Landmark Settlements & Verdicts Recovered for Our Clients

In April of 2024, an Alachua County jury in Florida’s 8th Judicial Circuit has returned total damages of $34,723,176 to the family of Tyrone Dixon in a verdict against R.J. Reynolds (RJR) tobacco company. The long-running case, first tried in 2018 and 2019 but reversed on appeal, was brought by attorneys Rod Smith and Dawn Vallejos-Nichols, partners of Avera & Smith with support from Jacksonville-based Milton, Leach, Whitman, D’Andrea & Eslinger.

The eight-figure jury award was for Mr. Dixon’s widow and two children as part of Mrs. Dixon’s claim as an Engle progeny case, which stems from Florida’s Engle class action, which allowed nicotine-addicted Florida residents or their families to sue tobacco companies for cases diagnosed between 1990 and 1996.

Partner Lance Avera secured a settlement of $3.5 million for an employee who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell from a tower.

A Duval County jury handed down a $1,105,000 verdict in favor of Amanda Fournier for the broken neck she suffered at age 17 from falling through the faulty railing of a residential balcony.

A St. Clair County Illinois Circuit Court judge awarded plaintiff Lucas Williams $37.5 million for the death of his wife and his own complete disability as the result of a horrific drunk driving crash in 2010. Mark Avera represented Mr. Williams in this out-of-state bench trial.

An Alachua County jury in Florida’s Eighth Judicial Circuit returned a $2 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company on behalf of the family of Tyrone Dixon, who contracted laryngeal cancer and passed away in 1994 at age 38 as a result of his addiction to cigarettes containing nicotine. The Dixon family was represented by Avera & Smith partners Rod Smith, Mark Avera and Dawn Vallejos-Nichols.

A Marion County jury handed down a $2,500,000 medical malpractice verdict to an Avera & Smith client who was the spouse of a patient who passed away after a family practice physician failed to identify the signs and symptoms of a deadly disease. The Ocala jury determined, after a week-long trial, that the patient’s physician failed to meet the required standard of care, resulting in the patient’s death. Mark Avera and Ben Steinberg tried this case to verdict with the support of Avera & Smith staff.

When Mr. Quiros finished a long day of work and climbed into the passenger seat of a van owned by his employer for his commute home, he had no idea that his life, and the lives of his wife and three children, would change in an instant. When his co-worker fell asleep at the wheel, the van violently rolled over, and Mr. Quiros suffered catastrophic injuries, including a significant brain injury. After his workers’ compensation benefits were wrongfully denied, Avera & Smith stepped in and brought suit against the responsible parties. Had he been confined to only a workers’ compensation claim, his wife and children would have been entitled to nothing as a result of his injuries. However, after an extremely complex case involving workers’ compensation and personal injury law, Lance Avera and Benjamin Steinberg secured a recovery of over $11,000,000 to benefit his entire family.

Lance Avera achieved a settlement of $1.8 million for an employee who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell off a semi-truck.

A Pensacola Circuit Court jury returned a $34.6 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company on behalf of the family of Garry O’Hara, a man who passed away from lung cancer at age 50 subsequent to quitting smoking at age 35. Mark Avera, Rod Smith and Dawn Vallejos-Nichols secured the verdict.

Lance Avera worked to achieve a settlement of $217,500 for an employee who injured her back at work while lifting a patient. She required several surgeries and lost her ability to work. The insurance carrier continues to be responsible for the client’s medical care related to her work injury.

Mark Avera and Dawn Vallejos-Nichols secured a trial verdict of $2 million awarded to the estate of the deceased, who was killed instantly when a truck operated by Mathews Trucking Company struck his car.

The settlement amount is confidential. Plaintiff Smart was operating a motor vehicle in which her daughter, the decedent, Amberlyn Patricia Rand, was a passenger. Defendant Redwine crossed the center line and sideswiped the vehicle operated by the plaintiff. Smart made a claim for personal injuries, as well as a claim for the wrongful death of her daughter. Suit was filed for both claims and settled prior to trial.

Lance Avera secured a settlement for the plaintiff. The defendant’s driver abandoned the vehicle in a moving lane of traffic on U.S. 301 for the purpose of buying boiled peanuts, causing the decedent to crash into the rear of the truck.

Mark Avera secured a $250,000 settlement (physician’s policy limit) for an 80-year-old patient with hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) who had been prescribed statin medication to control the condition—medication which also may cause rhabdomyolysis, a condition that causes muscle cells to break down and, if untreated or unrecognized, may lead to death. Statin drugs were not discontinued, causing the patient to die of complications from rhabdomyolysis.

Lance Avera achieved a mediated settlement of $235,000 in workers’ compensation disability claim for a worker involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving a company vehicle. Additionally, there was a subsequent mediated settlement for $325,000 for a personal injury claim.

Lance Avera secured a settlement in the amount of $300,000, including purchase of an annuity. Gonzalez, an illegal alien working as a roofer, fell from the second story of a building, resulting in traumatic brain injury. The dispute regarding employee/employer relationship resulted in the judge’s decision that this relationship did, in fact, occur.

Avera & Smith attorneys secured $1.9 million in damages to the plaintiff, a commercial crabber whose boat collided with an unmarked dredge pipeline near Horseshoe Beach, Florida.

Mark Avera secured a confidential settlement for a 2008 accident in which a Comtrak Logistics driver crashed into the rear of a Marion County school bus, killing one child and injuring dozens of others.

Lance Avera achieved a settlement of $1.8 million for an employee who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he fell off a semi-truck.

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