WRONGFUL DEATH AWARD – $6.7 MILLION

At the conclusion of trial, Jonathan Kieffer, Vanessa Gross, and Adam Davis obtained a $6,723,021.00 damages award on behalf of the family of a young woman who had been killed in a two-vehicle collision.  The case was filed by the surviving husband on behalf of himself and their three young children. The defendants in the case were the driver of the other vehicle, as well as the driver’s parents and their oil company.  We argued, successfully, that the other driver was negligent in the operation of his vehicle at the time of the collision.  We prevailed on our assertion that the other driver’s parents, who owned the vehicle, were negligent for allowing him to drive their car because they knew or should have known of his horrendous driving record.  We succeeded on our claim that the parents’ oil company should be held liable because the accident occurred while the driver was in the course and scope of work for the oil company.  We also prevailed on our claim of alter ego.  As a result, we succeeded on all claims: negligence, negligent entrustment, agency, and alter ego.  Survival, wrongful death, and Wentling damages were awarded. The $6,723,021.00 award is believed to be the largest reported compensatory damages award in a wrongful death case tried in Kansas, the largest reported negligent entrustment award in Kansas, and the largest reported “alter-ego” damages award in the state of Kansas.