Fiat Chrysler has lost its bid to overturn a $40 million judgment in Georgia for the death of a 4-year-old boy in a burning Jeep.

The Georgia Supreme Court Thursday upheld the award for the family of 4-year-old Remi Walden, who died when the Jeep burst into flames after it was hit from behind. The Jeep's rear mounted gas tank was the target of his parents' lawsuit.

The case has been closely watched by business groups, who urged the high court to toss the award.

Justice Britt Grant wrote the opinion, parsing through the state's new evidence code. All the justices concurred with parts of the decision, but five of the nine differed on some points. Still, the end result is a 9-0 vote upholding Decatur County Superior Court Judge J. Kevin Chason's decision to slash the award to $40 million after a jury reached a $150 million verdict.

On the winning side is a legal team led by plaintiffs attorney James “Jim” Butler Jr. of Butler Wooten & Peak in Atlanta and Columbus. Butler tried the case with his son, James “Jeb” Butler III of Butler Tobin.

The Butler trial team also included: George Floyd of Bainbridge; Cathy Cox, now dean of the Mercer University law school; David Rohwedder of Butler Wooten; and Beth Glen, senior paralegal at Butler Wooten. Michael Terry and Frank Lowrey of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore worked with the Butlers on the appeal.

“Remi died by fire 6 years ago this month,” Butler said in an email Thursday just after the opinion was released. “Remi's parents and their legal team hope this is the end of it. We thank all the judges who devoted such time and effort to this case.”

Chrysler is now trying to figure out a way to get the U.S. Supreme Court to take a look. “FCA US is disappointed in this decision. We are considering our legal options,” a corporate spokesman said by email Thursday.

And the company pointed to its long-held contention that the cause of the child's death was the other driver and not the placement of the gas tank behind the axle—which was later changed to the middle of the Jeep.

“The company continues to extend sympathies to the family of Remi Walden for their loss,” Chrysler said. “This tragic crash was caused by a reckless pick-up truck driver who slammed into the rear of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee at highway speed.”

Following a nine-day trial in Bainbridge, the jury awarded the boy's parents $120 million for wrongful death and $30 million for the child's pain and suffering. The verdict apportioned 1 percent of the fault to the other driver and 99 percent to Chrysler. The company filed a motion for new trial, which Chason denied on the condition that the parents accept a lower wrongful death verdict of $30 million and a pain and suffering verdict of $10 million, which they did. Chrysler then appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, but the state's intermediate appellate court upheld the trial court's judgment.

Now the Supreme Court has upheld Chason as well, although for different reasons covered in 33 pages of opinions.

Chrysler's lead appellate counsel on the case is Thomas Dupree Jr., a Washington, D.C.-based partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Dupree hung his oral argument for granting Chrysler a new trial on the company's objection to his opponent bringing up CEO Sergio Marchionne's $68 million-a-year compensation. Dupree complained to the Supreme Court in oral arguments last October that Butler wrote the CEO's pay on a “giant” board in front of the jury.

In Thursday's opinion, Grant supported the trial judge, Chason, and the Court of Appeals. “We cannot say that the prejudicial effect of the evidence so far outweighed its probative value that its admission was clear and obvious reversible error,” Grant said. Rather, she said, judges must determine whether compensation evidence is admissible.

The case is Chrysler v. Walden, No. S17G0832.