Top Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements of 2026

J&J Agrees to Pay at Least $5.5 Billion to Resolve 76,000 Talc-Cancer Claims

After fifteen years of litigation and three failed bankruptcy maneuvers by Johnson and Johnson subsidiaries, Ashcraft and Gerel attorneys R. Bryant McCulley and Michelle Parfitt helped negotiate a global, uncapped settlement of at least $5.5 billion covering approximately 76,000 ovarian-cancer claims.

After trial: Settlement minimum; the total is at least $5.5 billion.

$1.1 Billion Verdict for Child Left Brain-Damaged by Oil-Fortune Heir

A Dallas jury awarded $1.1 billion against a trust fund heir who beat a 2-year-old into a permanent vegetative state in 2021, a verdict the firm calls the largest child-assault award in U.S. history.

After trial: As of mid-2026 the trial court had not yet entered final judgment on the March 2026 verdict, and Brooks's own attorneys expected an appeal along with post-trial motions to reduce the award. Plaintiff's counsel said Brooks has the financial capacity to pay but predicted the family will likely settle for less before any appeal concludes.

Oakland County Jury Returns Record $896.5 Million Verdict for Boy Struck at Continental Test Track

An Oakland County jury awarded $896.5 million to a young boy who was struck by a prototype test car during a student field trip at a Continental test track, reported as the largest verdict in Michigan history. The award is pre-appeal: post-trial motions are pending, Continental never made a settlement offer, and the amount could still be reduced.

After trial: The verdict is pre-appeal: post-trial motions were pending as of September 2026 and Continental is expected to seek a reduction. Nothing has been paid.

Oakland County Jury Awards $896 Million After Test Track Crash Leaves Boy With Brain Injury

A grade-school boy suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull and broken bones in July 2023 when a prototype Ford Mustang Dark Horse spun out during a demonstration at Continental Automotive Systems' Auburn Hills, Michigan test track and struck children watching from behind a guardrail. Continental conceded liability for the child's injuries but made no settlement offer, so the case was tried to an Oakland County jury on damages alone. At the end of a three-week trial in July 2026 the jury returned $896,467,970, reported by Courtroom View Network as the largest single-plaintiff personal injury verdict in Michigan history. Separate juries later heard the father's own bystander claim and the claim of the second boy hurt at the guardrail.

After trial: No appeal of this verdict appeared on the record as of mid-September 2026, and the verdict is recent enough that post-trial challenges remain possible. Co-counsel Jon Marko told Courtroom View Network he expects the size of the award, rather than any preserved legal error, to be Continental's strongest argument if it appeals, describing the trial record as fairly clean. See more

Garcia Peña Family Awarded $812 Million as Starr County Jury Returns Combined $1.6 Billion Verdict Against Owner of Pecos Chemical Facility Where Two Workers Died

A Starr County jury unanimously awarded more than $1.6 billion combined to the families of two workers killed in a 2023 explosion at the Pecos Liquids Handling Facility, with $812 million going to the Garcia Peña family and roughly $809 million to the Alaffa family, finding owner Upton Assets, LLC grossly negligent, though the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy about two weeks before the verdict and collection remains uncertain.

After trial: Upton Assets filed Chapter 11 (Bankr. W.D. See more

Orange County Jury Awards $644.75 Million to Man Left Partially Paralyzed by Winter Park Bar Staircase Fall

A jury found the owners of the Park Social bar liable for a 2017 staircase fall that left a 57-year-old patron a partial quadriplegic, returning a $644,751,855 premises-liability verdict that the defendants have appealed to Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal.

After trial: On appeal at Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal (6D2026-1557) as of August 2026; judgment not yet collected.

Detroit Federal Jury Awards $307.6 Million Over a Denied $919 Surgery

A Detroit federal jury awarded former Michigan inmate Kohchise Jackson $307.6 million after the state's for-profit prison health contractor refused to pay for the $919 surgery that would have reversed his colostomy.

After trial: Post-trial motions and an appeal are pending, and collection is seriously at risk: Corizon reorganized into Tehum Care Services, which filed for bankruptcy, leaving corporate-veil and bankruptcy-stay questions unresolved.

$198.2 Million Verdict for Sexual Assault Survivor Kristene Chapa Against Attacker and Family Pharmacy

A San Patricio County jury awarded $198.2 million to Kristene Chapa, who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and shot in the head at a public park in 2012, with the verdict holding her convicted attacker, his father, and their family pharmacy jointly liable.

After trial: The verdict against David Strickland, who is serving life without parole for the underlying attack, is largely uncollectable; Kristene Chapa said after the verdict he "doesn't have a pot to piss in" and she likely will never collect from him. No appeal had been reported as of this recent 2026 verdict.

$198 Million Verdict for Family of Two Brothers Killed in Westlake Village Crosswalk

A Los Angeles jury awarded $198.17 million to the Iskander family after two young brothers were struck and killed in a Westlake Village crosswalk, with Nick Movagar of M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers serving as co-counsel alongside Brian Panish.

After trial: The verdict is against two individuals: Rebecca Grossman, who was driving the SUV that struck the boys, and Scott Erickson, found liable for racing alongside her. Grossman is serving 15 years to life in prison for her 2024 murder conviction in the same crash, and whether the family can collect against her disputed, unverified net worth remains unclear; no appeal outcome had been reported as of this research.

$182 Million Settlement in the Deadliest Crash in Metro-North History

After a Westchester jury found Metro-North 71% at fault for the 2015 Valhalla grade-crossing disaster, a settlement exceeding $182 million resolved the claims of roughly 30 victims and their families.

Pierce County Jury Awards $130 Million Over Death of 2-Year-Old the State and Her Daycare Failed to Protect

A Pierce County jury awarded $130 million against the State of Washington and a South Hill daycare over the death of a 2-year-old girl who died of blunt force trauma in March 2022 after the state's child welfare agency returned her to a home where her abuser remained present and daycare staff failed to report visible injuries they had seen. After a five-week trial the jury found the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families 90% at fault and Love and Laughter Learning Centers, Inc. 10% at fault. Of that total, $52 million was awarded individually to the girl's estate, with the remainder split among four other family beneficiaries, and the jury returned a further $10 million against the mother and her boyfriend. News accounts described it as the largest verdict of its kind in Washington state history. Ray Dearie of Dearie Law Group represented the family.

After trial: As of publication, no independent source reports that DCYF or Love and Laughter Learning Centers has appealed. DCYF said after the verdict only that it was evaluating its legal options. See more

$108.6 Million Verdict Against Jefferson Health for a Boy Brain-Injured in a Forceps Delivery at Einstein, With Supreme Court Review Looming Over the Appeal

A Philadelphia jury awarded $108.6 million to a boy who suffered permanent brain damage during a December 2018 forceps delivery at Einstein Medical Center, in a case tried by Gilman & Bedigian against Jefferson Health. Jefferson has vowed to appeal, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is already reviewing the same liability doctrines in the firm's earlier $183 million Penn Medicine verdict, so the award is far from final.

After trial: Post-trial motions are pending and Jefferson has said it will appeal. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court review granted in July 2026 in Hagans v. See more

El Paso Jury Awards $104 Million After MVT Driver Falls Asleep, Kills Worker in Sleeper Berth

An El Paso jury returned a $104 million verdict against Mesilla Valley Transportation after its driver fell asleep on I-40 in Oklahoma and crashed into a disabled truck, killing Orlando Robles, 38, who was sleeping in the sleeper berth.

After trial: As of July 2026, Mesilla Valley Transportation said it was evaluating its appellate options but had not filed an appeal of the $104 million verdict.

$100 Million Settlement Ends Ohio State's Strauss Abuse Litigation, Covering Nearly 280 Survivors

Ohio State University agreed to pay $100 million to 279 of 280 remaining plaintiffs who sued the university over decades of sexual abuse by former team physician Dr. Richard Strauss; Estey and Bomberger was among co-counsel firms representing survivors.

$96.9M Verdict: Nassau County Ignored 108 Crashes Before Teen Was Catastrophically Injured

A Nassau County jury awarded $96,906,004 to a woman who suffered catastrophic brain injuries at age 15 at an intersection the county had been warned about for years, making it the second-largest verdict in Nassau County history.

She Was 18 and Driving to Take the ACT. An Off-Duty Moore Police Sergeant Doing Nearly 100 in a 50 Hit Her Broadside. A Federal Jury Returned $126 Million, and Oklahoma Law Let $90,125,000 of It Stand.

On December 14, 2019 Emily Gaines, an 18-year-old Moore High School senior, was driving to take the ACT when Sgt. Kyle Lloyd of the Moore Police Department, off duty and rushing a key to another officer's patrol car for a department event, hit her broadside at 95 to 100 mph in a 50 zone. She died at the scene. On April 1, 2026 a federal jury returned $126,000,000. The court entered $90,000,000 against Lloyd, who is in prison, and cut the $36,000,000 against the City to $125,000 under Oklahoma's Governmental Tort Claims Act.

After trial: Reduced by statute, not by a court's view of the evidence. The jury's $126,000,000 verdict of April 1, 2026 was entered on April 6, 2026 as $90,000,000 against Kyle Lloyd on the Section 1983 claim and $125,000 against the City of Moore, because the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act (51 O.S. See more

$81 Million Utah Verdict After a Truck Killed a 12-Year-Old in a Marked Crosswalk

A retrial jury in Utah's Fourth District Court awarded $81 million against Beacon Roofing Supply after one of its trucks struck and killed a 12-year-old boy who was crossing legally in a marked crosswalk.

220,000 Gallons of Chicken Rendering Waste Went Into the River That Supplies the County's Drinking Water. The Boat Repairman Who Worked In It Developed a Flesh Eating Infection.

In 2019 a rented temporary pipe system failed at a Tyson Farms chicken rendering plant in Hanceville, and roughly 220,000 gallons of rendering wastewater went into the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River. Mark Griffin, a boat repairman working on the water downriver in Dora, fell ill and was eventually diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis.

After trial: This verdict is recent and its appellate fate is open. The jury returned $70 million on March 27, 2026 in Walker County Circuit Court after a four-week trial, on wantonness against Tyson Farms and negligence against HydraService. See more

A Two-Lane Pothole, a Rollover on I-55, and a $60 Million Settlement

Clifford Law Offices secured a $60 million settlement for Sarah Grasser, 31, left paraplegic when another driver swerved to avoid a deep pothole in an I-55 work zone and struck her car, rolling it into a ditch.

Her Car Ran Out of Gas on I-15, So She Pulled Onto the Shoulder and Put the Flashers On. The Drunk Driver Who Hit It Killed Her and Her 16-Year-Old Son. A Utah Judge Ordered $60 Million.

On Halloween night 2021 Season Dow's car ran out of gas on Interstate 15 in Orem and she stopped on the shoulder with her hazard lights on. Kesley Pope, 22, driving her father's uninsured truck at about twice the legal blood alcohol limit, drove straight into it. Season Dow died at the scene and her 16-year-old son died in hospital. Pope is in prison. In June 2026, after a two-day civil trial, Judge Derek Pullan ordered her to pay the family $60,000,000.

After trial: This is a bench judgment after a two-day trial in April 2026, with damages ordered in June 2026, and it is recent: no appellate record exists and no post-judgment motion has been reported. No cap applies, because Article XVI, Section 5 of the Utah Constitution forbids limiting wrongful-death damages, as the Utah Supreme Court held in Smith v. See more