Appellate Court Rules against Sea-Doo Personal Watercraft Manufacturer in $2 Million Wrongful Death

On May 25, 2007, following a two week wrongful death 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 whose wrongful death was caused in collision with a 1994 Bombardier Sea-Doo personal watercraft. During the trial, 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% at fault and assigned the other 5% of blame to Bombardier.

Despite the jury's finding in their favor and against Bombardier, the plaintiffs appealed, arguing the trial judge had made a number of erroneous evidentiary rulings in favor of Bombardier. The plaintiffs argued that if the judge had ruled correctly, the jury probably would have assigned much more than 5% of the blame to Bombardier.

On January 23, 2009, The Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, issued a decisive ruling agreeing with the plaintiffs, and ordering a new trial on the issue of allocation of fault only. At the new trial, the jury will be instructed that Bombardier and the operator of the personal watercraft are 100% at fault for the collision, and its only job is to determine what percentage of the blame should be assigned to each. When making this determination, the jury will not be shown much of the evidence that Bombardier was erroneously allowed to present during the first trial. The $2,000,000.00 damages award, which is the highest child wrongful death verdict ever in Winnebago County according to records maintained by the Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter, remains valid and will not be retried. In order for Bombardier to be jointly liable for the entire award, the jury must find Bombardier responsible for 25% or more of the blame for the collision.

Rapoport Law Offices, P.C. is a personal injury law firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The personal injury attorneys at Rapoport Law Offices have achieved multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements for individuals with lawsuits arising from medical malpractice, product liability, semi truck and motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries and construction accidents in Illinois and Wisconsin. Rapoport Law Offices’ premier aviation negligence lawyers represent victims of commercial and general aviation disasters nationwide.

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