A 55-year-old woman died after a massive tree branch fell on her while she waited at a Muni bus stop near Golden Gate Park during a powerful bomb cyclone storm in March 2023. Her two children sued the City and County of San Francisco, alleging the tree had long-standing structural defects the city ignored. After a jury trial in September 2025, the jury found the city was not liable and the plaintiffs recovered nothing.

The Estate of Maria Ghillino, acting as an assignee for Rapid Junk Haulers, LLC, filed a professional liability lawsuit against JDA Insurance Group, LLC. The dispute followed a tragic 2021 accident where a junk-hauling truck struck and killed a pedestrian. Upon seeking coverage, the business discovered their policy contained an absolute auto exclusion. The Plaintiff alleged that JDA Insurance failed its duty to procure adequate coverage for a vehicle-dependent business. However, a Miami-Dade jury determined that while a relationship of trust existed, the agency did not breach its fiduciary duty or act with negligence, resulting in a total defense verdict.

On April 25, 2019, 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon was standing near a parked Chevrolet Tahoe in Key Largo, Florida, when she was struck and killed by a 2019 Tesla Model S traveling at approximately 70 miles per hour. The Tesla driver had engaged the vehicle’s "Autopilot" system and was distracted by his phone, relying on the technology to detect obstacles. The vehicle's sensors failed to recognize the stationary SUV, leading to a high-speed collision that also severely injured Dillon Angulo. The subsequent lawsuit alleged that Tesla’s Autopilot contained design defects, including a failure to adequately monitor driver engagement and detect stationary objects. In August 2025, a jury found Tesla 35% liable for the incident, determining that the vehicle was marketed with a defect that served as a legal cause of the damages.

On August 7, 2020, Jeffrey Alexander Monroy was assisting his father with pool repairs in Rancho Mirage when he left the site to find a phone. Residents reported a "suspicious person" in black clothing, leading to an encounter with Corporal Ruben Perez. As Jeffrey and his brother fled, Corporal Perez fired five shots into Jeffrey's back without issuing verbal warnings. The family alleged Jeffrey was in the midst of a mental health crisis at the time of the shooting. Following a trial in the U.S. District Court, a jury found that the officer used excessive force and awarded $13.1 million in total damages, assigning 70% of the negligence to the officer.

The legal battle began following a violent encounter on March 2, 2019, that claimed the life of Justin Garza. His parents, Joseph and Sarah Garza, initiated a civil lawsuit against Randy Kutchuwah Windwalker Jones in the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno. The litigation sought to hold Jones accountable for the fatal shooting of their son during a dispute over a debt in a Motel 6 parking lot. Despite defense arguments claiming comparative fault, a Fresno jury reached a unanimous decision on April 10, 2025, finding Jones liable. The Court awarded the Plaintiffs a total of $11 million in compensatory damages for the past and future loss of their son's love, companionship, and moral support.

In a tragic incident on a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) bus, passenger Anthony McGaff lost his life after being placed in a lethal chokehold by another rider, Edward Hilbert. The altercation began when a third party started filming McGaff, leading to a confrontation where Hilbert intervened with force. Despite the visible struggle and the pleas of other passengers, the bus operator continued driving for approximately eight minutes without stopping the vehicle or summoning emergency services. A San Diego Superior Court jury found that SDMTS breached its "common carrier" duty to protect its passengers. The jury awarded $8.5 million in total damages, identifying the transit system and the intervening passenger as equally responsible for the preventable death.

The tragic death of Varnel Johnson Jr. serves as a harrowing reminder of the stakes involved in heavy machinery operation and site management. In August 2021, Johnson was operating a Caterpillar 725 water truck on a path constricted by culvert pipes and unstable soil. The collapse of the canal shoulder led to his vehicle submerging, resulting in his death by drowning due to a lack of emergency escape features in the truck's cabin. In a landmark decision reached on January 14, 2026, a Miami-Dade jury bypassed standard worker's compensation immunity by finding that the project superintendent’s actions constituted gross negligence. The case highlighted "serious" OSHA violations, including the failure to maintain safe travel paths, and scrutinized Caterpillar's equipment design regarding submersion safety and center-of-gravity stability.

On November 17, 2025, a jury in the Circuit Court for Duval County, Florida, returned a defense verdict in favor of Dr. Jack John Messina. The Plaintiff, Louise Tyson, representing the estate of her late husband Paul W. Tyson, filed a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit alleging that negligence during a 2018 heart surgery led to Mr. Tyson's death. The complaint argued that the medical team failed to properly monitor anti-coagulation levels and manage the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) system, causing a massive stroke due to blood clots. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed Dr. Messina, as the surgeon, failed to ensure the CPB system was safe before use. However, the jury found that there was no negligence on the part of Dr. Messina that was a legal cause of injury to the decedent.

Rebecca Newman, representing the estate of Margaret Derderian, sued Dr. Matthew Brown, Dr. Anne Lally, and Starling Physicians, P.C. for medical malpractice and wrongful death. The complaint alleged that Dr. Brown failed to meet the standard of care during a fistulogram procedure on the elderly patient, specifically by failing to recognize the high risk of hemorrhage from a fragile vein and discharging her without proper observation. The patient died days later from exsanguination. The defense argued that the treatment met professional standards. A New Britain jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, finding no negligence.

Two young brothers secured a $10.5 million settlement against San Bernardino County and multiple social workers after the Department of Children and Family Services failed to protect them from abuse and returned them to parents who ultimately tortured and murdered their infant brother Jamari Mendez in April 2022. The plaintiffs, identified as J.G. and J.M., witnessed their baby brother's killing after social workers ignored warning signs including documented domestic violence, drug use, and protective orders against their father Ricardo Mendez. The case settled in March 2025, days before trial was scheduled to begin.