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The new year is barely underway, and Courtroom View Network has already covered a $100 million verdict over Monsanto’s PCB ‘forever chemicals,’ a defense verdict in a Texas wrongful death highway crash case, and an ongoing $70 million+ truck crash trial in Los Angeles - and we’re just getting started!
With a packed trial calendar ahead for 2025, it’s time to take a look back and showcase the top 10 most impressive plaintiff verdicts CVN covered in 2024.
CVN is the only news organization in the country dedicated to gavel-to-gavel video coverage of civil trials that matter to the professional community. Nearly all of the trials featured here were exclusively covered by CVN, and in an era of shrinking newsroom budgets most of these trials would go uncovered unless or until word got out about a significant verdict.
CVN’s video coverage turns the courtroom into your personal trial classroom and gives you a front row seat from opening statements all the way to the verdict. With hundreds of searchable trials ranging from historic bellwethers to everyday slip-and-falls, a CVN video library subscription lets viewers see firsthand the very best civil trial attorneys in the country arguing in front of real juries and real judges - and without having to deal with courthouse parking or go through security.
These trials are not ranked solely by verdict amounts. Some trials that ended in a larger verdict may rank below others. Besides the monetary award we took into consideration the facts of the case, the attorneys and parties involved and the verdict’s broader significance, among other factors.
Please note we only chose from trials that CVN filmed in 2024. We know other impressive verdicts took place last year we didn’t get to cover, which is why we always appreciate suggestions about upcoming cases so we don’t miss this year’s biggest under-the-radar trials. Tips are always off-the-record and completely confidential.
Sign up today for a monthly or annual video library subscription and get unlimited on-demand access to all of these trials and hundreds more. These 10 trials make up just a fraction of CVN’s coverage from 2024 alone, and our lists from years past (2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015) give a good bird’s eye view of the some of the most interesting trials included with a CVN video library subscription.
Make sure to stay tuned for our list of top 10 most impressive 2024 defense verdicts coming soon. Have any questions about CVN? Drop us a line any time.
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#1 - Missouri Jury Delivers $495M Verdict In Bellwether Baby Formula Trial
Margo Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, et al. - St. Louis, MO
Plaintiff attorneys: Jake Plattenberger (pictured), Tor Hoerman, Tyler Schneider, Kenneth Brennan and Steven Davis (TorHoerman Law LLC) - John Garvey, Colleen Garvey and Ellen Thomas (Stranch Jennings & Garvey PLLC)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
Lawsuits over claims that cows milk-based formula given to premature infants in hospitals can cause serious intestinal damage have become one of the most closely watched emerging mass torts in the country. Thousands of cases are pending in various courts, including many in a federal MDL with a bellwether trial scheduled for later this year.
This trial from last summer in state court marked the first time formula manufacturer Abbott Laboratories defended their product in front of a jury. After an Illinois jury hit another formula manufacturer with a $60 million verdict earlier that year, all eyes were on Missouri’s 22nd Judicial Circuit - a venue known for delivering large verdicts in products liability cases. Besides producing a massive $495 million verdict - including $400 in punitive damages - the trial gave many attorneys and analysts their first public look at the type of evidence likely to feature in future trials.
The month-long trial saw the plaintiff team go up against two of the most formidable white shoe defense firms in the country, and the fact a subsequent baby formula trial in the same courtroom months later ended in a defense verdict (to be featured in CVN’s top 10 defense list) shows why this critical bellwether win landed the number one spot for the most impressive plaintiff verdict that CVN covered in 2024.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#2 - $462M Verdict Returned In Trial Over Truck’s Rear Impact Guard Design
Perkins, et al. v. Wabash National Corp., et al., - St. Louis, MO
Plaintiff attorneys: John G. Simon (pictured), John M. Simon, Jared Waldhoff (The Simon Law Firm PC), Andrew McNary, Lisa Tcacoumangos (Brown & Crouppen PC), Brian Winebright (Cantor Injury Law LLC)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
One of the key factors we consider in ranking these trials is the potential for a verdict to have a significant impact beyond the direct parties in the case. This verdict from last September could have potential major implications for the trucking industry, after a Missouri state court jury delivered a $462 million verdict, including $450 million in punitive damages, over a truck’s rear impact collision guard that failed to prevent the deaths of two men.
The St. Louis jury awarded $6 million each in compensatory damages to the families of decedents Taron Tailor and Nicholas Perkins, who died in 2019 when their Volkswagen sedan slammed into the back of a trailer manufactured by Wabash National and slid underneath the truck. Their lawsuit accused Wabash of using a rear impact guard they knew to provide inadequate protection against so-called “underride impacts” but the company maintained they complied with federal safety standards, and that the crash occurred at a speed impossible for the men in the car to survive.
In addition to the complex product liability arguments, the plaintiff team also had to overcome the reality that the decedents crashed into a truck in clear weather with no argument the truck’s driver had any responsibility for the accident. Just establishing liability and securing compensatory damages would be a tremendous achievement in a case like this, but landing a massive punitive verdict and the potential impact it could have on other manufacturers earned this case the number two spot for 2024.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#3 - Tesla Hit With $60.8M Motorcycle Crash Verdict In Zero-Offer Trial
Christopher Dugan v. Tesla Inc. - Indianapolis, IN
Plaintiff attorneys: Nick Rowley (pictured), Karen Zahka (Trial Lawyers For Justice), Lee Christie (Christie Farrell Lee & Bell)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
The details of pre-trial (and mid-trial) settlement negotiations are known only to the attorneys and litigants involved, but when disclosed after a trial they provide important context for evaluating the significance of a jury’s verdict. An Indiana jury returning a $60 million+ verdict in this complex case against Tesla in the wake of zero settlement offers from the defense is largely what earned this automotive negligence trial the number three spot on our list.
The Marion County jury found Tesla truck driver Kyle Kaszuba 70 percent liable for the 2017 accident that left motorcyclist Chris Dugan, then 37, with the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and a partial foot amputation. The jury also assigned Dugan 30 percent liability for the crash, reducing his collectible award to $42.48 million.
While the award is less than the $191 million attorney Nicholas Rowley of Trial Lawyers For Justice asked for during his closing argument, Rowley told CVN it is significant because Tesla allegedly never made any attempt to settle the case, rejecting settlement offers of $10, $15 and eventually $20 million - a decision Rowley attributed to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s policy of having to personally approve any company settlements in excess of $10 million.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#4 - Georgia's First Amazon Logistics Van Crash Trial Ends In $16.2 Million Verdict
Bradfield v. Amazon Logistics, et al. - Lawrenceville, GA
Plaintiff attorneys: Michael Goldberg, Joseph Fried (Fried Goldberg LLC)
Accident reconstruction expert Sean Alexander testifies on behalf of the plaintiff
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
In May a Georgia state court jury handed down a $16.2 million verdict against Amazon Logistics and a service partner over the injuries a child suffered when he was run over by a delivery van.
The verdict wraps the first case in Georgia, and one of the first in the nation, to go to trial over whether Amazon is responsible as an employer for the conduct of its delivery partners’ drivers, according to Fried Goldberg’s Joseph Fried. The firm's Michael Goldberg and Fried represented the child’s father in the case.
The Gwinnett County jury apportioned 85% of responsibility to Amazon, on a negligent training claim, and 10% to Fly Fella Logistics delivery driver Jowann Cowan for the 2022 collision that severely injured the child's leg. Notably, jurors also concluded that Amazon exercised sufficient control over defendant Fly Fella to render the delivery giant liable for Cowan's share of fault, as his employer.
Click here for a free webinar with the winning plaintiff attorneys discussing the verdict
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#5 - $15M Awarded At Connecticut’s First Johnson & Johnson Talc Baby Powder Trial
Evan Plotkin v. Johnson & Johnson - Bridgeport, CT
Plaintiff attorneys: Benjamin Braly (pictured), Ethan Horn (Dean Omar Branham Shirley LLP)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
A Connecticut jury returned a $15 million verdict last October following the first trial in the state over claims Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder contained asbestos.
Plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued J&J in 2021 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma at the age of 64. He blamed his illness on decades of inhaling asbestos supposedly present in Johnsons’ Baby Powder, but J&J maintained he developed cancer from exposure to other sources of asbestos.
In addition to awarding $15 million in compensatory damages the jury also returned a “punitive conduct finding” which will require the presiding judge in the case to make a future determination of additional punitive damages.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#6 - Jury Awards $71.95M In Wrongful Death Scissor Lift Trial, Beating $1.25M Settlement Offer
Laura Lopez, et al. v. Walker Engineering Inc. - Dallas, TX
Plaintiff attorneys: Charla Aldous (pictured), Brent Walker, Caleb Miller, Eleanor Aldous (Aldous Walker LLP), M. Kevin Queenan, Carlos Lopez, Kimberly Fayard (Queenan Law Firm PC), Douglas Alexander, Kevin Dubs, Marisa Hurd, Anna Baker (Alexander Dubose & Jefferson LLP)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
It’s one thing to take a case to trial in a zero-offer scenario with essentially nothing to lose. It’s another to roll the dice with a jury when a $1 million+ settlement offer sits on the table in a case with multiple defendants and tricky liability issues. The plaintiff team representing the widow of an electrician who died after the scissor lift he was working on collapsed pulled that off, when a Dallas jury awarded her $71.95 million last May.
Plaintiff Laura Lopez sued Walker Engineering Inc. after the death of her husband Hernan Murillo, who died while performing electrical work at a Frito-Lay warehouse in 2019. Her attorneys accused Walker Engineering of allowing an unqualified employee to operate the boom lift, which accidentally backed into the nearby scissor lift while it was extended 30 feet into the air.
Walker Engineering maintained the boom lift operator was an employee of Walker Industrial LLC, a separate legal entity, and that Murillo was responsible for the accident due to moving the scissor lift into a position near the boom lift. However the jury, after three days of deliberations in a trial that began on April 10, found Walker Engineering 65 percent liable for the accident and Walker Industrial 35 percent liable, which under Texas law makes Walker Engineering responsible for the full award.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#7 - $25M Verdict Over Colonoscopy Death Beats $500K Settlement Offer
The Estate of Erric Edward Gilbert v. The Portland Clinic - Portland, OR
Plaintiff attorneys: Sean Claggett (pictured), David Creasy (Claggett & Sykes Trial Lawyers), Marc Johnston (Johnston Law Firm)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
An Oregon state court jury returned a roughly $25 million verdict last August in a medical malpractice lawsuit accusing staff at an outpatient surgical facility of failing to react to a patient’s crashing vital signs during a routine colonoscopy.
The family of decedent Erric Gilbert alleged that staff at The Portland Clinic botched their resuscitation efforts after he went into respiratory arrest during the procedure, but attorneys for the clinic argued the blame should be placed entirely on an anesthesiologist who settled out of the case and surrendered his medical license over the incident.
Attorney Sean Claggett of Claggett & Sykes, who represented the plaintiffs, told CVN after the trial the jury’s award far surpasses the clinic’s highest settlement offer of $500,000 along with his eventual policy limit settlement demand of $3 million.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#8 - $100M Punitive Bad Faith Verdict Against Progressive Beats $1.9M Settlement Offer
Hal Goldblatt v. Lamonte Cunningham - Las Vegas, NV
Plaintiff attorneys: Kimball Jones (pictured), Emily Cunningham (Bighorn Law)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
A Nevada state court jury hit Progressive Corp. with a $100 million punitive damages verdict last August in a bad faith lawsuit stemming from the insurer’s alleged unnecessary delays in reimbursing medical bills for a man who sustained severe injuries after being struck by a car in a crosswalk.
Plaintiff Hal Goldblatt and his wife Shawn sued Progressive after a 2022 accident that left Goldblatt with major fractures throughout his body and a traumatic brain injury which required extensive time in an intensive care unit and a lengthy recovery. In an initial phase of the trial a Clark County jury found the driver who struck Goldblatt, Lamonte Cunningham, liable for roughly $7 million in damages.
However in a second phase of the trial involving Progressive, the Goldblatts' attorneys accused the insurer of needlessly delaying payment for their mounting medical bills for months, which they claim forced them to incur significant debt while taking out loans to pay for Hal’s at-home care.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#9 - Hawaii Jury Awards $91M in Trial Against RJR Over Man's Throat Cancer
Manious v. R.J. Reynolds - Kailua-Kona, HI
Plaintiff attorneys: Nick Reyes (pictured), Xavier Navarro (The Alvarez Law Firm)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
A Hawaii state court jury handed down a $91 million verdict last December against R.J. Reynolds after finding the tobacco company liable for the throat cancer of a long-time smoker.
Jurors found Reynolds responsible on design defect, fraud, and conspiracy claims for the laryngeal cancer Marvin Manious developed in 2020 after decades of smoking Kool-brand cigarettes made by the company. The verdict includes $6 million in compensatory damages and $85 million in punitives.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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#10 - $21.25M Awarded, Including $1.25M In Punitives, Over Fatal Shooting In Lowe’s Parking Lot
Nelson v. TMT Management Co., et al. - Portland, OR
Plaintiff attorneys: Tom D’Amore (pictured), Ben Turner (D’Amore Law Group)
Click here to watch the full trial
Why it made the list:
An Oregon state court jury awarded $21.25 million in September, including $1.25 million in punitive damages, to the family of a man killed by a private security guard during an altercation in a Lowe’s parking lot.
The Multnomah County jury found property manager TMT Development Corp, property owner Hayden Meadows and three representatives of Cornerstone Security Group liable for the 2021 death of Freddy Nelson Jr.
Former Cornerstone security guard Logan Gimbel, currently serving a life sentence after a second degree murder conviction over the incident, shot Nelson through the windshield of his pickup truck after ordering Nelson to leave the Lowe’s lot, where he claimed he had an arrangement with a store employee to pick up and remove excess wooden palates.
Read more via the CVN News Blog
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Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
