$38.3 Million Verdict for the Yoder Family After an I-90 Truck Pileup

On February 12, 1999, traffic on westbound Interstate 90 near Rockford, Illinois slowed just west of the Kishwaukee River Bridge. Several large trucks failed to stop in time, and the chain-reaction pileup that followed crushed the passenger car carrying the Yoder family.

Inside the car were two parents and their two young children. The family's four-year-old daughter was killed. Their two-year-old son survived but suffered catastrophic brain injuries that left him permanently disabled. The children's mother was badly hurt. The father, who was driving, recovered nothing at trial.

Clifford Law Offices represented the mother, both in her own right and on behalf of her children. Kevin P. Durkin led the case, with Robert P. Sheridan serving of counsel. The litigation named several trucking companies, including Ro-Mar Transportation, Single Source Transportation, Midland Grocery, and Kee Transport, along with the men driving their trucks. The defense argued that the Yoders' own vehicle had been going too fast and pointed to a statement the mother allegedly made after the crash. Expert reconstruction of the wreck, including braking and speed calculations for the vehicles involved, was central to the dispute, and the plaintiffs' team set out to show that the trucks, not the family, caused it.

The case was tried in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The jury deliberated for five days before returning a verdict of $38.3 million on March 26, 2004. It awarded $27.5 million for the disabled boy, $7.3 million to the mother individually, and $3.5 million to the estate of the daughter who died. The jury divided fault among four drivers, assigning them 33%, 30%, 27%, and 10% of the responsibility.

The defendants appealed. They asked the appellate court to throw out the verdict or grant a new trial, and they challenged several of the trial judge's rulings on evidence and on the verdict forms. In 2008, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, rejected those arguments and affirmed the judgment. It did not reduce the $38.3 million award. The court reversed on one narrow point: it held that the appealing defendants were owed a full setoff for a pretrial settlement with one of the drivers, which lowered the net amount they had to pay without changing the damages the jury had set.