Dunnion Law Wins Record-Breaking Verdict of $21.5 Million for Young Client

A jury of the Madera County Superior Court recently handed down a record-setting verdict of $21,513,000 to Jose Maclovio. This is Madera County’s largest verdict to a single plaintiff and the California Central Valley’s sixth largest general damages verdict in the past 15 years.

The verdict, won by Dunnion Law, stems from a 2015 motor vehicle accident case where the van in which Maclovio rode as a passenger was violently rear-ended. Maclovio, a Madera resident and father of one, was paralyzed from the neck down as a result of the high-speed collision.

(Image: Van where Maclovio was seated on the right-hand side of the rear row.)

“In addition to being a record-breaking verdict, this win shatters the insurance companies’ long-held presumption that Madera County juries are too conservative to award plaintiffs the full value of their damages,” said Connell Dunnion, Esq. and Principal of Dunnion Law.

Maclovio’s attorneys, Denis Delja, Esq. and Connell Dunnion, Esq., took the calculated risk of pursuing general damages only. Instead of including special damages typical in similar cases, Dunnion Law opted for a strategic approach that essentially bypassed the predetermined values set by doctors, insurers and others, and focused solely on the intangible value of the grief, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress and mental suffering that Maclovio has experienced and will experience in the future.

During the four-day trial, jurors and the court listened to testimony and evidence of these losses, including the loss of the relationships he once had with his daughter and daughter’s mother. Dunnion Law drew a compelling picture of the invaluable loss of Maclovio’s inability to be the provider for his young family, to hold and to play with his daughter, and to care for himself independently.

After just an hour of deliberation, the jury awarded the full amount of $21,513,000 that Dunnion Law asked for on behalf of Maclovio.