Murtha Cullina and Baker Botts teamed together to obtain a defense verdict for ExxonMobil Corporation in a wrongful death product liability matter related to alleged benzene exposure. The unanimous jury verdict on November 8, 2023 followed a nine-day trial in Stamford Superior Court.

The underlying claims were brought by Kiriaki Yoranidis on behalf of herself and her late husband, Nicholas Yoranidis. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that the decedent, who owned and operated an ExxonMobil gas station from 1972 to 1990, developed Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) due to claimed exposure to benzene in Exxon gasoline. The plaintiff pursued claims under the Connecticut Product Liability Act for design defect and failure to warn. She sought $40 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages.

The Stamford, Connecticut jury found that there was no product defect, no failure to warn, and no causation, answering every liability question in favor of ExxonMobil and against the plaintiff.

ExxonMobil was represented at trial by Ty Buthod of Baker Botts and Jennifer Morgan, Lorey Rives Leddy and Daniel Krisch of Murtha Cullina.