Top Individual Wrongful Death Verdicts and Settlements
The 20 largest individual personal injury results for wrongful death cases on record here, ranked by amount: one client's, one family's, or one incident's recovery, never a pooled fund. Each links to the full story, the firm, and the record behind the number.
- $1.02 billionSettlementFL
A $1.02 Billion Settlement for the Families of the Surfside Condo Collapse
After Champlain Towers South collapsed in the middle of the night and killed 98 people, Curtis Miner of Colson Hicks Eidson served as court-appointed liaison counsel for the wrongful death and personal injury claimants, part of a leadership team that reached a roughly $1.02 billion class settlement.
After trial: Court-approved settlement fund for the 98 wrongful death claims from the collapse; with property claims the full program totaled about $1.2 billion.
- $860 millionVerdictTX
Dallas County Jury Returns $860 Million in Crane Collapse Death
A Dallas County jury found developer Greystar liable for the 2019 tower crane collapse that killed 29-year-old Kiersten Smith in her apartment, returning an $860 million verdict that Jason and Cory Itkin helped win for her family.
- $844 millionSettlementFL
Chapecoense Soccer Team Crash: $844 Million in Judgments for 43 Families
Steven Marks and Kristina Infante of Podhurst Orseck secured a combined $844 million in wrongful-death judgments for 43 families of passengers killed when LaMia Flight 2933 crashed near Medellin, Colombia, in November 2016, killing 71 of the 77 people aboard.
After trial: Combined judgments and settlements for the families of 43 victims of a single crash, not one plaintiff's award.
- $800 millionSettlementNV
$800 Million Settlement for Route 91 Harvest Shooting Victims Against MGM Resorts
Robert Eglet of Eglet Adams served as lead counsel for approximately 2,500 of the more than 4,400 plaintiffs who secured an $800 million settlement from MGM Resorts International over the October 1, 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, one of the largest victim-compensation settlements in U.S. history.
- $745 millionVerdictMO
$745 Million Verdict After Nitrous Oxide Distributor and Head Shop Conspire to Sell Inhalants, Killing a 25-Year-Old Radiologic Technologist
A St. Louis County jury returned a $745 million verdict against nitrous oxide distributor United Brands and local head shop Coughing Cardinal after finding the companies conspired to sell Whip-It! canisters as an inhalant to a driver who passed out behind the wheel and fatally struck 25-year-old Marissa Politte outside her workplace.
- $640 millionVerdictTX
$640 Million Verdict for Family of Pipefitter Killed by Falling HVAC Unit at Texas A&M San Antonio Construction Site
A Harris County jury awarded $640 million to the family of David Lester Loree II, a journeyman pipefitter fatally crushed when a top-heavy HVAC unit being lifted by TNT Crane and Rigging overturned in high winds at a Texas A&M University-San Antonio construction site in September 2021.
The Buzbee Law Firm2025 · Harris County District Court (Case No. 2021-68047), Judge Erica R. HughesRead the full story → - $550 millionVerdictNV
$550 Million Wrongful-Death Verdict After Driver Hit 107 mph on Drugs and Alcohol
A Clark County jury awarded $550 million -- $50 million compensatory and $500 million punitive -- to Nimfa Escobia after her husband Marcial was killed by a driver traveling 107 mph while impaired by alcohol, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana.
Bighorn Law2024 · Clark County District Court, Las Vegas, NV (Case No. A-21-842834-C)Read the full story → - $462 million (reduced post-trial to approximately $119.5 million)VerdictMO
$462 Million Verdict Against Wabash National After Fatal Underride Crash Kills Two Young Fathers
A St. Louis jury awarded $462 million against trailer maker Wabash National after its defective rear-impact guard failed and allowed a car to slide beneath a trailer on I-55, killing Taron Tailor, 30, and Nicholas Perkins, 23, in 2019.
- $450 million (sought)MA
$450 Million Wrongful Death Suit: Eversource Ignored Gas Leak for Three Years Before Fatal Maynard Explosion
The family of Greg Sharrigan, killed when a gas leak ignited at his Maynard home in September 2021, sued Eversource for $450 million, alleging the utility detected the underground leak three years before the fatal explosion and never fixed it.
- $330 millionVerdictFL
Hernando County Jury Awards $330 Million in DUI Wrongful Death of 13-Year-Old
A Hernando County jury returned a $330 million verdict for Angela Stone after a drunk driver ran a stop sign and fatally struck a minivan carrying her 13-year-old daughter.
After trial: The verdict is against an individual drunk driver and is largely uncollectable.
- Confidential (aggregate >$300 million total litigation)SettlementCA
Alaska Airlines Flight 261: Confidential Settlements for 18 Families in $300 Million-Plus Litigation
Jamie Lebovitz served on the federal MDL Plaintiff's Steering Committee for the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 disaster, representing 18 families in confidential individual settlements as part of a broader litigation that recovered more than $300 million for surviving relatives of the 88 people killed.
Nurenberg Paris Heller & McCarthy2003 · U.S. District Court, N.D. California (MDL-00-1343)Read the full story → - $296 millionVerdictTX
$296 Million Verdict Against Koch Industries for Butane Pipeline Deaths in Kaufman County
A Kaufman County jury awarded $296 million in compensatory damages against Koch Industries after a corroded, unmaintained butane pipeline exploded and killed two teenagers on August 24, 1996.
After trial: Koch settled confidentially before the punitive damages phase went to the jury.
- $272.5 millionSettlementNY
$272.5 Million for the Victims of the Tribeca Crane Collapse
A 565-foot crawler crane toppled across a Tribeca street in 2016, killing a young mathematician; the case settled for $272.5 million.
Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf2025 · New York County (Manhattan), NYRead the full story → - $265 millionSettlementPA
The Amtrak 188 Derailment and the $265 Million Fund for Its Victims
After Amtrak Train 188 derailed in Philadelphia in May 2015, killing eight and injuring more than 200, Kline & Specter's Thomas R. Kline led the plaintiffs' negotiations that produced a $265 million settlement fund for the victims.
- $262 millionSettlementFL
ValuJet Flight 592: $262 Million for 110 Everglades Crash Victims
Steven Marks of Podhurst Orseck served as lead liaison counsel for the state-court plaintiffs and on the federal MDL Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, helping recover more than $262 million across insurance settlements for the families of the 110 people killed in the May 1996 crash.
After trial: Combined settlements for the families of the 110 people killed in the crash.
- $243 millionVerdictFL
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.
- $230 millionVerdictTX
Federal Court Awards $230 Million Against U.S. Air Force for Sutherland Springs Church Shooting
In February 2022, a federal judge ordered the United States to pay $230 million to survivors and families of the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting after finding the Air Force 60 percent liable for failing to report the gunman's criminal history to the federal background check system.
After trial: The Justice Department settled the Sutherland Springs cases for $144.5 million in 2023.
National Trial Law2022 · U.S. District Court, W.D. Texas (San Antonio), No. 5:18-cv-00555Read the full story → - $227 millionSettlementPA
Seven Dead in Philadelphia Building Collapse: $227 Million Settlement Closes Longest Civil Trial in City History
When a demolition project at 22nd and Market Streets sent a four-story brick wall crashing through a Salvation Army thrift store in June 2013, seven people were killed; after nearly six months of civil trial, the defendants settled for $227 million, the largest personal-injury settlement in Pennsylvania history.
- $210 millionVerdictTX
Bexar County Jury Awards $210 Million in Wrongful Death of Andreen McDonald
A Bexar County civil jury awarded $210 million to the family of Andreen McDonald, killed by her husband in 2019, in what is reported to be the largest personal injury verdict in county history.
- $205 millionVerdictCO
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.
All wrongful death verdicts and settlements
319 results, largest first
Frantz Law Group, representing roughly 5,000 victims, helped negotiate a $13.5 billion PG&E bankruptcy settlement covering tens of thousands of survivors and families from the 2015 Butte, 2017 North Bay, and 2018 Camp wildfires.
Leavitt, Yamane and Soldner represented Maui wildfire survivors and victims' families in the $4.037 billion global settlement resolving approximately 450 lawsuits arising from the August 2023 Lahaina fire.
Court-appointed co-chair lead counsel Ricardo Martinez-Cid of Podhurst Orseck helped secure over $1 billion for the families of 98 people killed in the June 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, with final approval reached in under a year.
Rachel Furst of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen served as co-chair of the plaintiffs' team that secured a $1.2 billion settlement for the families of 98 people killed when Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside, Florida -- the largest construction-disaster settlement in U.S. history.
Judd Rosen served as court-appointed lead attorney for the wrongful death and non-owner victim class in the Champlain Towers South collapse litigation, helping secure a $1.2 billion global settlement for the families of the 98 people killed when the Surfside, Florida condominium tower fell on June 24, 2021.
After Champlain Towers South collapsed in the middle of the night and killed 98 people, Curtis Miner of Colson Hicks Eidson served as court-appointed liaison counsel for the wrongful death and personal injury claimants, part of a leadership team that reached a roughly $1.02 billion class settlement.
Sol Weiss and Larry Coben of Anapol Weiss served as co-lead class counsel in the landmark NFL concussion multidistrict litigation, securing a settlement valued at nearly $1 billion for thousands of retired players diagnosed with serious neurological conditions.
A Dallas County jury found developer Greystar liable for the 2019 tower crane collapse that killed 29-year-old Kiersten Smith in her apartment, returning an $860 million verdict that Jason and Cory Itkin helped win for her family.
A Dallas jury awarded $860,012,006 to the family of Kiersten Smith, a 29-year-old woman killed when a construction crane collapsed onto her Old East Dallas apartment during a 2019 storm, finding developer Greystar fully liable for failing to allow the crane to weather vane.
Steven Marks and Kristina Infante of Podhurst Orseck secured a combined $844 million in wrongful-death judgments for 43 families of passengers killed when LaMia Flight 2933 crashed near Medellin, Colombia, in November 2016, killing 71 of the 77 people aboard.
Robert Eglet of Eglet Adams served as lead counsel for approximately 2,500 of the more than 4,400 plaintiffs who secured an $800 million settlement from MGM Resorts International over the October 1, 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, one of the largest victim-compensation settlements in U.S. history.
A St. Louis County jury returned a $745 million verdict against nitrous oxide distributor United Brands and local head shop Coughing Cardinal after finding the companies conspired to sell Whip-It! canisters as an inhalant to a driver who passed out behind the wheel and fatally struck 25-year-old Marissa Politte outside her workplace.
A Harris County jury awarded $640 million to the family of David Lester Loree II, a journeyman pipefitter fatally crushed when a top-heavy HVAC unit being lifted by TNT Crane and Rigging overturned in high winds at a Texas A&M University-San Antonio construction site in September 2021.
A Clark County jury awarded $550 million -- $50 million compensatory and $500 million punitive -- to Nimfa Escobia after her husband Marcial was killed by a driver traveling 107 mph while impaired by alcohol, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana.
A St. Louis jury awarded $462 million against trailer maker Wabash National after its defective rear-impact guard failed and allowed a car to slide beneath a trailer on I-55, killing Taron Tailor, 30, and Nicholas Perkins, 23, in 2019.
The family of Greg Sharrigan, killed when a gas leak ignited at his Maynard home in September 2021, sued Eversource for $450 million, alleging the utility detected the underground leak three years before the fatal explosion and never fixed it.
A Hernando County jury returned a $330 million verdict for Angela Stone after a drunk driver ran a stop sign and fatally struck a minivan carrying her 13-year-old daughter.
Jamie Lebovitz served on the federal MDL Plaintiff's Steering Committee for the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 disaster, representing 18 families in confidential individual settlements as part of a broader litigation that recovered more than $300 million for surviving relatives of the 88 people killed.
A Kaufman County jury awarded $296 million in compensatory damages against Koch Industries after a corroded, unmaintained butane pipeline exploded and killed two teenagers on August 24, 1996.
A 565-foot crawler crane toppled across a Tribeca street in 2016, killing a young mathematician; the case settled for $272.5 million.
After Amtrak Train 188 derailed in Philadelphia in May 2015, killing eight and injuring more than 200, Kline & Specter's Thomas R. Kline led the plaintiffs' negotiations that produced a $265 million settlement fund for the victims.
Robert Mongeluzzi helped secure a $265 million federal settlement on behalf of more than 125 claimants injured or killed when Amtrak Train 188 derailed at 106 mph on a Philadelphia curve in May 2015.
Steven Marks of Podhurst Orseck served as lead liaison counsel for the state-court plaintiffs and on the federal MDL Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, helping recover more than $262 million across insurance settlements for the families of the 110 people killed in the May 1996 crash.