidence tampering in the underlying criminal case, and his criminal appeal was denied in August 2024. The civil verdict is against an incarcerated individual defendant, and no confirmed outcome of a civil appeal has been reported.

$535 Million Verdict for Rape of 13-Year-Old Psychiatric Patient by Another Resident

A Champaign County jury returned a $535 million verdict, the largest known single-plaintiff verdict in Illinois history, against a psychiatric facility that failed to prevent the rape of a 13-year-old female patient by another adolescent resident.

After trial: The verdict was reduced to $180 million on post-trial motion, and the case then settled out of court.

Sober Living Van Fire on I-85 Ends in $162 Million Settlement

A 2002 Dodge Ram 15-passenger van carrying 16 women from the We Are Living Proof sober-living program rolled over and caught fire on I-85 at the I-985 split in Gwinnett County on April 24, 2021, killing seven and injuring nine others. Families and survivors sued the van's driver, Chrysler and parent company Stellantis, the group home, and two repair shops, alleging a rollover-prone design, a defective steering system, and a fuel system that let gasoline ignite after impact. The claims settled in 2024 for a combined $162,000,000, described as the largest settlement from a single-vehicle wreck in Georgia history. Families and survivors were represented by several firms, including Shiver Hamilton Campbell and Beasley Allen.

After trial: Combined settlement (aggregate for 16 plaintiffs, 7 wrongful-death families and 9 injury claimants, represented across roughly a dozen firms; Shiver Hamilton Campbell represented 2 of the death claims and 4 of the injury claims; individual firm and plaintiff shares are confidential).

$160 Million Verdict Against Daimler Over a Truck Cab Design Left Unchanged for Nearly 30 Years

A Clarke County jury awarded Leonard Street $150 million and his wife Tracy $10 million after finding that Daimler Truck North America and Western Star had defectively designed the cab of the 2023 Western Star he was driving, using a roof structure dating to 1995 and a suspension seat that did not hold him in place when the truck rolled.

After trial: Daimler said it would appeal. No appellate outcome has been reported, so this remains a jury verdict rather than a collected judgment.

$159 Million Verdict for Woman Left Quadriplegic by Drunk Driver Doing 79 in a 40 Zone

On October 18, 2020 Ryann Early, drunk and doing about 79 mph in a 40 zone, crossed into oncoming traffic on Albert S. White Drive in Whitestown and hit Sherry Schnee head-on. She broke her neck and is quadriplegic. He went to prison. On January 11, 2024 a Boone County jury awarded her $84,000,000 and her husband $75,000,000. Early is an individual with no insurer identified, and his own lawyer said afterward he wished there were actual dollars behind the number.

After trial: The verdict stands as returned, and no appeal of the civil judgment has been reported. Collection is unlikely: Ryann Early is serving a six-year sentence and no insurer has been named. See more

Nassau County Jury Returns $141.5 Million Against Log-Truck Company

A Nassau County jury awarded $141.5 million, including $125 million in punitive damages, against K&N Logging after an unvetted driver's 80,000-pound log truck plowed into stopped school-zone traffic and left a young child with permanent brain damage.

After trial: The verdict is largely uncollectable. K&N Logging had stopped operating at least two years before trial, its owner was a school janitor running a small side business, and defense counsel said there are no assets to satisfy the judgment and no insurance policy covering punitive damages.

$129 Million Verdict for 6-Year-Old Killed in School Parking Lot After Run Club Crossed the Carpool Lane

A 6-year-old girl was killed in the parking lot of a Slidell Catholic school. The school's after-school Run Club sent children as young as six along a route that crossed the afternoon carpool lane while cars were moving. Her 10-year-old brother watched it happen.

After trial: This is a verdict, not a recovery. Plaintiffs' counsel expected the school and its insurers to appeal, and no appellate opinion, JNOV or remittitur has been located. See more

Wayne County Jury Awards $120.9 Million in Birth Injury Case Against Henry Ford Hospital

A Wayne County jury found Henry Ford Hospital negligent for a delay of over two hours in executing an ordered emergency C-section, awarding $120.9 million to a Detroit mother and her son, who was left with severe cerebral palsy and requires full-time care.