$2 Million Record Setting Rockford, Illinois Jury Verdict

May 25, 2007  - Today, following a two week trial, a twelve member Rockford, Illinois jury returned a record setting $2 million dollar verdict in favor of the parents and sister of a nine year old girl who was killed in a collision with a 1994 Bombardier Sea-Doo personal watercraft.  The girl was tubing behind a speed boat on Clear Lake near Milton, Wisconsin when the personal watercraft, operated by a nineteen year old Rockford resident, collided with the tube and girl after doing doughnuts in the middle of the lake.  The nineteen year old claimed he lost control of the Sea Doo when he let go of the throttle.  Attorneys at Rapoport Law Offices, who represented the estate of the child that was killed, proved to the jury's satisfaction that both the operator and the manufacturer of the Sea Doo were at fault.  The jury found the operator was 95% liable, assigning  the other 5% of the blame to Bombardier, manufacturer of the 1994 See Doo XP personal watercraft. The claim against the manufacturer was that the Sea Doo was improperly designed because it lost steering control while on plane when the throttle was released. According to records maintained by the Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter, this is the highest child wrongful death verdict on record from Winnebago County.  

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