Largest verdicts in Connecticut
24 independently-sourced personal-injury results from Connecticut firms, largest first. Each links to the full story — the firm, the attorneys, and the record behind the number.
Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes won a $47.4 million Erie County jury verdict for a 22-year-old law student who suffered a catastrophic brain injury when two drivers played high-speed road tag on the New York State Thruway.
A Hartford jury returned a $7.25 million verdict for the estate of Daniel DiNardi, a Connecticut DOT supervisor fatally struck by a tractor-trailer while working on the shoulder of Route 8 northbound near Waterbury.
RisCassi and Davis attorneys secured a $6.5 million settlement for students hurt when a school bus plunged down a 20-foot I-84 embankment, killing a 16-year-old Rocky Hill boy on his way to a robotics competition.
Michael Jainchill of RisCassi & Davis secured a $3.8 million settlement for the adult children of Janet Pulver, a 66-year-old Avon grandmother killed when a speeding driver crossed the center line and struck her car head-on in Farmington, Connecticut.
A Hartford Superior Court jury returned a $3,476,025 verdict in September 2014 for motorcyclist Matthew Karotkin, who suffered skull fractures and a lung injury when a UPS driver cut left across his path at a Windsor, Connecticut intersection.
A pavement-marking crew member fell from a moving trailer and struck his head on the road after a co-worker changed lanes abruptly, leaving him with no memory of the incident; Carter Mario resolved the combined workers' compensation and third-party auto claims for $3 million.
Keith V. Trantolo of Trantolo & Trantolo secured a $2.9 million wrongful death settlement in a motor vehicle fatality case, placing it seventh on TopVerdict's list of the top 20 Connecticut settlements of 2017.
A Waterbury jury returned a $2 million verdict in November 2024 for construction laborer Keven Shepard, who was electrocuted when an excavator struck an Eversource power line marked nearly eight feet from its actual underground position.
A pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle suffered a traumatic brain injury and settled for $2 million, ranking #11 on TopVerdict's Top 20 Connecticut Settlements of 2017.
Carter Mario recovered $1.25 million for pedestrian Deborah Okolovitch after a driver exiting a parking lot struck her, with defense counsel contesting liability because she was not in a marked crosswalk.
A Connecticut motorcyclist suffered a skull fracture, traumatic brain injury, and other life-threatening injuries after a limousine driver crossed into his lane; attorney Blake Driscolli of Trantolo and Trantolo recovered the full available insurance limits, $1.25 million, in 2023.
Michael Lemieux was riding his motorcycle in Milford when a car driven by Weihua Niu hit him head-on, fracturing his left leg, injuring his right arm, and causing a hernia; Carter Mario Injury Lawyers demanded the full policy limit from the outset and obtained a $1.25 million settlement.
A Connecticut motor vehicle accident victim secured a $1.2 million settlement in 2024, handled by Trantolo and Trantolo attorney Adam Allegro, with a counterclaim remaining on the docket at the time of reporting.
A Connecticut motorcyclist ejected when an Amazon-branded delivery van driver cut a left turn without yielding recovered $1 million, with the case later recognized as a Top 10 Connecticut Motorcycle Accident Settlement of 2023 by TopVerdict.
A U.S. District Court jury in Connecticut returned an $850,000 verdict for a sole-proprietor owner-operator trucker who was struck while parked on an exit ramp when a second rig rolled backward into him, more than four times the defense's final offer.
Carter Mario attorney Jessica Ayala recovered $750,000 for Gary McGee, a Harley-Davidson rider who had the right of way when defendant Stephen Holbomb turned left across his path, overcoming a defense challenge rooted in the client's delay in seeking medical care.
A Hartford jury awarded a Farmington man $707,149 in September 2021 after a two-vehicle collision left him with chronic back injuries and a torn rotator cuff, exceeding the amount plaintiff's counsel had requested by $32,000.
Bridgeport resident Melina Pedraza was stopped in traffic on Fairfield Avenue when a driver rear-ended her vehicle, aggravating a neck injury she had sustained just three weeks earlier, and Carter Mario Injury Lawyers secured a $575,000 settlement on her behalf.
Scott Mumley, a South Windsor man rear-ended on the Berlin Turnpike while driving for work, settled an underinsured motorist claim against his own insurer for $480,000.
A federal jury awarded Hartford truck driver Michael Kennedy $436,900 after his employer fired him for refusing to haul loads that would have exceeded federal highway weight limits, in a Surface Transportation Assistance Act whistleblower case tried by Cicchiello & Cicchiello.
A 53-year-old Middletown man who suffered a torn rotator cuff, a torn meniscus requiring two knee surgeries, and a right hip tear after a Poolman Pools dump truck rear-ended his Saturn settled his case for $400,000 in 2019.
A Waterbury jury awarded $350,000 to Joanne Cunningham after Diane Turchiano blew through a stop sign at high speed and T-boned her vehicle at a Southbury intersection, leaving Cunningham with permanent spinal and nerve injuries.
Attorney Melissa Brescia obtained a $337,433 underinsured motorist settlement for Joshua Jeudy after a three-car Connecticut accident, successfully arguing that the recommended surgery was a matter of if, not when, even though Jeudy had declined the procedure.
A Connecticut judge awarded $235,070 to a woman whose neck, shoulder, and hand were injured when a wall-mounted television fell on her in a UConn Health Center waiting room, with the case later reaching the Connecticut Supreme Court over a state assistance setoff dispute.