Spinal Cord Injuries

$4.5 million
Case Details: On April 27th, 2006, George Liu, a 24-year-old San Jose State senior, was operating a Kawasaki ZX6 racing motorcycle in the fast lane on Calvert Drive in San Jose. Downstream a Honda CRX in the slow lane made an illegal u-turn across the fast lane and forced a van ahead of George's motorcycle to make an emergency stop. The van stopped in time and never hit the CRX. When George jammed on his brakes, his motorcycle reared upward onto its front wheel and pitched him over the handlebars into the van as he stopped. As a result George is an L-1 paraplegic. A demand that the insurance company for the Honda pay its policy limits was denied, leading to the collection of $4.5 million. In-depth details can be found on this site, including the courtroom computer reconstruction showing how the crash unfolded from the motorcyclist's view.
See also George Liu's personal video report. George Liu v. John Doe, Santa Clara County Superior Court.

$3.5 million
Case Details: 19 year old passenger suffered a spinal C-7 cord injury in a rollover.
Fisher v. Pitts, Sonoma County Superior Court

$11.0 million
Case Details: A father and daughter suffered C-5/C-6 quadriplegic injuries after a multi-vehicle collision when their car was rear-ended by the defendant's tractor and trailer.
Nevarez v. Foremost Dairies

$1.2 million
Case Details: Wrongful death of a 35 year old construction foreman employed by the City of San Jose who was installing curbing in a residential neighborhood when he was struck by the defendant's car, causing amputation of both legs and terminal injuries to his brain and spinal cord.
Mullan v. Lloyd, Santa Clara County Superior Court Action Number CV-759615

$950,000
Case Details: 28 year old Japanese development engineer with IBM Japan in Tokyo was visiting a family friend in the Bay Area when their car was hit head-on by another vehicle and she suffered extensive injuries.
Takeuchi and Kamiya v. Keegan, Monterey County Superior Court Number 92486