Top Individual Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2024

$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.

$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.

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.

$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.

$101 Million Bad-Faith Verdict Against Progressive After Crosswalk TBI

A Clark County jury awarded $101 million against Progressive, $1 million compensatory and $100 million punitive, after the insurer delayed paying Hal Goldblatt's medical bills for months following a 2022 crosswalk collision that caused a traumatic brain injury.

$100 Million Verdict for Toddler Permanently Injured by Doctor Who Operated Ten Days After License Was Revoked

A Palm Beach County jury awarded $100 million to a toddler left permanently injured after Dr. Berto Lopez performed a circumcision ten days after the Florida Board of Medicine revoked his license.

$98.65 Million Verdict for Family of Botham Jean, Shot in His Own Apartment by Off-Duty Dallas Officer

A federal jury awarded $98.65 million to the family and estate of Botham Jean after finding that former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger used excessive force and violated his constitutional rights when she entered his apartment and shot him in 2018.

$900 Million Verdict for Employee Raped by the Owner of FilmOn

On June 17, 2024, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury unanimously awarded $900 million, $100 million compensatory and $800 million punitive, to a former employee of Alkiviades "Alki" David's companies who was sexually harassed and raped by him between 2016 and 2019. Liability had already been established before trial, so the jury sat only on damages, and the defense table was empty. In September 2024 the trial judge ruled that the award shocked the conscience and conditionally granted a new trial unless the plaintiff accepted $90 million, $10 million compensatory plus $80 million punitive. David filed a notice of appeal at the end of September 2024 and has said publicly that none of the women who have won verdicts against him will ever be paid.

After trial: On appeal. In September 2024 the trial court cut the award from $900 million to $90 million ($10 million compensatory plus $80 million punitive) unless the plaintiff accepted, and David filed a notice of appeal around September 30, 2024. See more

$80 Million Default Judgment Against Iran for Iraq Roadside Bomb That Killed a Soldier and Injured His Platoon Leader

A federal judge in Chicago entered a default judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran for a 2009 roadside bomb attack in Iraq that killed Army Sergeant Joshua Soto and injured his platoon leader, First Lieutenant Miles Murray. Iran never appeared, and the court heard the plaintiffs' proof at a four-day evidentiary hearing. Murray was awarded $28 million, Soto's widow $32 million, and the couple's minor son $20 million, each including punitive damages.

After trial: Default judgment entered March 31, 2024 after Iran failed to appear, and the docket shows no appeal. Collection against a foreign sovereign is uncertain, and we could not confirm that any of the judgment has been paid.