Top Virginia Personal Injury Settlements
The largest personal injury settlements in Virginia for one client or family, ranked by amount. Each links to the full story, the firm, and the record behind the number.
Browse personal injury lawyers in Virginia →- $12 millionSettlementWrongful Death
Grain Delivery Driver Electrocuted at Silo: $12 Million Settlement Against Power Company and Property Owner
A 23-year-old grain truck driver was killed when an electrical arc jumped from an overhead high-voltage power line to the portable auger he was using at a commercial silo, and his family recovered $12 million from the power company and property owner.
- $11.5 millionSettlementMedical Malpractice
$11.5 Million FTCA Settlement for Navy Family After Birth Injury at Naval Hospital Guam
A federal judge approved an $11.5 million settlement for a Virginia Beach Navy family whose son was born with severe brain damage at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam in 2014, after attorneys Michael Imprevento and Kevin Biniazan sued the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
- $10 millionSettlementTruck Accidents
Tractor-Trailer Lane Change on I-95 Kills Retired Veteran; Family Settles for $10 Million
A tractor-trailer drifted into a retired 20-year veteran's lane on Interstate 95 North and killed him, and Marks & Harrison recovered $10 million for his family before any lawsuit was filed.
- $9 millionSettlementPremises Liability
Falling Store Display Fractures a 7-Year-Old's Skull; Premises Case Settles for $9 Million
A heavy retail display toppled onto a 7-year-old, fracturing the child's skull and forcing emergency brain surgery, and Marks & Harrison resolved the premises liability case for $9 million.
- $9 millionSettlementTruck Accidents
$9 Million Settlement for Truck Driver Who Lost His Right Leg When a Wheelabrator Truck Ran a Stop Sign
A truck driver and furniture mover was hit on U.S. Route 17 in Fauquier County, Virginia, on July 21, 2000, by a Wheelabrator Water Technologies truck that pulled out from a stop sign. He broke both legs, and an infection that would not heal led to amputation of the right leg above the knee. Liability was admitted from the start. The case settled for $9 million after one day of jury trial in Richmond Circuit Court.
After trial: The case settled during trial, so there was no verdict and no appeal. The terms beyond the $9 million figure, and whether the defendant's insurers paid it, were not reported.
- $8.5 millionSettlementWrongful Death
$8.5 Million Settlement for Family of Irvo Otieno, Smothered at a Virginia Psychiatric Hospital
Ben Crump and Richmond attorney Mark Krudys, representing the family of Irvo Otieno, negotiated an $8.5 million settlement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Henrico County, and the county sheriff after the 28-year-old died of asphyxiation while being pinned to the floor by deputies and hospital staff during his admission to a state psychiatric hospital. A Henrico Circuit Court judge approved the settlement in September 2023.
- $7 millionSettlementPremises Liability
$7 Million Settlement After Corroded Gas Line Causes Poolside Grill Explosion in Virginia Beach
A 23-year-old mother suffered burns to 36% of her body after a corroded natural gas pipe fed an undetected leak into an apartment complex's outdoor grill enclosure, triggering an explosion when she attempted to light it.
- $7 millionSettlementMotorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclist Loses Foot in Left-Turn Crash, Wins $7 Million Settlement in Hampton
A 40-year-old motorcyclist whose foot was traumatically amputated after an oncoming driver cut across his lane recovered $7 million in a settlement reached one month before trial.
- $6.5 millionSettlementPaidCivil Rights
Chesterfield County Settles Excessive-Force Suit Over Taser That Ignited Crash Victim's Clothing
In February 2015 a Chesterfield County, Virginia police officer fired a Taser at Miles November, a 27-year-old man trapped in a wrecked car soaked in gasoline after a police chase. His clothing ignited and he suffered burns over most of his body, followed by months in the hospital and more than 30 surgeries. He sued the county and the officer in federal court in Richmond. The case settled in 2018 for $6.5 million, paid by the county's commercial insurer and its self-insurance fund.
After trial: The case settled before trial, so there was no verdict or appeal. The county's commercial insurer and its self-insurance fund funded the payment.
Marks & Harrison2018 · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, RichmondRead the full story → - $5.24 millionSettlementCar Accidents
A 90 MPH Police Pursuit, a Head-On Crash, and a $5.24 Million Settlement
A police chase on wet Virginia roads ended in a head-on collision that killed a six-months-pregnant passenger's unborn son and left her with catastrophic injuries, and the case settled for $5.24 million.
- $2.65 millionSettlement
A $2.65 Million Settlement When the Physical Injuries Healed but the Emotional Ones Did Not
Marks & Harrison settled a Virginia negligence claim for $2.65 million for a plaintiff who recovered physically after hospitalization but kept struggling with lasting emotional injuries.
- $2.3 millionSettlementPremises Liability
Elderly Funeral Guest Suffers Brain and Facial Fractures in Staircase Fall at Private Club
An 80-year-old woman attending a funeral reception fell down non-uniform exterior stairs at a private club, sustaining a traumatic brain injury, skull and facial fractures, and a shoulder fracture, and settled for $2.3 million in July 2024.
- $2 millionSettlementPremises Liability
Dead Tree Limb Falls on Private Property: $2 Million Premises Settlement
A falling dead limb left a person with a concussion and a shoulder injury on private property, and Marks & Harrison settled the premises-liability claim for $2 million after mediation ended an eight-day trial before it began.
- $2 millionSettlementPremises Liability
Detergent Bottle at a Store Checkout: $2 Million Premises-Liability Settlement
A shopper struck in the right calf by a heavy detergent bottle at a store checkout developed fatal wound complications, and Geoff McDonald & Associates resolved the premises-liability claim for $2 million.
- $2 millionSettlementWorkplace Injury
Paralyzed Roofer Wins $2 Million Workers' Compensation Settlement From Statutory Employer
A roofer left paralyzed from the waist down after falling on the job for an uninsured contractor settled his Virginia workers' compensation claim for a $2 million lump sum.
Geoff McDonald & Associates, P.C.2022 · Virginia Workers' Compensation CommissionRead the full story → - $1.5 millionSettlementMedical Malpractice
OBGYNs Missed Thiamine Need in Severe Morning Sickness, Leaving 21-Year-Old With Permanent Brain Damage
A 21-year-old first-time mother developed Wernicke's encephalopathy and permanent cognitive deficits after her OBGYNs failed to give her thiamine during two months of severe hyperemesis gravidarum, resulting in a $1.5 million settlement in January 2025.
- $1.5 millionSettlementWrongful Death
$1.5 Million Wrongful Death Settlement After Hospital Patient, 66, Falls on Freshly Mopped Floor
A 66-year-old man in a Virginia hospital, awaiting discharge, slipped on a floor a contractor's housekeeper had just mopped and struck his head while holding an IV pole. He suffered a skull fracture and subdural hematoma and was removed from life support the next day. His family sued the hospital and the contractor that employed the housekeeper in Fredericksburg Circuit Court. The claim settled at mediation on May 22, 2024 for $1.5 million.
After trial: The case settled at mediation and no appeal applies. The defendants were not publicly identified, and whether the family received the full amount is not public.
Emroch & Kilduff2024 · Fredericksburg Circuit Court, Virginia (mediation before Hon. Thomas S. Shadrick, Ret.)Read the full story → - $1.5 millionSettlementMedical Malpractice
Bilateral Ureter and Bladder Injuries During Hysterectomy Bring $1.5 Million Settlement
A 36-year-old woman suffered bilateral ureter damage and bladder perforation during a laparoscopic hysterectomy, developed acute renal failure, and settled her malpractice claim in Fredericksburg Circuit Court for $1.5 million.
- $1.5 millionSettlementPremises Liability
$1.5 Million Settlement for Girl, 4, Burned in Richmond Sewer Gas Explosion
A 4-year-old girl suffered burns to her legs in July 2000 when gas ignited in a Richmond sewer main. Her lawyers said the city had not fully repaired gas line leaks found nearby two months earlier. The city agreed to pay $1.5 million, and a Richmond Circuit Court judge approved the settlement in December 2002.
After trial: The City of Richmond agreed to the settlement, which the Richmond Circuit Court approved in December 2002. The amount is the reported settlement figure.
- $1.4 millionSettlementPremises Liability
$1.4 Million Settlement for Dog Bite and Dislocated Kneecap in Prince William County
Marks & Harrison recovered $1.4 million for a homebuilding worker bitten without provocation by a dog its owners knew had bitten before, who then dislocated his kneecap on a kitchen island while trying to get away.
All Virginia verdicts and settlements
52 results, largest first
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.
Morgan & Morgan's John Yanchunis served as court-appointed co-lead counsel in the multidistrict litigation over Capital One's 2019 data breach, which exposed the personal information of roughly 98 million U.S. customers. The $190 million settlement won final approval in 2022 as one of the largest data breach recoveries in U.S. history.
Price Benowitz, with co-counsel Ben Crump, filed a $25 million wrongful death suit for the father of Rolin Hill, who died in 2024 after Virginia Beach jail deputies restrained and beat him during a mental health crisis.
A Hampton jury awarded Christopher Denton $25 million after a cardiologist read his cardiac test results as normal, diagnosed a minor heart infection, and sent him home on over-the-counter medication, months before Denton suffered a massive heart attack that left him functioning with roughly half his cardiac capacity.
A Richmond jury awarded $23 million to a commercial truck driver who suffered a traumatic brain injury, crushed pelvis, and right-leg amputation when a Moen Inc. tractor-trailer parked in the emergency lane of I-295 pulled back into traffic and was struck by his rig at highway speed.
A Charles City County jury returned a $20 million verdict for a ten-year-old boy who suffered third-degree burns across 25 percent of his body after contacting 13,200 volts inside an inadequately secured Virginia Power substation next to his Richmond apartment complex, and the Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed the award in full.
Nine boys abused by a Colonial Heights church youth leader secured a $17.61 million global settlement in July 2025, wrapping up nearly nine years of civil litigation and paying out four times what the defendants' insurers claimed they owed.
A Charlottesville jury awarded $15 million in May 2022 to the mother and sister of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia lacrosse player killed by her former boyfriend in 2010, more than a decade after his criminal conviction.
A 23-year-old grain truck driver was killed when an electrical arc jumped from an overhead high-voltage power line to the portable auger he was using at a commercial silo, and his family recovered $12 million from the power company and property owner.
A federal judge approved an $11.5 million settlement for a Virginia Beach Navy family whose son was born with severe brain damage at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam in 2014, after attorneys Michael Imprevento and Kevin Biniazan sued the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
The City of Portsmouth paid its full $11 million insurance policy after a police pursuit through downtown traffic ended in a crash that killed Calvin Majette III and left his wife Temika Pleas with a permanent traumatic brain injury.
A 15-year-old Miller School of Albemarle boarding student suffered catastrophic internal injuries when he fell onto a cut bamboo stalk during a school-supervised service project, resulting in a $10 million jury verdict and total recoveries of $10.75 million.
A speeding Allied Concrete truck tipped onto a car on the Thomas Jefferson Parkway in June 2007, killing Jessica Lester and injuring her husband. A Charlottesville jury in December 2010 awarded her widower and her parents $10.58 million in total. The trial court cut the widower's wrongful death award, and the Supreme Court of Virginia reinstated the full verdict in January 2013.
A Virginia jury awarded $21.8 million to the family of Randall Redford, a maintenance-of-way worker who died of Acute Myeloid Leukemia after 38 years of diesel-exhaust exposure on Norfolk Southern's tracks, with Napoli Shkolnik attorney Chris Schnieders securing the verdict under FELA.
A 90-year-old Virginia woman who spent her days running her church food bank and delivering meals to disabled neighbors was left permanently wheelchair-bound after a box truck ran an intersection without yielding, and recovered $10.3 million in a pre-trial settlement resolved on January 28, 2025.
A Newport News jury found the assistant principal of Richneck Elementary School grossly negligent and awarded $10 million to teacher Abby Zwerner, who was shot in her classroom by a 6-year-old student on January 6, 2023.
A tractor-trailer drifted into a retired 20-year veteran's lane on Interstate 95 North and killed him, and Marks & Harrison recovered $10 million for his family before any lawsuit was filed.
A City of Richmond worker suffered permanent brain damage when a runaway Norfolk Southern boxcar with a missing brake rod drove a floodwall gate into him, and a Richmond jury returned a $10 million verdict.
A heavy retail display toppled onto a 7-year-old, fracturing the child's skull and forcing emergency brain surgery, and Marks & Harrison resolved the premises liability case for $9 million.
A truck driver and furniture mover was hit on U.S. Route 17 in Fauquier County, Virginia, on July 21, 2000, by a Wheelabrator Water Technologies truck that pulled out from a stop sign. He broke both legs, and an infection that would not heal led to amputation of the right leg above the knee. Liability was admitted from the start. The case settled for $9 million after one day of jury trial in Richmond Circuit Court.
Ben Crump and Richmond attorney Mark Krudys, representing the family of Irvo Otieno, negotiated an $8.5 million settlement with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Henrico County, and the county sheriff after the 28-year-old died of asphyxiation while being pinned to the floor by deputies and hospital staff during his admission to a state psychiatric hospital. A Henrico Circuit Court judge approved the settlement in September 2023.
Patrick Malone won an $8.85 million verdict against the maker of Tylenol after a former White House aide lost his liver to a drug he took exactly as directed.
A 23-year-old mother suffered burns to 36% of her body after a corroded natural gas pipe fed an undetected leak into an apartment complex's outdoor grill enclosure, triggering an explosion when she attempted to light it.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.