The Latest Noteworthy Verdicts and Settlements Posted on March 28, 2015 by Larry Bodine Florida Jury Awards $13M to Widow in Smoker Case 03/27/2015 A Fort Lauderdale jury handed down a $13 million verdict for the widow of Paul Pollari, an Oakland Park butcher who smoked for about 50 years and died in 1994 after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Jurors awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages against Read More $4.5 Million Premises Liability Verdict Against Landlord in Double Murder 03/27/2015 What duty does a landlord owe to residents to make an apartment complex safe under premises liability law? The Florida Supreme Court recently answered that property owners cannot ignore security issues, finding an apartment owner liable for negligence for failure to repair the security gate of a Read More Jury awards man $6.5 million for loss of foot 03/27/2015 A man whose left foot was partly amputated after a construction site accident in 2012 was awarded a total of $6.5 million this week by a Bexar County, Texas jury. Joeris General Contractors was ordered by jurors who deliberated for about two hours Thursday in the state’s 45th District Court to pay Read More Chapel Hill man’s family wins $18M judgment after fatal charter bus crash 03/27/2015 DURHAM, N.C. — Jurors on Thursday awarded $18 million to the estate of a Chapel Hill man who was killed in a charter bus crash two years ago. The bus was on its way to Hampton University’s Open House Day on April 5, 2013, when it overturned in southeastern Virginia. Doval Emmanuel Watson died from Read More Teen who lost leg due to delays with health plan awarded $28.2M 03/26/2015 A Chatsworth, CA, teen who sued her Kaiser health plan, alleging delays in authorizing an MRI caused a cancerous tumor to grow and forced the amputation of her right leg, was awarded $28.2 million by a jury Wednesday. The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated for about a day before finding Read More $18.79 Million Verdict To Alabama Man Paralyzed By Negligent Truck Repair 03/25/2015 A Mobile, Ala., jury returned an $18.79 million verdict in favor of Plaintiff Colin Lacy in a case against Empire Truck Sales, LLC of Mobile, Ala., and IMMI of Westfiled, Ind. The verdict included $13.79 million in compensatory damages and an additional $5 million in punitive damages. Lacy was Read More Arizona jury awards $6.5M against hospital in bedsore case 03/25/2015 A fall off a roof left Byron Van Tassell, center, paralyzed from the waist down. After hospitalization at University Medical Center, a wound was discovered at the base of his spine. Van Tassell never recovered his health, dying at 67. The family of a Tucson, AZ, man hopes a $6.5 million jury Read More Virginia jury awards $3.75 million to Maersk seaman 03/25/2015 A Circuit Court jury in Portsmouth, VA, awarded $3.75 million Tuesday to a former Maersk Line Ltd. employee who claimed South Korean police raped him in 2008 while he was on shore leave, according to the seaman’s attorney. James L. Chapman IV, an attorney representing the now-54-year-old Mathews Read More NY Jury Awards $4M Against Supplier In Mesothelioma Trial 03/24/2015 A New York state jury has awarded a $4 million verdict against Pacemaker Steel & Piping Co. for allegedly supplying asbestos to a Chicago Pneumatic tool manufacturing plant that a former employee claimed caused his mesothelioma, attorneys for the plaintiff said Monday. After opening arguments Read More