Things have been quiet in the world of punitive damages for the last few months, but two recent decisions substantially reducing punitive awards under the BMW/State Farm factors warrant mention. My colleague Miriam Nemetz will discuss one of them—Grant Thornton,
Guideposts
Mayer Brown's Punitive Damages Blog
Guideposts, published by Mayer Brown, focuses on litigation topics with a particular emphasis on punitive damages law. The blog covers issues such as liability standards, trial strategies, constitutional limits on punitive damages, and appellate court decisions affecting punitive damages awards. It also addresses related areas including employment law, fraud, and civil procedure, often analyzing significant court rulings and their implications for defendants and plaintiffs. The content includes discussions on due process rights, vicarious liability, and the interplay between compensatory and punitive damages. Guideposts serves as a resource for legal professionals interested in the evolving jurisprudence surrounding punitive damages and related litigation challenges.
Latest from Guideposts - Page 5
Texas Court Of Appeals Reduces $115 Million Punitive Award To A Mere Shadow Of Itself
Courts applying BMW and State Farm often emphasize the Supreme Court’s admonition that the constitutional line is not “marked by a simple mathematical formula”—typically when rejecting a defendant’s argument that the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages is indicative of…
California Supreme Court Holds That Brandt Fees Awarded Post-Trial By A Court Must Be Included In Denominator Of Punitive/Compensatory Ratio
On June 9, 2016, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Co., holding that so-called Brandt fees should be treated as compensatory damages when calculating the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages even…
Updates On Some Cases About Which We Have Reported
There have been subsequent developments in several cases about which we have posted in recent months.
On April 27, 2016, the California Supreme Court denied review in Casey v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., a case in which the Court of Appeal…
Johnson & Johnson Hit With Two Huge Punitive Awards In Missouri Talcum Powder Litigation
Reflections on the Twentieth Anniversary of BMW v. Gore
Tomorrow marks the twentieth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in BMW of North America. Inc. v. Gore, the first time the Court had ever held that a punitive damages award was unconstitutionally excessive under the Due Process Clause.
In…
Tenth Circuit Reduces Punitive Award By More Than Ninety Percent In Carbon Monoxide Case
Lately, we have had many occasions to criticize courts’ analysis of punitive damages issues, so it is nice for a change to be able to report on the Tenth Circuit’s insightful decision in Lompe v. Sunridge Partners. Readers may…
Federal District Court Slashes Punitive Award In Hip Implant Case
A couple of months ago, I did a post about the post-trial motions in the first trial arising out of alleged defects in Wright Medical Technology’s hip implant device. On April 5, the district court resolved the motions, rejecting all…
Illinois Appellate Court Upholds $2 Million Punitive Award Against Chicago State University
The due process review of a punitive damages award for excessiveness has a number of interconnected parts. A series of relatively small errors can quickly add up and dramatically skew the outcome of a review process that is intended to…
Texas Supreme Court Holds That Defendant Does Not Need To Plead Applicability Of Cap On Punitive Damages
An issue that seems to be arising with increasing frequency is whether the defendant must plead applicability of a cap on punitive damages in its answer. We have already explained why the argument that the cap is an affirmative defense…