On April 13, 2021, an appeals court covering the Bronx and Manhattan sustained a record breaking $20,000,000 pain and suffering award (in addition to lost wages and medical expenses of $13.5M) for a 30 year old construction worker who was knocked off a scaffold when a forklift rammed the building he was working on. This was an extremely sad case involving a catastrophic permanent brain injury leaving the construction worker totally dependent on others in all activities of daily existence and resulting in a life of chronic pain, depression and anxiety.

Interestingly, the jury awarded $10,500,000 for 4 years of pain and suffering and $75,250,000 for 43 years of future pain and suffering - totaling $85.7M. The trial court reduced the jury verdict to $40.6M and the defense appealed bringing along more than a dozen municipalities and insurance companies who filed amicus curiae briefs imploring the Appellate Division, First Department to hold the damages down. The appeals court upheld $5M for past pain and suffering and $15M for the future setting a new record of $20,000,000 for pain and suffering damages alone. Perez v Live Nation Worldwide, 193 A.D. 3d 517