$12 Million Jury Verdict, First 8-Figure Verdict in IL

Corboy & Demetrio Partner Thomas A. Demetrio obtained a record-setting jury verdict of $12 million, the first 8-figure verdict in the state of Illinois, for the husband of a 33-year-old woman who was killed along with one of her two young sons in a horrific car and semi-tractor trailer truck collision.  The surviving son was left with serious brain injury and a quadriplegic as a result of the crash.

In 1981, Carol Rickerson of Streamwood, IL, was driving with her two sons Steven, 10, and Scott, 8, when a semi-tractor trailer truck, weighing 28,000 pounds, crossed the center line of a four-lane highway and collided with their car head on.

Thomas Demetrio represented David Rickerson, Carol’s surviving husband, filing two wrongful death lawsuits against H.J. Jeffries Truck Lines in the deaths of Carol and Scott and a negligence lawsuit for the permanent disability of Steven.

Shortly before the trial was set to begin, Thomas Demetrio turned down an $8 million settlement offer and let a jury decide the case in a Cook County courtroom.  The jury returned verdicts of $800,000 for the Estate of Carol Rickerson; $200,000 for the Estate of Scott Rickerson; and a verdict for more than $10 million for the injuries to Steven.  After the defendants appealed, it settled for $12 million, which was the largest paid verdict in Illinois history. 

Read the ABA Journal story, “Elements of a $12 Million Personal Injury Case,” on the case.