Home > Blog > Biggest Personal Injury Lawsuit Payout in History for Unimaginable Trauma

Most people who file a personal injury lawsuit are not trying to get rich quick. They are not plotters or schemers trying to get a quick buck. The people who file these suits and the personal injury attorneys who represent them are about genuinely seeking justice for something that has caused that person harm. That harm can extend to lost wages, pain, and suffering, emotional trauma, or physical effects that will always have an impact on the victim.

If you have ever thought that personal injury cases are frivolous, consider the biggest payout in history from a personal injury case. It happened in Los Angeles in 2011. The case was simply unimaginable: an 8-year-old boy set on fire by a 13-year-old boy who had sexually abused him a couple of weeks earlier.

The jury awarded the boy’s parents $150 billion in damages, but the amount was mostly symbolic, news reports say. Still, the payout is the largest one in the nation’s history and the family was awarded $370 million in actual damages. The media alleges that the lawsuit was primarily a tactic to persuade district attorneys to try the assailant for the boy’s assault in both cases; the boy died several years later at the age of 20 after he developed skin cancer.

In recent developments, a judge ruled that the assailant could be tried for the victim’s assault and murder.

This case shows that there are sometimes unimaginable layers and trauma surrounding personal injury incidents. It can take enormous courage to move forward with what is right, even if it means facing something that has gone horribly wrong.

If you or someone you love has questions about a personal injury case and needs to speak with an attorney, don’t wait any longer. Call personal injury lawyers Kirkendall Dwyer LLP.