Personal Injury

A Miami-Dade County jury ruled in favor of the defendant in a rear-end collision lawsuit on June 5, 2025. Donna Nasimov sued Evan Fuertes after a September 14, 2018 crash on SW 152nd Street, claiming she sustained permanent injuries when Fuertes struck her stopped vehicle from behind, pushing her into another car. The plaintiff sought damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost earnings. The defense argued Nasimov failed to meet Florida's No-Fault threshold requirements and challenged her claimed injuries. After nearly six years of litigation, the jury found that the defendant's negligence was not a legal cause of the plaintiff's damages, resulting in a complete defense verdict with no monetary award.

A Miami-Dade County jury awarded $175,000 to a married couple after a ceiling collapsed on the wife while she slept in her apartment. Raquel Recio de Roman and Cesar Roman sued their landlord, Little Havana Equities, LLC, following the June 29, 2024 incident at 1028 SW 3rd Street, Miami. The jury returned its verdict on June 11, 2025, awarding Mrs. Roman $150,000 for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and related damages. Her husband received $25,000 for loss of consortium. The plaintiffs argued the property owner failed to maintain the structural elements of the building and knew or should have known about the dangerous ceiling condition. The defense claimed the incident was caused by third parties or an Act of God, but the jury rejected these arguments.

Danette Hodge received a substantial jury award after being struck by a driver who pulled out from a stop sign and violated her right-of-way. Lindsee Mellott attempted to turn left from Pershing Road onto Park Street in Jacksonville on April 29, 2022, when she failed to yield to Hodge's vehicle. The collision caused Hodge to crash into Mellott's vehicle, resulting in permanent injuries. After a trial in Duval County Circuit Court, the jury awarded Hodge $604,905.76 in damages, including over $110,000 for past medical expenses, nearly $494,000 for future medical expenses, and confirmed her injuries were permanent.

Jennifer Troester and her daughter Charlee received a significant jury award after being struck by a distracted driver who admitted to texting while driving. Tayler Lee Christian McKinney ran a red light at a Jacksonville intersection on August 21, 2020, while using her phone and GPS. McKinney told the responding officer she was "messing with her GPS and phone" when she realized too late that the light was red. The collision totaled Troester's vehicle and caused permanent injuries. After a trial in Duval County Circuit Court, the jury awarded Jennifer Troester $141,355.74 in damages, including $81,355.74 for past medical expenses, $10,000 for future medical expenses, and $50,000 for past pain and suffering.

A Duval County jury had delivered a detailed verdict in April 2025 after it had found Thomas Inman Denmark negligent in the 2023 Jacksonville crash that injured Jordan Mackenzie Deaver. The Plaintiff had claimed permanent physical and emotional harm, and the jury had agreed that she sustained a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability. Jurors awarded a total of $663,276.37 for past and future medical expenses. Despite finding permanence, they awarded no non-economic damages, leaving the recovery limited to the economic costs of treatment. The judgment had reflected the jury’s conclusion that Denmark’s negligence legally caused Ms. Deaver’s injuries while applying Florida’s evidentiary standards on medical expense recovery.

A Florida jury had delivered a significant wrongful-death verdict in May 2025 after it had found XPO Logistics, its driver Francisco Javier Guerrero Romero, and contractor Marcelo Muñoz liable for the death of Josué Calá. The Plaintiff, Julianna Charles, had pursued justice for the fatal 2020 trucking collision that took her husband’s life. Jurors had concluded that Romero’s negligent driving caused the crash and that XPO Logistics bore responsibility because he acted as its agent. They had assigned fault among Romero, XPO Logistics, and Muñoz, and ultimately awarded Ms. Charles $31 million for her loss of companionship, protection, and emotional suffering. The judgment had recognized the profound and permanent impact of the tragedy.

A Connecticut Superior Court jury in Waterbury delivered a $265,000 verdict for plaintiff Husein Dunica on November 14, 2025, finding defendant James Mixie 100% liable for a 2022 rear-end motor vehicle collision. Dunica initiated the lawsuit, Husein Dunica v. James Mixie, et al., claiming the crash on Interstate 291 West was directly caused by Mixie's negligence. The plaintiff alleged Mixie was negligent for multiple reasons, including following too closely, failing to keep a proper lookout, and operating inattentively. The complaint detailed Dunica’s injuries, which included head pain, neck pain, back pain, and bilateral knee pain, resulting in significant medical expenses and a loss of earning capacity. The defense, representing Mixie and Connecticut Carriers, Inc., generally denied negligence and asserted a Special Defense, arguing that Dunica’s own negligence specifically veering into the defendants' lane and failing to maintain control was the sole cause of the accident. Despite the defense's claims of contributory negligence, the jury on November 18th, 2025 allocated 100% liability to Mixie and 0% liability to Dunica. The award comprised $180,000 in economic damages and $85,000 in noneconomic damages, finalizing the total award to the plaintiff at $265,000.

Luis Diaz, Jr. brought a negligence action against the City of Orlando after a city employee struck the vehicle he rode in at an SR 50 intersection. He claimed permanent injuries and significant medical losses. The City denied liability and raised multiple statutory defenses, including comparative fault and injury-threshold challenges. After hearing the evidence, the jury found the City’s driver negligent, rejected all comparative-fault claims, and confirmed that Mr. Diaz sustained a permanent injury from the collision. The verdict established full responsibility against the City and delivered a clear win for the Plaintiff.

This lawsuit had arisen from a violent Los Angeles collision that had left four plaintiffs facing lasting physical and emotional trauma. They had alleged that Akop Torosian drove negligently and created the dangerous impact that changed their lives. After years of discovery, expert review, and trial preparation, both sides had approached the brink of jury deliberations. The parties then negotiated a $1.1 million settlement that resolved all claims and closed the long-running dispute in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Justin Van Tussenbrook sued Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA, Inc. and Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America after a 2016 Yamaha YXZ side-by-side vehicle rolled over in Utah, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down due to severe spinal cord damage. The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, claimed the vehicle's Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) had a design flaw that made it weak and caused it to crumple in the crash. Plaintiff's counsel argued Yamaha knew of the defect post-sale but negligently failed to issue a recall or retrofit. The defense blamed the crash on the driver's reckless driving (taking a sharp turn) and argued Van Tussenbrook knew the risks of off-road riding. The jury returned a special verdict on September 24, 2025, finding the Yamaha ROPS design substantially caused Van Tussenbrook's injuries and that the risks outweighed the benefits (design defect). They also found Yamaha negligent for failing to recall or retrofit after learning of the defect. Fault was apportioned 75% to Yamaha and 25% to the driver. The total damages awarded, prior to reduction for comparative fault, amounted to $26,333,476.67.

Plaintiff Nancy Gossett’s complex personal injury lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, and Delek Enterprises, Inc. concluded with a significant private settlement of $1,155,000. The case stemmed from a trip-and-fall incident on August 9, 2021, caused by an alleged dangerous condition—uneven pavement—on a public sidewalk on South Bundy Drive. Ms. Gossett had sought extensive damages for catastrophic injuries, which her counsel argued resulted from the defendants’ negligent failure to inspect and maintain the public infrastructure. Rather than facing a jury trial, scheduled for May 2023, the parties finalized the resolution on January 29, 2024, ending the contested legal proceedings.

In the Florida case Jose Hernandez vs. PSAN PI/WD Trust (Case No. 2022-023625-CA-01), the Plaintiff alleged life-changing injuries after a defective Takata airbag inflator in his 2005 Honda Civic violently ruptured during a minor collision on December 13, 2020. The inflator exploded with excessive force, sending metal fragments into the vehicle cabin, including a large, sharp metal piece that pierced Mr. Hernandez’s right arm, causing permanent disability, disfigurement, and chronic pain. Mr. Hernandez filed suit in December 2022 against both the Takata compensation trust and the Miami-based Honda dealership involved with the vehicle. He sought damages for medical bills, lost earning ability, and significant non-economic losses such as lifelong pain, disability, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life. After hearing extensive testimony and reviewing expert evidence regarding the defect and the severity of the injuries, the jury returned a verdict on May 1, 2025, siding with the Plaintiff. The jury awarded a total of $3,000,000 in non-economic damages, allocating $2,500,000 for past suffering and $500,000 for future suffering, recognizing the irreversible impact of the airbag failure on the Plaintiff’s daily life and physical abilities. The verdict reflects the ongoing legal fallout from one of the largest defective safety product scandals in automotive history and underscores accountability for manufacturers and distributors when safety mechanisms fail catastrophically.