Virginia's Largest Multi-Million Dollar Personal Injury Verdicts and Settlements

DISCLAIMER: BELOW ARE REPRESENTATIVE SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS.  PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERY CASE IS DIFFERENT. 

Our team of Virginia Beach personal injury attorneys know a thing or two about large jury verdicts and settlements. Our firm, along with co-counsel, obtained a record-setting $60 million jury verdict (with post-trial interest included) for a gas station worker who suffered a brain injury in a Norfolk Southern train wreck.

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Below is a list of some of the largest/biggest personal injury verdicts and settlements in Virginia.

  • Record-Setting VA Verdict (year 2000) – $60 million verdict ($46 million jury verdict; $60 million with interest) for traumatic brain injury in train derailment accident 
    • Case name: French v. Norfolk Southern  
    • Our Virginia personal injury law firm, and co-counsel,  represented a gas station worker who suffered a mild traumatic brain injury in a Norfolk Southern train accident. The train derailed and crashed into the our client’s place of business. In an instant, his life was changed forever. Our client suffered a myriad of orthopedic injuries and a traumatic brain injury. We understood the impact of this horrific accident and worked tirelessly during a three-week trial to obtain this record-setting, historic Virginia jury verdict. 
  • Multi-million dollar structured settlement in traumatic brain injury truck accident case (click here to learn more about the settlement) 
    • Case name: Confidential
    • Our team of Virginia truck accident injury lawyers handled this case. Here’s what happened – a commercial big rig slammed into the back of a car that was stopped at a stop light. The impact was so severe that a young girl who was sitting in the back of the car suffered serious personal injury – life-altering brain trauma. The truck driver claimed he fainted before he hit our clients and the case was defended using a sudden medical emergency defense. Our personal injury law firm fought that defense put up by the company involved and worked tirelessly to get our client the restitution they deserved.  The CT scans and MRIs done at the hospital showed the areas of the young girl’s brain injured in the wreck began to develop encephalomalacia, also known as cell death. To assess the extent of her brain injuries and help plan her recovery and treatment, the young girl was treated and evaluated by a neuropsychiatrist. Following the evaluation, the neuropsychiatrist warned that as a result of the injuries, our client may develop problems with disinhibition, impulse and aggression control as she matures. Clearly, the damage done to this innocent girl was severe and the parties reached an agreeable settlement during mediation. ​
  • 47.5 million settlement, brain injury and paraplegia
    • Case name: Confidential
    • Case details: Confidential, only public information is that the case concerned an automobile accident where the victim suffered a burst fracture of fourth thoracic vertebrae and a functional severance of the spinal cord at that level, resulting paraplegia. In addition, the accident resulted in the victim suffering a traumatic brain injury.
  • 37.8 million verdict, brain injury and multiple bone fractures after defective tire blowout
    • Case name: Robert Benedict v. Hankook Tire Company Limited, et al.
    • Court: U.S. District Court, Richmond
    • Plaintiff was employed as a commercial truck driver for a company named Essex Concrete. Plaintiff departed on his route for the day, which involved driving a cement mixer to a delivery site. While traveling on Route 288, the right front steer tire of the cement truck experienced a catastrophic tread separation and air-out. The truck then collided with an embankment. Plaintiff suffered multiple injuries, including: fractures of 12 ribs, three vertebrae, and his arm; a ruptured spleen and collapsed lung; brain injury; and permanent spinal cord injury causing quadriplegia.
  • $25 million verdict, medical malpractice missed diagnosis
    • Case name: Denton v. Chu, M.D.
    • Court: Hampton Circuit Court
    • In this case, the plaintiff was a fit and active 37-year-old at the time of his heart attack in 2010. He started experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating and jaw pain. He was seen by the defendant cardiologist. The defendant performed a cardiac catheterization to rule out heart disease. Both during and following the procedure, the plaintiff was told that his arteries were clear, normal and free of disease. Nevertheless, his chest pain and shortness of breath continued for two months, and doctors continued to treat him based on the defendant’s analysis. The plaintiff then suffered a massive heart attack. Doctors discovered a complete blockage of the plaintiff’s left anterior descending artery. The plaintiff survived the heart attack, but was forced to undergo multiple procedures and lost more than half of his heart function.​
  • $25 million verdict, medical malpractice birth injury
    • Case name: Cibula v. U.S.
    • Court: U.S. District Court, Alexandria
    • In this case, a child suffered brain damage from a birth-related injury. The parents sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act claiming that Navy physicians negligently handled the pregnancy. The child now suffers from permanent physical and neurological injuries and will never be able to live independently.​​
  • ​$20.5 million verdict, failure to diagnose tumor
    • Case name: O’Connell v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group and Bassema Antabli, MD
    • Court: Fairfax County Circuit Court
    • The case involved a Kaiser Permanente oncologist providing poor follow-up care to a post-mastectomy patient with silicone implant reconstruction. Plaintiff developed a desmoid tumor, medial to her right implant, that grew uncontrollably to a large size and in the process swallowed up portions of three ribs and her sternum. Plaintiff was left with a large chest wall defect covered with surgical mesh.
  • $15 million settlement, traumatic brain injury resulting in wrongful death
    • Case name: Love v. Huguely
    • Court: Charlottesville Circuit Court
    • The case concerned the tragic death of a young woman named Yeardley Love. She had her life taken by an abusive partner who broke into her dorm room at the University of Virginia and violently shook her to death. Examiners determined she was shaken so violently that she suffered a traumatic brain injury that ultimately ended her life. The Charlottesville jury entered a verdict in favor of Love’s family. The defendant did not appeal the verdict.
  • $6.5 million settlement, multi-vehicle car wreck
    • In this case, a multi-vehicle accident resulted in significant, life-altering injuries, including one motorist becoming a quadriplegic. Liability was contested throughout much of the litigation. Nevertheless, prior to trial, the case settled in mediation for $6,500,000.
  • $5 million verdict, wrongful death due to workplace asbestos exposure
    • Case name: Fowlkes v. Norfolk Southern
    • Fowlkes worked at Norfolk Southern’s Lambert’s Point car repair shop between 1979 and 1990 often servicing and changing out asbestos-containing brake shoes at the shop. In 2017, Fowlkes became critically ill and suspected exposure to asbestos caused his lung disease. He subsequently passed away and his daughter obtained an autopsy that revealed asbestos was in fact in his lung tissue. Fowlkes’ daughter contacted Randy Appleton, one of the firm partners, who accepted the case after reviewing the autopsy. The case went to trial where a jury decided in favor of Fowlkes’ estate and awarded $5 million (but reducing the damages to $1 million after assessing 80 percent comparative negligence).
  • $5 million settlemen truck accident victim
    • A woman from Hampton, VA was hit by a construction truck in Gloucester County, VA. The victim suffered serious bodily injuries including multiple fractures, broken ribs, a lacerated liver, and lacerated spleen, a fractured pelvis, a fractured femur and fibula and a traumatic brain injury. The victim’s medical bills were extensive. Eventually, a $5 million settlement was reached with the company that owned the construction truck during mediation.
  • $3.8 million settlement for mother who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific automobile accident in Fairfax County
    • A mother of two children suffered significant, debilitating injuries when her vehicle collided with a dislodged manhole cover in a traffic lane of a major interstate in Fairfax County. The impact of the collision was so severe that her vehicle went airborne and wound up hitting another vehicle upon landing on the shoulder of the roadway. The mother suffered a traumatic brain injury, a bicondylar Schatzker type VI tibial plateau fracture that required immediate ORIF surgery. She also suffered multiple internal injuries including a lacerated liver, grade II lacerated kidney and a grade II lacerated spleen, significant facial lacerations and multiple rib fractures.
  • $ 3 million settlement for engineer severely injured in head-on collision in Loudoun County
    • An engineer residing in Loudoun County, Virginia suffered life-altering injuries after being hit head-on by a careless motorist who crossed the median. The engineer suffered multiple fractures throughout his body that necessitated several surgeries and inpatient rehabilitation. The laundry list of bodily injuries also includes Fractures of the ribs, L-spine, right humerus, left femur, left patella and left ankle; amputation of the left index fingertip; lacerations of intra-abdominal organs; and subarachnoid hemorrhage.
    • Despite the serious bodily injuries, the engineer made an improbable recovery, due mostly to their determination and dedication to closely following the recommended treatment plan, physical therapy and exercise. The engineer still suffers from residual pain in their left leg and ankle with movement but has returned to work full time without restrictions.

Take Action

You may be looking at these case results because you or a loved one was seriously injured in an accident, or a family member was killed or lost their life due to negligence of another. Reviewing case results is helpful, but is only step 1 in the process. You should now contact one of our experienced personal injury lawyers and set up a confidential, no-cost consultation with us so we can evaluate your claim.

As mentioned earlier, we cannot guarantee that any potential client will receive a multi-million dollar verdict or settlement or any specific result, but we can guarantee that our attorneys will use their extensive personal injury trial experience, and will work tirelessly on your behalf.