Tesla is not backing down after a Florida jury handed down a $243 million verdict over a fatal crash involving its Autopilot system. Instead, the electric carmaker has assembled a star-studded legal lineup to try to overturn the decision.
In a filing submitted to federal court in Miami, the company urged Judge Beth Bloom to throw out the August 1 verdict, calling it legally unsound. If the ruling stands, Tesla warned, it could set a dangerous precedent that punishes innovation rather than encourages it.
The defense now includes some of the country’s most formidable courtroom talent: appellate specialists Theodore Boutrous Jr. and Miguel Estrada of Gibson Dunn, along with former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court. Their mission: convince the court that the jury went too far.
The case stems from a 2019 crash in Key Largo, where a Model S on Autopilot struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. The collision killed Naibel Benavides Leon and severely injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. Jurors awarded $129 million in compensatory damages and a staggering $200 million in punitive damages—assigning Tesla responsibility for $42.6 million of the compensatory portion and all punitive damages.
Plaintiffs argued Tesla sold a dangerously misleading product, while Tesla countered that the driver was ultimately at fault. In court filings, Tesla’s new legal team blasted the verdict as “a true outlier” and said Florida law doesn’t permit punitive damages under the circumstances.
The fight is far from over. Tesla had previously rejected a $60 million settlement offer before trial. Now, with a quarter-billion-dollar judgment on the line, the automaker is betting its elite lawyers can steer the case toward a different outcome.
