
Magana v. Hyundai
$8.1 million verdict
Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Peter O’Neil, Paul W. Whelan
We took on Hyundai Motor Company in this trial involving a 42-year-old man who was paralyzed when the seat of a Hyundai Accent collapsed during an accident and allowed him to slip backwards out of the car. The man was seat belted, but the belts became ineffective after the seat back collapsed. We proved that a stronger seat would have been a cheap and effective “fix” that would have saved his client from a life in wheelchair. The verdict was a record for a personal injury case in Clark County, Wash.