Jury Verdicts & Settlements

Latest jury verdicts, settlements, and legal outcome analysis

Jury Finds eVTOL Maker Breached NDA Over Air Data Probes

A federal jury in Tampa found that Joby Aero, Inc. breached a nondisclosure agreement and misappropriated air data probe trade secrets belonging to Aerosonic LLC. Aerosonic alleged that Joby used drawings, test data, and wind tunnel data shared during supply talks to build its own probes for its eVTOL aircraft. The jury awarded $68,626,042 for breach of the agreement, $29,910,416 in compensatory damages under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and $18,325,634 in exemplary damages after finding willful and malicious misappropriation. It rejected Joby’s counterclaims.

Employment Discrimination

Jury Awards $6.25M in Detroit Club Race Discrimination Case

A federal jury returned verdicts totaling $6.25 million for Maria Victoria Baugh, Charles Lisée, and Miya Shani Hooks in an employment discrimination and retaliation case against Detroit Club Management Corp., Lynn Uralli, and Suzette Daye. The jury awarded compensatory and punitive damages after the Court allowed several claims to proceed to trial.

civil rights

Jury Awards $14.25M in NYPD Excessive Force Case

A federal jury in Manhattan awarded Steven Dominguez $14.25 million against the City of New York and three NYPD officers. Dominguez alleged that after an unknown attacker slashed his face at a 2019 Brooklyn New Year's Eve party, responding officers beat him, arrested him, and charged him with assaulting an officer. A criminal court later dismissed those charges. The jury found Officers Dylan Lynch and Joseph Battista used excessive force and held Patrick Lynch liable on other claims. The award included $11.55 million in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages.

Patent Infringement

Jury Awards $5.7 Billion Over Haptic Patent Infringement

A federal jury in San Diego found that Apple Inc. infringed two Taction Technology, Inc. haptic patents and awarded $5,721,961,750 in damages. Taction alleged that the Taptic Engine haptic actuators in iPhones and Apple Watches used its patented ferrofluid damping and flexure designs. The jury rejected Apple’s invalidity defense but found no willful infringement. Apple later moved for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, calling the award the largest patent verdict in history.

Personal Injury

Metro Bus Passenger Wins $132K Verdict in Parked-Car Crash

A Los Angeles jury awarded $132,040 to Lizette Silvas, a passenger injured when a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus struck a parked vehicle on Broadway in May 2023. After Metro stipulated to liability, jurors decided only damages, awarding past and future medical expenses plus past and future non-economic damages for physical pain and mental suffering. The Court later entered a $168,311.12 judgment that included claimed costs, which Metro challenged in a motion to tax costs.

Patent Infringement

Jury Awards $27.6M in Willful 3D Printer Patent Case

A Marshall, Texas, jury found that the companies behind the Bambu Lab printer brand willfully infringed four Stratasys 3D printing patents and awarded Stratasys $27.6 million. The verdict covered six claims tied to purge towers, print path planning, and nozzle force detection in Bambu Lab printers. Stratasys had accused models including the X1-Carbon, P1S, A1, and A1 mini. The jury rejected Bambu's invalidity defense. Judge Rodney Gilstrap entered judgment with prejudgment interest but declined to enhance damages for willfulness. Post-trial motions remain pending.

Trade Secrets

Idaho Jury Clears Ex-Manager in Simplot Trade Secret Suit

A federal jury in Boise, Idaho, returned a unanimous defense verdict for Kadyn Del Toro, a former insights and analytics manager at J.R. Simplot Company. Simplot claimed Del Toro copied confidential sales data to USB drives before leaving to join competitor Wilbur-Ellis in 2022. The Court granted summary judgment to Del Toro on the conversion claim before trial. After a four-day trial, the jury found Simplot failed to prove breach of contract, breach of the duty of loyalty or trade secret misappropriation. Simplot later filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit.

Breach of Contract

Jury Awards $30M Over Insurers' Delay on Coal Silo Claim

A federal jury in West Virginia awarded Ramaco Resources, LLC, $30 million in Hayseeds damages against Federal Insurance Company and ACE American Insurance Company in a second trial. The trial followed a 2018 coal silo collapse at Ramaco’s Elk Creek mining complex, a denied property claim, a 2021 trial, and a Fourth Circuit remand. Jurors found the insurers’ delay in settling the claim caused $2.5 million in corporate aggravation and inconvenience and $27.5 million in net economic loss.

Breach of Contract

Jury Awards $81K in Miami Penthouse Renovation Dispute

A federal jury in Miami found that The Justin Maderia Trust and its trustee, Justin Maderia, breached their contract with interior design firm Sure Business Corp. over a penthouse renovation at the Gran Paraiso condominium. The firm claimed the owners requested costly upgrades, then refused to pay a $269,500 balance. Jurors set damages at $81,492.87, including $14,433.79 in apartment rent, but rejected the civil theft and conversion claims. The Court later entered a $107,738.49 Final Judgment with prejudgment interest.

Wrongful Death

Jury Finds Deputy 40% at Fault in Jail Fentanyl Death

A federal jury in Riverside, California, awarded $13.5 million to the family of Richard Matus, Jr., a pretrial detainee who died of fentanyl toxicity at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in 2022. Jurors found that Deputy Angel Rojas did not deliberately ignore inmate intercom calls about Matus’s emergency but unreasonably ignored one or more of them. They assigned 60 percent of the fault to Matus, and the Court entered a $5.4 million negligence judgment against Rojas and the County of Riverside. Judgment went to the Defendants on the federal civil rights and Monell claims.