Breakstone & Merrigan Secure $56 Million Verdict Against Amazon for Malcolm Carnwath – Largest in Massachusetts History
Marc Breakstone and J. Tucker Merrigan won a $56 million verdict against Amazon, the largest single plaintiff verdict in Massachusetts history. Marc Breakstone of Breakstone, White & Gluck and J. Tucker Merrigan of Sweeney Merrigan collaborated from start to finish on the case for client Malcolm Carnwath. Amazon denied responsibility for two years, then conceded days before trial, a concession the attorneys believe sets a precedent for injury victims nationwide.
This is not just a record number. It is the result of a trial team that has spent more than 30 years refusing to back down from the biggest corporations in the country. When Amazon told the court that the driver who hit Malcolm Carnwath was somebody else’s responsibility, Breakstone and Merrigan did not accept that answer. The firm built the case for two years, took Amazon to trial in Middlesex Superior Court, and walked out with the largest verdict a single plaintiff has ever won in Massachusetts, and the largest verdict ever entered against Amazon anywhere in the country.
Founding partner Marc Breakstone called the result “a hopeful milestone for anyone who’s been badly injured and is contemplating an action against a multinational corporation with unlimited resources.” Amazon’s decision to give up its defense days before trial did more than resolve one case. It created a public record that Breakstone and Merrigan, and other attorneys across the country, can point to the next time Amazon tries to distance itself from a driver’s actions.
Discover how Breakstone and Merrigan secured this result, why Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and the Boston Globe are calling it a legal turning point, and how a Massachusetts Amazon delivery accident attorney like ours can help if you or someone you love has been hurt in a similar crash.
What Happened to Malcolm Carnwath?
On November 16, 2024, Malcolm Carnwath, 77, was driving on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth, New Hampshire when an Amazon delivery van crossed the center line and struck his car head on. The driver, working a route for Amazon delivery partner Agora Logistics, had fallen asleep at the wheel. Dashboard footage later showed him closing his eyes repeatedly in the moments before the crash.
Carnwath, a Newburyport resident who spent his career in real estate and also worked as a semi-professional musician, suffered catastrophic injuries. He broke 24 bones and suffered organ damage. Multiple strokes caused a traumatic brain injury. His heart stopped for 12 minutes before he was revived. Doctors amputated his leg below the knee. He has undergone 24 surgeries and now needs around the clock care for the rest of his life.
Inside the $56 Million Verdict
Breakstone and Merrigan brought the case to trial in Middlesex Superior Court in July 2026. The trial lasted two days. Attorneys Marc L. Breakstone, J. Tucker Merrigan, and Korey Kajko represented Carnwath and his family.
Before trial, Amazon offered $20 million to settle. During trial, the company argued the case was worth closer to $37 million, split evenly between medical and life care costs and pain and suffering. The jury disagreed. On July 23, 2026, it awarded $56 million, far more than Amazon offered and more than Massachusetts had ever awarded to a single plaintiff in a personal injury case. Breakstone put the scale of the win in perspective when he spoke with the Boston Globe. “The previous largest verdict was, I think, $44.5 million,” he said. The $56 million verdict is also believed to be the largest ever entered against Amazon in the country.
Read our complete case summary here.
Why This Case Set a New Precedent
The dollar amount made headlines, but the more lasting impact of this case may be what happened before the jury ever heard it.
For two years, Amazon argued that the driver who hit Malcolm Carnwath was not its employee and not its responsibility. The company pointed to Agora Logistics, an independent delivery partner, as the driver’s true employer. Under Massachusetts law, a company can sometimes be held responsible for the actions of a worker it does not technically employ if it controls how that work gets done. This is called vicarious liability.
Just days before trial, Amazon stipulated that it was legally responsible for the driver’s actions. In plain terms, the company gave up an argument it had fought hard to defend, rather than let a jury decide the issue.
That concession is now part of the public court record. Co-counsel J. Tucker Merrigan has said he hopes attorneys representing other injury victims across the country will point to it in their own cases against Amazon. A company that agrees to responsibility in one case creates a record that future plaintiffs can use, even if Amazon never repeats that concession publicly again. That is the precedent Breakstone and Merrigan secured for Malcolm Carnwath, and potentially for accident victims well beyond Massachusetts.
Recognized Across Massachusetts and Nationally
The verdict drew coverage from some of the region’s most respected news outlets. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the publication followed most closely by the state’s legal community, covered the legal significance of Amazon’s concession and what it could mean for future cases against the company. The Boston Globe covered the scale of the award and the human story behind it, from the crash on a New Hampshire highway to the years of surgeries that followed.
That level of attention reflects what the attorneys who tried the case already knew. This verdict was never only about one crash or one company. It was about whether a corporation with immense resources could be held to the same standard as anyone else who causes harm through negligence.
What This Means If You Have Been Hurt in an Amazon Delivery Accident
If an Amazon delivery van has ever hit you or someone you love, the Carnwath case offers a few lessons worth knowing.
First, do not assume the driver is the only party responsible. Amazon and its delivery partners often share control over routes, schedules, and performance standards, even when their contracts describe drivers as independent contractors. That shared control can mean shared responsibility.
Second, do not assume the first insurance policy anyone mentions is the only one available. Cases like this one often involve multiple companies, multiple contracts, and multiple layers of coverage. Sorting through them takes time and experience.
Third, act quickly. Evidence like dashcam footage and delivery van tracking data is not kept forever. The sooner an attorney can investigate, the more evidence there is to work with.
We built our reputation on cases exactly like this one. When you are recovering from a serious injury, you should not also have to become an expert in corporate liability structures. We do that work so you can focus on your health and your family.
Contact Breakstone, White & Gluck for a Free Consultation
For more than 30 years, Breakstone, White & Gluck has represented victims of serious injury and nothing else. We do not take on high volume caseloads or hand your case off to a junior associate. Every client works directly with one of our founding partners and the full strength of our trial team, the same team that took Malcolm Carnwath’s case to verdict and secured the largest personal injury award in Massachusetts history.
We prepare every case as if it will be tried before a jury, because that preparation is what gives our clients real leverage, whether a case settles or goes to trial.
If you or someone you love has been seriously hurt in a crash involving an Amazon delivery van or another commercial vehicle, you do not have to face a major corporation alone.
Call (800) 379-1244 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.