Case History
Throughout his career, Jim has taken on the largest corporations and achieved remarkable results. More importantly, Jim engineers his cases in such a way that they survive on appeal. Many of his efforts have resulted in advances in the laws that favor consumers. He is persistent and tenacious and will not stop until he achieves a just resolution.
Morris Law Firm is pleased to announce on October 10,2024 a jury in Chad Defries v. Yamaha USA returned a $5 Million jury verdict in Riverside County, California. This was the retrial of a prior defense verdict where a Palm Springs trial court refused to instruct the jury as to the non-delegable duty of a manufacturer. With that instruction now provided and in accordance with the rulings from the CA 4th Court of Appeals and the CA Supreme Court(CACI 3713), Yamaha was held liable for the negligence in assembly of the Defries dirt bike, the crash and resulting damages to Chad Defries. Should you or a loved one be injured or die due to a vehicular crash, whether it be an auto, motorcycle, or trucking accident, please contact Morris Law Firm for your legal needs.
In March of 2008, Mr. Morris received a jury verdict of $29,870,000.00 against Wyeth and Upjohn on behalf of Donna Scroggin, a breast cancer survivor in Little Rock, Arkansas. The verdict was the first plaintiff’s verdict in MDL 1507 that oversees the Hormone Replacement Therapy Litigation in the United States Federal Court System. Mr. Morris tried the case start to finish against teams of attorneys from Williams and Connolly and Kaye Scholar. The verdict included $2.75 million in actual damages against both defendants and $19.760 million in punitive damages against Wyeth and $7.360 million in punitive damages against Upjohn. The case was appealed to the 8th circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. Both courts refused to reverse the award. Scroggin v. Wyeth and Upjohn 586 F.3rd 547 (8th Cir, 2009, writ denied).
In May of 2007, Mr. Morris obtained the first verdict against Pfizer in the Hormone Replacement Therapy litigation in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. (Simon v. Wyeth and Pfizer). After four weeks of trial, the Jury awarded Merle Simon $1.5 million in actual damages.
In 2004, Mr. Morris obtained the first intermediate opt out verdict in the country arising from the national settlement of diet drug litigation under MDL 1203. The jury awarded Deborah Hayes $1.4 million for mild aortic regurgitation. Wyeth’s stock sank 7% as a result of the verdict. (Hayes v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals). Mr. Morris also obtained the first intermediate opt out verdict in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas consolidated Fen-Phen litigation. (Clepper v. Wyeth).
Mr. Morris obtained the first verdict against PPG Industries in the history of asbestos litigation for seven families valued at over $13 million. (Sonnier v. Pittsburgh Corning, et. al.). Mr. Morris also tried the first asbestos case in the country against Union Carbide and Montello Supply Company. (McKenzie v. Union Carbide).
Mr. Morris’ versatility in the courtroom extends to Title VII discrimination claims as well. Jim represented an African American nurse in a claim for race and sex discrimination against a large hospital that fired her after a run in with a white male employee who was not disciplined. Jim tried the case to a Federal Court Jury in Beaumont, Texas. No offer was ever made to the plaintiff. Because Title VII provides a cap on damages, the jury could only award the plaintiff $300,000.00 which is exactly what they did. Importantly, the hospital appealed the loss to the 5th circuit court of appeals, a notoriously conservative circuit. After briefing and argument the 5th circuit agreed with the jury and upheld the award.
Mr. Morris has tried numerous cases involving personal injuries in State and Federal Courts. He participated in the discovery of the State of Texas v. The American Tobacco Industry. He has successfully handled products liability cases involving Hormone Replacement Therapy, Fen-Phen, Baycol, Ephedra, PPA, Levaquin and Propulsid. Over the years he has successfully handled a number of labor and employment matters including arbitrations, contract negotiations, and Title VII matters on behalf of employees and various labor unions.
