Photo: Jason Doiy/ALMA Look Back at Big Verdicts of 2019
Texas Lawyer scoured VerdictSearch and the past year of news coverage for the largest verdicts that Lone Star State juries awarded this year.
December 27, 2019 at 01:11 PM
4 minute read
Texas plaintiffs across the state saw million-dollar verdicts in 2019 in personal injury, sexual assault and trademark infringement cases.
Texas Lawyer scoured VerdictSearch and the past year of news coverage for the largest verdicts that Lone Star State juries awarded this year.
Here's a look at the verdicts that rose to the top.
|No. 1
Final award: $80 million
Court: Hidalgo County's 93rd District Court
Case: Lozano v. JNM Express
About: Lauro and Irene Lozano brought gross negligence claims against Lauro Lozano's employer, a trucking company, alleging the company forced him to work a shift, although he had told his supervisor he couldn't safely or legally drive unless he rested the minimum amount of time required by federal trucking law. Fearing he would lose his job, he drove the shift anyways, but fell asleep at the wheel and suffered injuries from a collision. After a seven-day trial, the jury found the trucking company and its owners were negligent in causing injury to Lauro Lozano.
|
No. 2
Final award: $33 million
Court: Dimmit County's 365th District Court
Case: Munoz v. D.G.J. Transport
About: Ramiro Munoz Jr. was driving on a highway in Carrizo Springs when a D.G.J. Transport Inc. cement truck's tire tread separated from the tire, causing the truck to veer into oncoming traffic and collide with Munoz's truck, killing him. His estate and family sued the cement truck company and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which manufactured the tire. The jury found that the defendants were liable for the accident. Goodyear was assigned 90% of the liability, and D.G.J. Transport was assigned 10% of the liability. Post-trial, the case was resolved confidentially by agreement before judgment was entered.
|
No. 3
Final award: $32 million
Court: Denton County's 462nd District Court
Case: Fletcher v. I.G.
About: The 14-year-old plaintiff was sexually assaulted by two classmates in another student's front yard and sued them for assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, gross negligence and malice. Other defendants were nonsuited before trial. After a three-day trial, the jury found assault and apportioned 50% liability to each of the two boys. The jury also found gross negligence or malice and sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault.
|
No. 4
Final award: $24.2 million ($20.26 million jury verdict, increased by prejudgment interest)
Court: Tarrant County's 348th District Court
Case: XIP v. CommTech Sales
About: XIP alleged that CommTech Sales and its co-owner and operator were infringing on trade secrets and intellectual property while making and selling generator-interface panels, used in cellular towers. Other defendants settled or were dismissed before trial. Among other things, the jury found that CommTech willfully infringed XIP's trademark, misappropriated trade secrets, and harmed XIP through malice or gross negligence.
|
No. 5
Final award: $23.7 million (reduced from $37.62 million)
Court: Dallas County's 116th District Court
Case: Milburn v. Uber Technologies
About: Sarah Milburn in 2015 was paralyzed in a collision when riding in an Uber driver's Honda minivan. The driver and vehicle owner settled before trial and Uber Technologies were dropped without making any monetary settlement. The trial went forward against American Honda Motor, and Milbern alleged it designed its seatbelt in a defective way that put a passenger in danger, because the lap belt and shoulder belt were separate, and it was possible to buckle the shoulder belt without doing the lap belt—which is what Milburn had done.
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Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
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David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
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Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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