Courtroom View Network (CVN) recently released its Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2024, which ranked the $495 million verdict in the 2024 Bellwether Baby Formula Trial in St. Louis, Missouri, as the #1 verdict.
In Gill v. Abbott Laboratories, the plaintiff brought the claim on behalf of her minor child, who developed NEC after being given Similac and/or Enfamil cows milk-based products following her premature birth. The infant was forced to undergo extensive surgery and has continued to suffer long-term health consequences. The jury awarded the Gill family $400 million in punitive damages and $95 million in compensatory damages.
“The jury followed the evidence and made the right decision,” says Hon. John (Jack) Garvey, a founding member of Stranch, Jennings & Garvey (SJ&G) and co-lead counsel for the lawsuit. “I consider it a great honor to have brought some level of justice to the family.”
According to CVN, this lawsuit ranked at the top of the list for the following reasons:
“Lawsuits over claims that cows milk-based formula given to premature infants in hospitals can cause serious intestinal damage have become one of the most closely watched emerging mass torts in the country. Thousands of cases are pending in various courts, including many in a federal MDL with a bellwether trial scheduled for later this year.
“This trial from last summer in state court marked the first time formula manufacturer Abbott Laboratories defended their product in front of a jury. After an Illinois jury hit another formula manufacturer with a $60 million verdict earlier that year, all eyes were on Missouri’s 22nd Judicial Circuit — a venue known for delivering large verdicts in product liability cases. Besides producing a massive $495 million verdict — including $400 in punitive damages — the trial gave many attorneys and analysts their first public look at the type of evidence likely to feature in future trials.
“The month-long trial saw the plaintiff team go up against two of the most formidable white shoe defense firms in the country, and the fact a subsequent baby formula trial in the same courtroom months later ended in a defense verdict (to be featured in CVN’s top 10 defense list) shows why this critical bellwether win landed the number one spot for the most impressive plaintiff verdict that CVN covered in 2024.”
The plaintiff and her child were represented by SJ&G and TorHoerman Law. In addition to Jack Garvey, SJ&G’s trial team included: founding member Mike Stewart; member Janna Maples; and attorneys Colleen Garvey, Ellen Thomas and Caleb Harbison.
“This is the sort of litigation that our firm takes pride in — where you need to commit massive resources to take on the most powerful bad actors,” says J. Gerard Stranch IV, founding and managing member of SJ&G. “I’m very proud of our team.”