The Improbable Verdict

A poorly trained, seventy-five-year-old driver illegally parked his big-rig tractor-trailer on the side of the highway. On a pitch black November morning, a family SUV slammed into and under the rear of the parked truck. The father/driver and one son, sitting behind him, were killed on impact. Two other young children exited through a rear window. The mother was trapped in the front passenger seat, and a fire began under the hood of the car. The two surviving children alternately tried to extricate their mother and tried to flag down passing vehicles. Their mother was slowly incinerated as she called her son to help her. The defendant trucking company refused to pay the paltry One Million Dollar policy, forcing a trial. Attorney Brian Brandt took on the case. Brandt went to trial, representing Kylie, the nine-year-old sole survivor, as well as the interests of Blaine, the other original survivor. The jury awarded One-Hundred-Forty Million Dollars, plus interest and costs. It was and remains the largest wrongful-death verdict amount in the history of California. The case was not over, however, as the trial judge made a stunning decision, leaving much more to be told.