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Jury Awards Boy $50 Million

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

LAKELAND - Before Sept. 3, 2004, Mario Ladler II was a happy, thriving preschooler with notable smarts and talents, his attorney, David Kleinberg, says.

"He was a wonderful little boy who was going places," Kleinberg said.

That changed in an instant on Lakeland's Kathleen Road when a drunken driver smashed into the driver's side of a car driven by Ladler's father, Mario Ladler Sr.

The collision left little Mario with massive mental and physical injuries.

Parts of his skull were driven into his brain by the impact of the crash, Kleinberg said, forcing the removal of parts of Mario's frontal lobe. The injuries doomed Mario to a future without parts of his brain that regulate impulse control and judgment, Kleinberg said.

He will need round-the-clock supervision to keep him from harming himself or others.

"It's beyond the worst nightmare one can imagine," Kleinberg said.

On Wednesday, a Polk County jury awarded $50 million in damages to Mario, now 7, and his family in a lawsuit against the drunken driver, Michael Yow.

It is thought to be the largest civil jury award in Polk County history.

"As far as I'm aware, it is," said Richard Weiss, Polk County clerk of the court. "That's extremely large for Polk County."

Yow is in state prison. He was sentenced in August to five years for the crash.

The largest portion of Wednesday's award, $27 million, will go toward care for Mario, who is living at the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation, Kleinberg said. The remainder is for potential lost wages and pain and suffering.

Mario's mother, Melody Ladler, issued a brief statement after the verdict: "We're very, very happy for little Mario, and we hope now that he gets everything that he needs."

Kleinberg, with the Miami firm of Neufield, Kleinberg and Pinkiert, said he has advised the Ladler family not to speak further about the case because more litigation remains.

Mario Ladler Sr. also was seriously injured, and Kleinberg expects his trial to occur within the next few months.

Ladler's family will have to collect the $50 million through Geico, Yow's insurer, Kleinberg said. If and how that happens will be a matter of litigation.

But Kleinberg said he's optimistic the Ladler family will collect most, if not all, of the award.

Yow's attorney, Raymond Haas of Tampa, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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