Top Individual New York Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

$172 Million Bronx Verdict After EMTs Arrived Without Oxygen or Defibrillator and Told Family to Wait

Thomas Moore won a $172 million jury verdict in Bronx Supreme Court for a woman left with catastrophic brain damage after FDNY EMTs responded to her 1998 cardiac arrest without essential equipment and advised her family to wait for a second ambulance instead of transporting her immediately.

After trial: No appellate decision is on the public record; the headline number was never tested on appeal.

$130 Million Verdict Against St. Charles Hospital for Birth Injury

A Suffolk County jury awarded $130 million to a girl who developed cerebral palsy after oxygen deprivation during her 2002 delivery at St. Charles Hospital, after Thomas A. Moore of Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore tried the case three times; appellate review later cut the pain and suffering award to $4.25 million, and the firm reports the case resolved for $13.6 million in cash plus lifetime Medical Indemnity Fund coverage.

After trial: Reduced post-trial and on appeal: pain and suffering set at $4.25M (143 AD3d 692, 2d Dept 2016); per the firm, resolved for $13.6M cash plus lifetime Medical Indemnity Fund coverage.

$120 Million Verdict for Woman Brain-Damaged After Three NYC Hospitals Missed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

A Bronx jury awarded $120 million to Jacqueline Martin, a 45-year-old mother who suffered permanent brain damage after three New York City hospitals repeatedly failed to recognize and treat a severe allergic reaction to seizure medication that triggered Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

After trial: The hospital corporation announced an appeal; no final public outcome is on record.

$117 Million Record Verdict for WTC Sheet Metal Worker With Mesothelioma From 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. The jury put 80 percent of the fault on Mario and DiBono and 10 percent each on the Port Authority and Tishman, who were not at the verdict; New York's limits on noneconomic damages may reduce the judgment.

$100 Million CVA Verdict: Largest in New York History for Childhood Sexual Abuse

An Erie County jury awarded $100 million to a woman sexually abused over four years beginning at age 12, the largest Child Victims Act verdict in New York State history.

After trial: Awarded against an individual defendant and essentially uncollectable; the total includes $50 million in punitive damages.

$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.

$95 Million CVA Verdict Against Former Rochester Priest for 1979 Childhood Sexual Abuse

A Monroe County jury ordered former Rochester Catholic priest Foster Rogers to pay $95 million to a man he sexually assaulted in 1979, when the victim was 15 years old, in one of the largest Child Victims Act verdicts in New York history.

After trial: Awarded against an individual defendant; collection prospects are limited.

$85 Million Verdict for a Pedestrian Run Over by a Manhattan Tour Bus

A Manhattan jury awarded $85 million to a writer and former New York Times columnist who was severely injured by a double-decker sightseeing bus while lawfully crossing the street.

$81.7 Million Verdict for a Tourist Who Lost an Arm and Leg Under a Subway Train, MTA Contesting

A Brooklyn federal jury awarded $81.7 million to Luisa Janssen Harger Da Silva, a Brazilian student who fainted onto the tracks at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station in 2016 and lost her left arm and left leg, in the first US verdict holding a transit system liable for failing to install platform barriers, but the money is far from paid: the MTA says it will appeal, and its fully briefed motions to throw out the verdict entirely or order a new trial are still pending before Judge Frederic Block.

After trial: MTA post-trial motions to overturn or reduce the verdict were fully briefed in mid-2026 and remain pending; the MTA says it will appeal. Nothing collected yet.

Manhattan Jury Awards Former Cornell Student $71 Million After Driver Fell Asleep and Caused Head-On Crash

On September 28, 2017, a Manhattan jury awarded Morgan Wang $71 million against Neil Sexton, the driver who fell asleep at the wheel on state Route 79 in August 2012 on the way to Cornell University. Wang, a passenger, suffered a fractured back and a spinal cord injury. The award was $5 million for past pain and suffering, $6 million for future pain and suffering and $60 million for future medical care.

After trial: We found no reported appeal or post-trial reduction of the verdict. We could not confirm whether the judgment was finalized or collected.

Brooklyn Jury Awards Paralyzed Cyclist $110.17 Million Against NYC Transit

A Brooklyn jury found the NYC Transit Authority fully at fault after a track crew dropped a railroad tie onto cyclist Robert Liciaga, severing his spine, and returned $110,174,972.38.

After trial: Judgment was entered at $69.7 million after post-trial reductions; the appeal was decided in 2024.

$65 Million Verdict for Child Sex Abuse Survivor Against Former Buffalo YMCA Counselor

An Erie County jury awarded $65 million to a woman who was sexually abused over seven years as a child by former Buffalo YMCA counselor James B. Jackson, in one of the largest verdicts under New York's Child Victims Act.

Queens Jury's $62 Million Fall Verdict Settles for $6 Million During Appeal

A Queens County jury awarded Zeng Guang Lin, an immigrant construction worker who was 20 when he fell 20 feet from a roof at a Bronx job site, $62,060,086.27 on December 17, 2014 after finding property owner Hutch Realty Partners LLC and contractor Gamut Consulting Inc. liable under New York Labor Law for failing to provide him fall protection. Lin suffered a traumatic brain injury along with spinal fractures, rib fractures, a lacerated spleen, a renal hematoma, and lung contusions. Hutch Realty filed post-trial motions and appealed, and while both were pending the case settled for $6,000,000, against a judgment the defense firm on the appeal puts at $68 million. Benedict Morelli tried the case for Lin; trade-press coverage at the time identified his firm as the Morelli, Alters and Ratner Law Firm, the practice known today as Morelli Law Firm PLLC.

After trial: Reduced by settlement. Hutch Realty Partners appealed, and the case settled for $6,000,000 before the appeal was resolved, according to a defense-firm case summary. See more

A Routine Pain Injection, Permanent Paralysis, and a Record $60 Million Nassau Verdict

After a routine lumbar epidural steroid injection left a Long Island man permanently paralyzed, Gair Gair Conason won a $60 million verdict for the client of attorney Marijo C. Adimey. It is believed to be the largest medical-malpractice award in Nassau County history.

A Classroom Flame Demonstration, a Fireball, and a $59.17 Million Verdict

After a methanol "rainbow" demonstration erupted into a fireball and burned 16-year-old Alonzo Yanes over more than 30 percent of his body, Gair Gair Conason won a $59.17 million verdict against the New York City Department of Education and his chemistry teacher.

Brooklyn Jury Awards $53.5 Million to Construction Worker Paralyzed in Rooftop Fall

A Brooklyn jury found general contractor Mecca Contracting failed to protect Alan Moonsammy from a fall that left him paralyzed and awarded him $53.5 million.

$50 Million Verdict for Boy Left Brain-Damaged When a Shunt Failure Went Unaddressed at New York Hospital

When a shunt revision at New York Hospital failed and went unaddressed in 1990, Samuel Desiderio suffered catastrophic brain damage; a jury awarded roughly $50 million and New York's highest court upheld the structured judgment in full.

After trial: Structured settlement.

$72.5 Million Verdict for a Cancer Patient Struck and Dragged by an MTA Bus

A Manhattan jury awarded $72.5 million on February 22, 2024 to Aurora Beauchamp, a stage 4 cancer patient who was struck in a Lower East Side crosswalk by an MTA bus and dragged roughly 20 feet before it came to rest on her legs, crushing her pelvis and paralyzing her left leg, in what was widely reported as potentially the largest pedestrian knockdown verdict against the MTA. On September 17, 2026 the Appellate Division, First Department cut the award to about $47.8 million, unless the plaintiffs reject the reduction and accept a new trial on damages.

After trial: The Appellate Division, First Department, modified the judgment on September 17, 2026: future medical expenses reduced to $8,238,345, and the pain and suffering and loss of services awards cut to $20 million, $17 million, $1.5 million and $1.1 million (about $47.8 million in all), unless the plaintiffs decline the reduction and take a new trial on those issues. The Transit Authority had conceded liability.

Construction Worker Left Without Oxygen for 20 Minutes After Debris Chute Collapse Wins $44 Million Settlement

Arian Hila, 48, suffered catastrophic traumatic brain injury at a Tappan, New York demolition site in February 2018 when a debris chute broke free and crushed him, leaving him without oxygen for nearly 20 minutes; a $44 million settlement was reached seven days into a 2024 jury trial.

$41.5 Million Verdict for the Family of a Sanitation Worker Crushed Inside a Queens Garage

A Queens jury awarded $41.5 million to the widow and four children of Steven Frosch, a 43-year-old New York City sanitation worker crushed between two street sweepers inside a Maspeth garage.