Latest jury verdicts, settlements, and legal outcome analysis
A San Mateo County jury found that a driver was not negligent in a September 2021 collision that left a minor with lacerations to his arm, wrist, and face, and a chest wound, delivering a defense verdict after a nine-day trial.
A jury in the Eastern District of California awarded $325,000 in noneconomic damages to a mother and her minor son following the wrongful death of the family's husband and father, who was killed when a Colusa County Office of Education employee struck him with a county-owned vehicle. The case, originally filed in Colusa County Superior Court and later removed to federal Court on diversity grounds, centered on claims of motor vehicle negligence and negligent hiring and supervision. After a jury trial before Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez, the parties stipulated to split the award equally between the surviving spouse and minor child.
A Florida jury found that a driver operating a vehicle owned by a rental company acted negligently when his vehicle collided with another motorist's car on Sand Lake Road in Orange County. The jury determined the injured driver suffered a permanent injury and awarded him a total of $1,315,651.60 in past and future medical expenses and pain and suffering damages. The Court entered final judgment holding both the driver and the rental company jointly and severally liable, with interest accruing at 9.15% per year.
On March 13, 2022, Plaintiff Nguyet Thi My Luc was driving eastbound on West Calaveras Boulevard in Santa Clara County when an adjacent vehicle driven by Rony Omar Santos made an abrupt lane change, colliding with her car. Luc suffered severe bodily injuries, incurring substantial economic losses including medical expenses and a devastating loss of future household services. While the Defendant raised multiple affirmative defenses—including comparative negligence and exclusive workers' compensation jurisdiction—a Santa Clara County jury found Santos negligent and calculated total damages at $3,834,992.85.
Eileen Winder sued the City of Ontario and its employee Adrian Paul Torrez after a 2020 collision on Interstate 10 in Rancho Cucamonga, alleging negligent operation of a waste management vehicle caused her serious injuries. Following a jury trial in 2025, jurors found Torrez was not negligent in operating the vehicle, and the Court entered judgment for the Defendants.
A Miami-Dade County jury awarded $650,000 to Bruce Losse after finding he sustained permanent injuries in a January 2021 motor vehicle collision on the Florida Turnpike in Palm Beach County. The jury awarded $150,000 for past and future medical expenses and $500,000 for pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment, and related noneconomic damages. Circuit Court Judge Antonio Arzola entered the final judgment of $650,990.74, including costs, on May 29, 2025.
A jury in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania returned a defense verdict on May 21, 2025, in a personal injury case arising from a rear-end motor vehicle collision on Hulton Road in Oakmont. The Defendant acknowledged negligence for causing the accident, and the jury found his negligence was a factual cause of harm to the Plaintiff. However, the jury awarded $0 in future medical expenses and found the Plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury as defined by a serious impairment of a body function. The jury also found the Defendant's conduct was not outrageous, resolving the punitive damages claim in the Defendant's favor.
A San Francisco jury delivered a special verdict awarding more than $6.7 million combined to the family of Lovisa Svallingson and to her partner, Daniel Ramos, after a Chevrolet Avalanche driver used an unprotected bicycle lane as a traffic bypass, collided with another vehicle, and rolled into the pedestrians crossing Polk Street at Hayes Street. The jury placed full fault on the Avalanche driver, cleared the other motorist of negligence, and found that the city-owned intersection was not in a dangerous condition.
Antonio Pagan sued Dwight Benjamin Herman and JJ's Waste & Recycling, LLC, after Herman's 2021 Mack truck rear-ended Pagan's vehicle at a red light on Dean Road in Orlando on December 6, 2021. The jury found both parties negligent, split fault 50/50, awarded $15,000 in past medical expenses, and denied permanent injury. After comparative fault reduction and collateral source setoff, the Court entered final judgment for $1,370.15.
Yvette Gulesserian sued Nina Margarian Akopian over a September 2018 rear-end collision on the driveway of the Vahan & Anoush Chamlian Armenian School in Glendale. Gulesserian alleged Akopian drove a 2011 Honda Odyssey at excessive speed and struck the rear of her 2017 Maserati Ghibli while it was stopped behind other vehicles during school pickup. She brought claims for negligence and negligence per se, citing California Vehicle Code Sections 21703 and 22350. The defense denied all allegations and raised ten affirmative defenses, including that Gulesserian stopped suddenly without justification and failed to wear a seatbelt. After trial in January 2026 at the Los Angeles Superior Court, the jury answered no to the threshold causation question on the special verdict form, and the Court entered judgment in favor of the Defendant.
