There was a hushed silence in the courtroom of Judge Lynette Gridiron Winston on July 28, 2025, when the clerk proceeded to read the jury verdict. That verdict was over 5 ½ years in the making.

I first met Marshall Tanaka at the intensive care/burn unit at Los Angeles General Medical Center in January 2020. He was covered literally from head to toe in bandages. The little bit of his face that was visible was charred from horrible third-degree burns. He had a ventilator to mechanically take over his breathing. He was intubated and was on an IV drip for serious pain medication and fluids. He had a substantial chance of dying and was in critical condition.

Marshall was a victim of a car crash where he was struck on the freeway by a drunk and high driver while Marshall was at a complete stop for traffic. The crash resulted in a car fire in the rear of Marshall’s minivan. Because his doors were jammed, the only way to escape the inferno was through the rear hatch. He was immediately engulfed in flames and rolled on the freeway in an attempt to put out the fire. Good Samaritans came by and covered him with a blanket until help arrived. Marshall spent the next 6 weeks in agonizing treatment at the intensive care/burn unit where he underwent multiple surgeries, including skin grafts, to repair his wounds.

At the scene, the defendant was driving a large commercial van and had a crowbar right next to the driver seat. Instead of using that crowbar to extricate Marshall from his burning vehicle, he fled the scene and was apprehended a mile away. Under California law, a motorist who causes an injury accident is required by law to stop and render aid.

Our law firm immediately went to work in trying to determine if this reckless driver had any insurance coverage or means of paying for all the harms he’d caused. His insurance company denied for 8 months that there was even an insurance policy in place. Due to our tenacious efforts, we finally learned that there was insurance, but unfortunately only the $15,000 minimum required under California law. At that point, we made a settlement proposal to the insurance company, which was rejected. Over the next 5 ½ years, the insurance company continuously fought us over paying any compensation beyond $15,000 for Marshall’s terrible injuries. We did not give up.

Finally, after 5 ½ years of hard-fought litigation, judgment day arrived. The jury announced that they had reached a unanimous decision. They soundly rejected the defense argument at trial that their client was not to blame for the fire, but that it was a faulty gas tank. Instead, the jury found the drunk defendant 100% responsible and rendered a verdict of $30,774,365.63.

This verdict stands as the largest personal injury jury verdict ever rendered in the 50-year history of the West Covina Superior Court.