Mraz vs. DaimlerChrsyler

Outcome: $55.4 Million Verdict / $24 Million Settlement

Description: In 2007 a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $55.4 million, including $50 million in punitive damages, to the family of 38-year-old Mraz, who died after being hit and run over by a Dodge Dakota while working in the Port of Los Angeles in 2004. Mr. Naylor successfully argued that a “park-to-reverse” defect in the truck’s automatic transmission caused Mraz's death. The jury found that DaimlerChrysler Corp. acted with malice by failing to warn consumers of the defect it had known about for years and by conducting a “phony” recall that did not adequately fix the vehicle. In 2009, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the payment of a $24 million settlement with the bankrupt automaker (Chrysler Corp.) The settlement is believed to be one of the largest ever for the wrongful death of a longshore worker, as well as one of the largest settlements ever of an individual wrongful death action involving an auto manufacturer.