Insurer: Government Employees Insurance Co. ($25,000 policy limit)

Theresa Lesniak was driving her car in a residential area on Marco Island in Florida, on November 30, 2013, when a Nissan Maxima driven by Peter Ferreira slammed into her driver's side door. Lesniak was killed instantly. Allegedly, the black box in Ferreira's car showed that he was driving 77 mph at the time of the impact, despite the fact that he was in a 30 mph zone.

Lesniak's two children, Jeanne and Robert, filed suit to recover damages for funeral expenses, their pain and suffering for losing their mother, as well as punitive damages from Ferreira. Their counsel alleged that Ferreira, who had allegedly consumed three beers and four shots of liquor in the four hours before the crash, was negligent and had recklessly sped through a stop sign before broadsiding Lesniak's car.

Ferreira declined to take a breathalyzer test to determine if he was driving while impaired, and was charged with vehicular manslaughter. He was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Since he had conceded liability prior to the trial, the purpose of the trial was to determine damages for the estate.

While the estate counsel argued that Lesniak's children should be awarded $8 million in compensatory and punitive damages, defense counsel argued that they should only receive $100,000 each and no punitive damages.

After two hours of deliberations, the jury awarded compensatory damages of $2.5 million each to Lesniak's children for their pain and suffering; $18,000 for the estate's funeral expenses, as well as punitive damages of $75,000.