A family loses their son – and wins their trial, for $77 million

When attorney Dax Lopez first heard about a Georgia family’s potential medical malpractice case, almost everyone else believed it was a loser.

The attorney who brought it to him wasn’t sure it was worth pursuing. Her partners hated the case. 

But Lopez saw it differently right away, and he agreed to help her take it to trial.

The result was a $77 million verdict — which Lopez says remains the largest medical malpractice verdict involving a death in Georgia history.

And the family at the center of the case would remain part of his life long after the trial ended.

“When you’ve gone through a three-week trial and you’ve gone to war together, you are bonded for life,” Lopez says.

The case

The family, who was looking for legal representation, was a couple suing on behalf of their grandson.

Their grandson, who was just 5 or 6 years old, lost his father (their son), after his struggles with mental illness and drug addiction.

The young father had been in and out of rehab, with the support of his parents.

And finally, he was getting the help he needed. They had found a facility in Georgia that correctly diagnosed his mental health issues, and how they were interacting with his drug addiction. They found the right medication for him, in the right doses, and he became stable. But he was still struggling with addiction.

He changed facilities, to an inpatient location that claimed it could handle both his addiction, and his mental illness. But the psychiatrist on staff decided to take the man off his medications, and didn’t communicate this properly to the drug counselors there.

As a result, those counselors required the young father to leave, for allegedly breaking their rules.

“If you kick my son out without his medications, he will be dead within three days,” his father recalled telling the facility, Lopez says. 

And unfortunately, he was right.

“Three days after he’s discharged, he is naked on an interstate,” Lopez recalls. “He walks out into the middle of the interstate, lies down in a lane, and gets run over by three cars.”

The stakes involved

The young man’s parents were at a loss. They didn’t want to go to court, where they would be required to listen to evidence about the death of their son.

But it became inevitable, once no other agreement could be reached.

“The other side never offered us any real money, so we had to try it,” Lopez says. 

Lopez thought the case was worth $50 million. The jury awarded $77 million.

It was the first major win for his firm, Prieto, DelCampo, Lopez, & Marigliano (PDLM). 

Sub-par medical care, for people of color

The firm, PDLM, has since racked up more major wins for families, while specializing in catastrophic workplace accidents/injuries or deaths, medical malpractice, wrongful deaths, and mistreatment at facilities like nursing homes.

Four of the lawyers at PDLM have formerly or currently served as judges, or in judicial roles, bringing deep experience in how cases are likely to be handled at trial.

Having a diverse staff, who not only speak languages including Spanish, but who make their clients feel comfortable and cared for is crucial, Lopez says. That’s why empathy and understanding are values they hire for, from paralegals and case managers to the attorneys themselves.

“Having a lawyer who speaks your language is the cherry on top,” Lopez says.

“But having someone there day to day who speaks your language and understands your culture and customs is really important as well.”

That understanding matters in a healthcare system where Hispanic Americans continue to encounter barriers to access and communication. 

About half of Hispanic adults (52%) say they have experienced at least one of several negative interactions with healthcare providers. Thirty-two percent say their pain was not taken seriously, 31% have felt rushed, and 25% believe they received lower-quality care than other patients, according to the Pew Research Center.

Separate research has documented racial disparities in where patients receive care. A 2026 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study found that Black Medicare patients were more likely to be admitted to lower-rated hospitals—even in some cases when they lived closer to higher-rated facilities. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

A relationship that lasts beyond the trial

Lopez has remained close with this family, and other clients he has worked with, he says.

Rather than treating cases as just a dollar amount, or a task to finish during his day, they actually become relationships that last years.

We have several sets of clients that invite us to their family milestones. We get invited to their home, we get invited to dinner even long after the case is over. We’ve just spent so much time over the years together that you really do become like family to one another,” he says.

If your family has experienced a catastrophic event, and you are interested in pursuing legal action, call PDLM .

Disclaimer: MundoNow was compensated by Prieto, DelCampo, Lopez, & Marigliano LLC for the creation and publication of this article. Every legal matter is different, and PDLM cannot guarantee any particular outcome or result. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.