About David Yarborough
David has history of achieving ground-breaking and record-breaking jury verdicts and settlements for his clients. In May 2026 David and partners obtained the largest verdict in the history of Chesterfield County, S.C. with a $30 Million jury verdict against one of the largest trucking companies in North America for catastrophically injuring our client. In December 2025, David and partners tried and won a first-of-its-kind Contribution action in South Carolina, achieving a landmark $11 million verdict. In December 2023, David and partners obtained a $44.6 million jury verdict against Amazon.com, Inc in the first case ever to hold Amazon vicariously liable under an agency theory for the vicarious and negligent acts of its delivery drivers, who Amazon claims are independent contractors.
This was the largest personal injury verdict ever awarded in conservative Dorchester County, and is believed to be one of the largest jury verdicts in South Carolina history in an injury case not involving death. In October 2021, David achieved the largest dram shop verdict ever in Charleston County, South Carolina, for the sale of alcohol to minors by a Sunoco gas station. David and the firm have twice been recognized by VerdictSearch for achieving one of the top 100 jury verdicts in the United States:
- first for a 2014 $35.9 million verdict against PEPCO in conservative Montgomery County, Maryland, and later for the $44.6 million Amazon verdict in 2023. David has collected jury verdicts and settlements totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for his catastrophically injured clients in cases involving bad faith against insurance companies
- industrial plant injuries resulting in worker deaths
- product liability from automobile rollovers and industrial machine injuries
- toxic chemical spills by railroad companies
- pool drownings
- trucking and auto accidents
- nursing home and daycare negligence
- dram shop and alcohol liability negligence by bars and restaurants
- and negligence by retail stores, energy companies, apartment complexes, hotels, and construction contractors for job-site, balcony collapse and premises injuries. He received the Compleat Lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2025, and was subsequently invited to serve on the USC law school's Law Alumni Council. Prior to founding Yarborough Applegate, David was a partner at another Charleston-based law firm where he was part of a national trial team defending products liability cases in trials across the United States
Proven verdicts and settlements
Thomas was riding as a passenger on Highway 9 outside Cheraw, South Carolina, when a Prime, Inc. tractor-trailer, driven by a trainee with about 90 days of experience while his trainer slept in the sleeper berth, turned left in front of their car and caused catastrophic injuries. A Chesterfield County jury awarded him $30 million.
Lennox Hinckson, a 65-year-old elevator mechanic, was crushed and fell roughly 60 feet at Holcim's cement plant in Holly Hill, South Carolina, after a Holcim employee called the elevator he was working on from a floor below. His estate settled wrongful death and negligence claims against Holcim for $20 million.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
