A Utah state court jury has delivered a record $81 million verdict for the family and friends of a child struck and killed by a truck in a crosswalk after an initial trial ended in a defense verdict.
The jury returned its verdict on March 13 in a trial that began on March 2. They found that Rusty Cope, a driver for Allied Building Products, is responsible for the 2018 death of Michael Madsen. Madsen’s family accused Allied of hiring a dangerously inexperienced driver with a checkered safety record who sped into a crosswalk. The defense argued that Madsen ran in front of the truck.
Attorney Sean Claggett of Claggett & Skyes Trial Lawyers, who represented the Madsen family, told CVN after the trial that the verdict far exceeded the defense’s $1 million settlement offer made just prior to closing arguments and noted the verdict helped cement an undisclosed settlement that will preclude any appeals.
“While the jury was deliberating, there was a frenzy of negotiations, and we were able to reach an agreement that required the verdict for the deal to be finalized,” Claggett said. “We are very happy with the negotiations that resulted in closure for the family and no more litigation.”
He added that he believes the verdict is the largest in Utah history, beating the previous record of $25 million.
The verdict broke down to $33 million for each of Madsen’s parents, and $7.5 million each to two of Madsen’s friends who witnessed the collision.
Claggett is one of the most sought-after plaintiff attorneys in the country, so, with his pick of cases, he said that how well the Madsen family’s suit held up under rigorous trademark pre-trial data analysis ultimately brought him to Utah.
Claggett was backed by local Utah counsel, Blake Johnson of Johnson Livingston Personal Injury LLC.
The defense was represented by Jones Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C.
The case is captioned Madsen v. Beacon, et al., case number 190401592.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
