Category — Verdicts

Nov. 23, 2011 – As reported in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, on November 14 an Abingdon federal jury returned a defense verdict in a $50-million product defect case alleging that an eight-year-old girl suffered severe brain damage in a 2009 automobile accident as a result of an allegedly defective child safety seat.  The case, which was tried before Judge James Jones, is Musick v. Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc., 1:11cv05 (W.D. Va.).

Although the defense verdict itself is noteworthy and one that will certainly catch the eye of the plaintiff and defense bars alike, the case is also notable due to several interesting rulings made during the nine-month course of the proceedings.   [Read more →]

Oct. 7, 2011 - Updating a previous post, last week Judge Peter C. Tench of Newport News Circuit Court set aside the jury’s $5.2 million damages award in a case involving a forklift accident at Best Buy that allegedly resulted in foot injuries to the plaintiff.  The judge allowed the jury’s decision on liability to stand, but called the damage award excessive and “shocking to the conscience.”  Noting it was the first time he had set aside such an award, the judge ordered a new trial on the issue of damages.

Aug. 4, 2011 -     We are rarely surprised to hear about shocking decisions or large verdicts coming from our neighbors in West Virginia.  We therefore were pleasantly surprised to learn that a West Virginia jury recently returned a defense verdict in Hines v. Wyeth, 04cv00690 (S.D. W. Va.) finding that Wyeth’s (now Pfizer’s) hormone replacement drug Prempro did not cause a plaintiff’s breast cancer.  As the linked article indicates, Pfizer is now 8 for 16 in Prempro jury trial verdicts. [Read more →]