Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2025

Real Water Poisoning: $3.8 Billion Verdict in Alkaline Water Liver Failure Cases

A Clark County jury awarded $3.8 billion against Real Water on March 21, 2025, after finding the Las Vegas alkaline water company liable for poisoning consumers with hydrazine-contaminated product that caused acute liver failure, autoimmune disease, and death.

After trial: The $3.8 billion verdict includes about $3 billion in punitive damages that plaintiffs' attorney Will Kemp says will be cut to roughly $1.4 billion under Nevada's statutory cap limiting punitive damages to three times compensatory damages. Real Water is bankrupt and no longer operating, so any payout will have to come from its insurers.

The $2.53 Billion Ford Super Duty Roof Crush Verdict for a Georgia Couple Killed in Their F-250, One of the Largest Injury Verdicts in American History, Settled Confidentially Seven Months Later Before Any Appeal Was Decided

A federal jury in Columbus, Georgia awarded $30.5 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 billion in punitive damages against Ford Motor Company for the deaths of Herman and Debra Mills, killed when the roof of their 2015 F-250 Super Duty crushed down on them in a rollover. Butler Prather LLP tried the case, with James E. Butler Jr., Ramsey Prather, Daniel Philyaw, and Allison Bailey on the trial team. The honest frame: Ford called the verdict impermissibly extreme, moved for a new trial, and in September 2025 settled this case and the related $1.7 billion Hill case on confidential terms, so the verdict was never collected as awarded.

After trial: Ford's motion for a new trial was never decided: the case settled on confidential terms in September 2025, and the verdict was never collected as awarded.

Cobb County Jury Awards John Barnes $2.065 Billion in Roundup Cancer Trial

A Cobb County, Georgia jury found that Monsanto's Roundup caused John Barnes's non-Hodgkin lymphoma and awarded him $2.065 billion, with Arnold & Itkin's Kyle Findley serving as lead trial lawyer.

After trial: Bayer settled the case in November 2025 on confidential terms, so the verdict was never collected as awarded.

104 Women Win $1.6 Billion Against Long Island Pediatrician Stuart Copperman

Anapol Weiss shareholder Kristen Gibbons Feden helped secure $1.6 billion in default verdicts for 104 women sexually abused as children by former Long Island pediatrician Stuart Copperman, one of the largest cumulative civil awards against a single individual in U.S. history.

The $966 Million Talc Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson for the Mesothelioma Death of Mae Moore, With the $950 Million Punitive Award Vacated by the Trial Judge in March 2026, Leaving a $16 Million Compensatory Judgment Headed for Cross-Appeals

On October 6, 2025, a Los Angeles County jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 million to the family of Mae K. Moore, a mother of three who died of mesothelioma in December 2021 at age 88 after decades of using the company's talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower. The award comprised $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, reported at the time as the largest talc-mesothelioma verdict ever returned against Johnson & Johnson. The honest frame: on March 13, 2026, the trial judge, Ruth Ann Kwan, vacated the entire $950 million punitive award, finding the malice showing insufficient, while leaving the $16 million compensatory judgment intact. Both sides have said they will appeal. Dean Omar Branham Shirley tried the case for the Moore family, and this page documents it as part of the public record.

After trial: The $950 million punitive award was vacated by the trial court in March 2026; $16 million in compensatory damages stands and cross-appeals are pending.

The $831 Million Dram Shop Verdict Against a Shuttered New Braunfels Bar, Reported as the Largest Ever From a San Antonio Jury, and Money the Mendez Family Will Likely Never See

A Bexar County jury awarded roughly $831 million to Blas Mendez Jr., a longtime Seguin ISD special education behavior specialist left partially paralyzed after his motorcycle hit wreckage left in the road by an 18-year-old drunk driver who had been served at Koozies Icehouse & Grill in New Braunfels. Todd A. Hunter of Hunter Trial Law tried the dram shop case with E. Chevo Pastrano and Ginna G. Pastrano of The Pastrano Law Firm. The honest frame: the award was reported as the largest verdict ever returned by a San Antonio jury, and the bar had already closed by the time it came in, so the family is not expected to collect most, if any, of it.

After trial: Koozies closed before trial and the family is not expected to collect most, if any, of the award; no appeal had been filed as of The Texas Lawbook's year-end report.

State of Hawaii Wins $700 Million Settlement After Plavix Makers Concealed Genetic Risk for Twelve Years

After proving through 12.5 million internal company documents that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi hid for twelve years that Plavix was ineffective in patients with a common genetic variant, the State of Hawaii secured a $700 million settlement in 2025, the largest pharmaceutical recovery in the state's history.

Federal Jury Returns $243 Million Verdict Against Tesla in First Autopilot Wrongful Death Trial

A Miami federal jury found Tesla 33% liable for a 2019 Key Largo crash that killed a 22-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend, awarding $243 million including $200 million in punitive damages in the first federal trial over a fatal Autopilot accident.

After trial: The trial court upheld the verdict in February 2026; Tesla has appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.

Herman Katz Gisleson and Cain Helps Secure $230 Million for New Orleans Clergy Abuse Survivors After Five-Year Bankruptcy

Representing more clergy abuse survivors in the Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy than any other firm, Herman, Katz, Gisleson and Cain helped push a five-year Chapter 11 proceeding to a $230 million settlement confirmed in December 2025, with additional recovery against Travelers Insurance still pending.

Kline & Specter Wins Appeal Preserving Record $207.6 Million Birth Injury Judgment Against Penn Hospital

A Philadelphia jury found the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania liable for the brain injury a newborn suffered when staff delayed a cesarean section, a $182.7 million verdict that grew to a molded judgment of about $207.6 million, the largest medical malpractice award in Pennsylvania history. Kline & Specter argued and won the appeal, where the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the full $207.6 million judgment in July 2025.

After trial: The jury awarded $182,737,791, and the trial judge added about $24.9 million in Pennsylvania Rule 238 prejudgment interest, bringing the judgment to $207.6 million. Pennsylvania's Superior Court unanimously affirmed the full judgment on July 10, 2025.

Record $117 Million Verdict for WTC Sheet Metal Worker Who Developed Mesothelioma Decades After Asbestos Exposure

A New York County jury awarded $117 million to William Durbec and his wife Victoria in May 2025, the largest single-plaintiff asbestos verdict in New York State history, after Durbec developed pleural mesothelioma from asbestos-containing fireproofing he breathed during years of sheet metal work at the original World Trade Center.

After trial: As of mid-2026 reporting, post-trial proceedings before the trial judge remained ongoing, with no reduction, appeal ruling, or payment publicly confirmed.

Colorado Jury Awards $205 Million After 6-Year-Old Falls 110 Feet from Glenwood Caverns Ride When Operators Ignored Safety Alarm

A Garfield County jury returned a $205 million verdict against Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and ride manufacturer Soaring Eagle after finding that operators launched the Haunted Mine Drop with a six-year-old girl sitting on top of an unsecured seatbelt, overriding a warning alarm that should have stopped the ride.

After trial: A court reduced the September 2025 jury verdict from $205 million to $116 million. Glenwood Caverns' parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2026 and is pursuing an appeal, and collection is stayed while the bankruptcy is pending.

$115 Million Verdict Against a Former Stepfather Who Sexually Abused a Girl From Age 6 Into Her Twenties and Was Never Charged

On September 16, 2025, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Joseph Ruffalo, an 85-year-old former music manager and 1980s film producer, liable for sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against his former stepdaughter, A.Z., who testified that he abused her from 1991, when she was six, until 2007, when she was 22. The unanimous jury deliberated two hours and forty minutes and awarded $85 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. A.Z. had reported the abuse to police in the United States and Britain without result; Ruffalo was never charged. Her mother was a co-defendant and resolved the claims against her before trial. Ruffalo told the jury he could not pay.

After trial: The defendant testified at the punitive phase that he could not pay and had no assets to speak of; collectability is unknown. Ruffalo's counsel said publicly after the verdict that they respect jury verdicts even when they disagree with them, and as of September 2026 no post-trial ruling or appeal has surfaced in public reporting or in appellate databases. See more

$114 Million Verdict Against USAA for Bad-Faith Handling of Rear-End Crash Claim

A Clark County jury awarded Timothy Kuhn $114 million after USAA spent years stonewalling his claim from a 2018 rear-end collision it had originally conceded was not his fault.

After trial: USAA filed a notice of appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court in March 2025 challenging the judgment; as of the briefing schedule in January 2026 the appeal was still being briefed, with no ruling issued.

Austin Jury Awards $112.9 Million in Dram Shop Case Over Crash That Left a Six-Year-Old With a Brain Injury

A Travis County jury found a Wings 'N More restaurant liable for overserving a drunk driver who crashed into a family's car, awarding $112.9 million after a six-year-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest, and the loss of vision in one eye.

A Healthy 9-Month-Old Was Dropped Off at an Unlicensed Mena Daycare in the Morning. By 4 p.m. He Had Multiple Skull Fractures, and Nobody Has Ever Said How. A Polk County Jury Returned $110 Million.

On February 16, 2016 Daniel Ryals dropped his healthy 9-month-old son at Wendy Jo Strother's unlicensed in-home daycare in Mena, Arkansas. That afternoon Strother's daughter carried the baby into the local hospital with multiple skull fractures and bleeding in his brain. He is permanently blind and brain-damaged. Strother pleaded no contest to permitting child abuse and got probation. In November 2025 a Polk County jury awarded the family $110,000,000 plus $40,000 in punitive damages.

After trial: The jury verdict was returned on November 19, 2025 after a three-day trial in Polk County Circuit Court. As of September 2026 we find no reported post-trial motion, remittitur or appeal, and no Arkansas appellate record exists for the case. See more

Cook County Jury Awards $104 Million Against the Illinois Tollway for a Construction Zone Crash That Left One Man Paralyzed

A Cook County jury found the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority negligent for a 2016 construction zone crash on I-90 that killed one limousine passenger and left Rob Rosá paralyzed from the neck down, awarding Rosá and his spouse just over $104 million on October 9, 2025.

After trial: The Tollway said it was reviewing the verdict; no post-trial ruling or appeal had been publicly reported as of late 2025.

$100 Million Verdict Against Pharmacia for PCB Exposure at Sky Valley Education Center

A King County jury awarded $100 million to four plaintiffs who suffered neurological, hormonal, and cancer-related illnesses after years of exposure to PCBs from defective fluorescent light fixtures at a Monroe, Washington school.

After trial: The award covers four plaintiffs. Pharmacia has appealed the Sky Valley verdicts as a group, and Bayer's August 2025 settlement of more than 200 Sky Valley claims expressly excluded the verdicts already on appeal.

$100 Million Verdict for Family of Former Florida Senator's Son Shot Dead in Negligently Secured Condo

A Miami-Dade jury awarded $100 million to former Florida state senator Daphne Campbell for the death of her son Jason, shot while sleeping at the Monte Carlo Condominium after an intruder walked in through failed security. Morgan & Morgan attorneys Thomas Hasty, Grant Gillenwater, Chuck Fernandez, and Patrick Chucri tried the negligent security case with co-counsel from Ver Ploeg & Marino.

Insurer's Six-Year Stonewalling Triggers $91 Million Bad-Faith Judgment in Longfellow Bridge Case

After winning a $26.6 million jury verdict for a union mason who fell through defective scaffolding on the Longfellow Bridge, Andrew Abraham of Keches Law Group returned to court and proved that Liberty Mutual's insurers willfully refused to investigate or settle a clear liability case, prompting a judge to double the compensatory judgment to over $91 million under Chapter 93A and 176D.