Hill v. Ford Motor Co.

Summary

Plaintiff contends a defect in a Ford truck's roof caused the deaths of two people.

Outcome

Verdict for the plaintiff.

Total damages: $1.724 billion.

Compensatory damages:
$24.05 million.

Apportionment of fault:
Ford: 70%
Pep Boys (not a party at trial: 30%

Punitive damages against Ford:
$1.7 billion.

Ford Faces Trial This Week Over Claim Defective Roof Design Killed 2 People in Truck Rollover Crash
Mar 20, 2018

Watch Live, Blockbuster Ford Roof Crush Trial for Free, with CVN Essentials
Mar 20, 2018

Ford's Rejection of Engineers' Advice Caused Deadly Roof Collapse, Attorney Claims as Trial Begins
Mar 27, 2018

Truck Rolled Over 2.5 Times in Roof Crush Wreck, Expert Concludes in Wrongful Death Trial Against Ford
Apr 5, 2018

Georgia Judge Sanctions Ford After Finding It Forced Mistrial in Wrongful Death Rollover Case
Aug 1, 2018

Ford Faces Trial This Week Over Rollover Crash That Killed 2
Aug 2, 2022

Ford's Design Decisions at Issue as Damages Trial Opens Over Fatal Rollover Crash
Aug 10, 2022

BREAKING: $1.7B Verdict Handed Down Against Ford in Trial Over Fatal Rollover Crash
Aug 19, 2022

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Hill, Kim
Defense: Ford Motor Co Inc
Verdict: $1,724,030,500

Judge: Joseph Iannazzone
Jurisdiction: State Court of Georgia, Gwinnett County
Court: GA-State Court of Georgia, Gwinnett County-Gwinnett Justice & Administration Center

Case Number: 16-C-04179-S2
Industry: Transportation
Practice Area: Products Liability

Plaintiff

Hill, Kim

Defense

Ford Motor Co Inc

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

PM Session

Other

2 Chapters

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:08:26	General Case Activities
		00:49:37	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Openings

3 Chapters

PM Session

Openings

8 Chapters

AM Session

Other

0 Chapters

AUG

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:09:46	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Kozak, Stephen	Video Recording
00:39:12	Break
01:01:40	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Kozak, Stephen	Video Recording
01:04:24	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Quenner, Larry	Video Recording
01:40:50	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Krishnaswami, Ram	Video Recording
01:48:17	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Krishnaswami, Ram	Transcript Reading
02:06:24	Break
02:17:25	General Case Activities
02:21:45	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Moore, Jennifer	Video Recording
02:35:18	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Buchner, G. Bryant	In Person
01:53:52	Break
01:41:32	Witness Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Buchner, G. Bryant	In Person
03:00:28	Witness Cross Examination	Boorman, Michael	Buchner, G. Bryant	In Person
02:53:15	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Buchner, G. Bryant	In Person
03:31:47	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

AUG

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:23:42	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Herbst, Brian	In Person
00:36:13	Witness Cross Examination	Malek, Paul	Herbst, Brian	In Person
01:33:10	Break
01:25:25	Witness Cross Examination	Malek, Paul	Herbst, Brian	In Person
02:11:25	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

AUG

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:50:07	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
00:52:00	Witness Cross Examination	Withrow, William	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
02:00:24	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Butler, James	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
02:14:12	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

14 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:20:03	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Butler, James	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
00:44:34	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Withrow, William	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
00:56:06	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Butler, James	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
01:00:03	Break
01:08:10	Witness Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Hill, Kim	In Person
02:04:02	Witness Cross Examination	Withrow, William	Hill, Kim	In Person
02:08:09	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Hill, Kim	In Person
02:09:34	Witness Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Daniels, Willie	In Person
02:20:56	Break
02:37:10	Witness Direct Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Lowe, Craig	In Person
02:50:15	Witness Direct Examination		Hill, Martha	In Person
03:01:34	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Hill, Frankie	In Person
03:12:20	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Hill, Adam	In Person
03:16:03	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Eikey, Chris	In Person
01:42:57	Break
01:58:38	Witness Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Eikey, Chris	In Person
02:37:53	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Eikey, Chris	In Person
00:11:31	Witness Cross Examination	Butler, James	Eikey, Chris	In Person
01:42:48	Break
01:59:18	Witness Direct Examination	Boorman, Michael	Germane, Geoffrey	In Person
04:00:48	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

3 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Boorman, Michael	Germane, Geoffrey	In Person
00:33:24	Witness Cross Examination	Davidson, Gerald	Germane, Geoffrey	In Person
02:02:19	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Boorman, Michael	Hoffman, Darrell	Video Recording
00:52:57	Witness Direct Examination	Henderson, Philip	Hoffman, Darrell	Transcript Reading
00:54:42	Break
01:11:58	Witness Direct Examination	Withrow, William	Bennett, Dr. Thomas M.D.	In Person
01:59:42	Witness Cross Examination	Butler, James	Bennett, Dr. Thomas M.D.	In Person
03:35:55	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Withrow, William	Bennett, Dr. Thomas M.D.	In Person
03:38:41	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

12 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

AUG

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Boorman, Michael	Vogler, Dr. Michelle , Ph.D.	In Person
01:18:20	Break
01:33:17	Witness Cross Examination	Peak, Brandon	Vogler, Dr. Michelle , Ph.D.	In Person
02:42:52	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Boorman, Michael	Vogler, Dr. Michelle , Ph.D.	In Person
03:02:26	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Peak, Brandon	Vogler, Dr. Michelle , Ph.D.	In Person
03:14:45	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Closings

8 Chapters

PM Session

Other

2 Chapters

AUG

PM Session

Verdict

5 Chapters

AUG

AM Session

Openings - Damages

11 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict - Damages

0 Chapters

AUG

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Hill v. Ford Motor Co.

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney
00:24:21	General Case Activities
00:36:20	Opening Statement	Butler, James
01:53:55	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:08:12	Opening Statement	Withrow, William
00:20:19	Opening Statement	Boorman, Michael
01:24:25	Break
01:46:02	General Case Activities
01:47:37	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Zaas, Carl	Video Recording
02:41:07	Break
02:57:47	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Caruso, Sal	Video Recording
04:02:20	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
-1:18:50
00:41:10	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Balzer, Jason	Video Recording
01:54:25	Break
02:11:52	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Balzer, Jason	Video Recording
03:20:36	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:28:35	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Herbst, Brian	In Person
02:09:10	Break
02:24:42	General Case Activities
02:34:00	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Herbst, Brian	In Person
03:29:15	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:04:31	General Case Activities
00:06:49	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Malek, Paul	Herbst, Brian	In Person
01:10:01	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Butler, James	Herbst, Brian	In Person
02:04:18	Break
02:13:07	General Case Activities
02:27:30	Witness Direct Examination	Butler, James	Eisenstat, Dr. Jonathan M.D.	In Person
03:50:35	General Case Activities
03:56:06	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
-1:51:46
00:00:00	General Case Activities	Henderson, Philip
00:03:11	General Case Activities	Peak, Brandon
00:04:55	Witness Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Leigh, Michael	In Person
00:42:06	Break
00:54:46	Witness Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Leigh, Michael	In Person
01:45:54	Break
03:25:36	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Malek, Paul	Leigh, Michael	In Person
03:31:11	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Butler, James	Leigh, Michael	In Person
03:35:46	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:10	Closing Statement	Davidson, Gerald
00:29:53	Closing Statement	Withrow, William
00:32:43	Closing Statement	Malek, Paul
01:08:20	Closing Statement	Withrow, William
01:38:55	Break
01:54:00	Closing Statement	Butler, James
03:16:02	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:02:32	Reading of the Verdict
		00:04:28	General Case Activities
		00:05:47	General Case Activities
		00:07:29	End of Session