Verdict: $1,250,000

A family brought an underinsured motorist claim against CNA Insurance for the wrongful death of their fourteen-year-old daughter who had been a passenger in a one-auto crash. Their daughter was a freshman in high school without any income. The death occurred shortly after the Illinois General Assembly had passed into law in l996 a new wrongful death limit of $500,000 for non-economic damage awards.

This is the only reported case to settle in excess of the limit before the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the limit as unconstitutional.

Baries v. CNA Insurance Co.