Top Individual North Dakota Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

$9.66 Million Judgment for Daughter of Fargo Dentist Killed by Hit Man Hired by His Father-in-Law

Dr. Philip Gattuso, a 49-year-old Fargo dentist, was beaten to death with a hammer in his home in October 2009. His father-in-law, Gene Kirkpatrick, had paid a hit man $3,000 with $10,000 more promised, because he wanted custody of Gattuso's young daughter. Kirkpatrick is serving life without parole. In July 2013, after a bench trial on damages, Judge Lisa Fair McEvers entered a $9,656,139.50 wrongful-death judgment for the girl and the estate. Kirkpatrick says he cannot pay any of it.

After trial: Bench judgment of $9.66 million entered July 8, 2013, with liability set by summary judgment from the criminal conviction. No appeal of the damages judgment has been reported and nothing was reduced. See more

$2.9 Million Settlement for Parents of Girl, 12, Who Died at Residential Facility

A twelve-year-old girl died while in the care of a residential treatment facility in North Dakota. Her parents' federal civil rights action was dismissed by the district court, reinstated by the Eighth Circuit in 2022, and settled on remand for $2.9 million, reported as the largest known civil rights settlement in the state.

After trial: Settlement, with no court finding of liability. The action was dismissed in October 2021, reinstated by the Eighth Circuit on August 2, 2022, and settled on remand, with dismissal entered April 19, 2023. See more

$2.49 Million Verdict for Fargo Tenant Burned When a Roll-Down Fire Door Blocked Her Exit

A jury found the owner of a downtown Fargo apartment building 85 percent at fault after a tenant was burned and overcome by smoke on March 14, 1997, when a metal roll-down fire door dropped across her hallway. Total damages were $2.935 million, and the landlord's share came to about $2.49 million. The North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the liability rulings in 2003 and removed interest on future damages.

After trial: The jury's total of $2.935 million was reduced to the landlord's 85 percent share. The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed liability in 2003 but eliminated interest on future damages, and in 2004 it upheld the amended judgment. See more

$2 Million Judgment for Woman, 19, Who Died in Rolette County Jail Cell Nine Hours After Booking

Lacey Higdem, 19, was found hallucinating in the woods under the influence of methamphetamine and booked into the Rolette County Jail in Rolla, North Dakota on June 3, 2020. She died in her cell roughly nine hours later. Rolette County and two former correctional officers made a $2 million offer of judgment, which was accepted.

After trial: Judgment of $2,000,000 entered in the District of North Dakota after the plaintiff accepted a Rule 68 offer of judgment from Rolette County in April 2025. No post-trial or appellate step remains that could reduce it.

$1.66 Million Verdict for Truck Driver Left in Kidney Failure After Delayed Diagnosis

A North Dakota jury awarded Michael Davis $1.66 million after CHI St. Alexius Health Williston and Dr. David Keene failed to refer him to a kidney specialist for nearly two years, allowing IgA nephropathy to progress to total kidney failure and an eventual transplant.

Rig Explosion Judgment Stands After Oasis Petroleum's Costs Appeal Fails

In May 2022 a Williams County jury found that $5,012,500 would compensate Kyle Harris for injuries he suffered in a November 2011 explosion on a North Dakota oil rig operated by Oasis Petroleum, where he was working as an employee of Frontier Pressure Testing, LLC. The jury apportioned 15 percent of the fault to Oasis, 65 percent to Harris's employer, Frontier Pressure Testing, and 20 percent to Harris himself. Under North Dakota's several liability statute the district court reduced Oasis's obligation to a $751,800 principal judgment, then added prejudgment interest and costs for a total of $1,381,297.02. Oasis appealed only the costs award, arguing Harris was not a prevailing party because his own fault exceeded its 15 percent share, and the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the full judgment in 2024.

After trial: Reduced by fault allocation and affirmed. The $1,381,297.02 reflects only Oasis's 15 percent share of the jury's compensation finding plus prejudgment interest and costs. See more

Jury Awards Parents $810,458 After Driver Admits Fault in 1995 West Fargo Crash That Killed Their Son

The parents of an eight-year-old boy killed in a November 1995 crash in West Fargo, North Dakota, sued the driver, his father and a second driver alleged to have been racing him. The driver admitted liability, and the jury awarded the parents $810,457.96 against him and found the second driver not negligent. The trial court refused to subtract the family's pretrial settlement with the father from the award, and the North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed in 1999.

After trial: The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed on August 25, 1999 (1999 ND 171), refusing to deduct the family's pretrial settlement with the driver's father from the jury award. The amended judgment was $825,681.47, but the opinion does not itemize what was added to the jury's $810,457.96, so only the award ranks. See more

$100,000 Verdict: Fargo Parents Found 40% at Fault for Sexual Assault on Teen Guest

A nine-person jury awarded $250,000 to a teenage girl who was sexually assaulted in a Fargo home after finding the homeowners 40% liable for failing to supervise the gathering of minors in their basement.

After trial: The jury awarded $250,000 but put 58 percent of the fault on the boyfriend who assaulted her and 2 percent on the person who supplied alcohol, neither of whom was sued, so the homeowners owe their 40 percent, $100,000.