Category Archives: Punitive Damages
This is why we need punitive damages
As I’ve said before, if men were angels, we wouldn’t need trial lawyers. BECKLEY, W.Va. — The chief executive at the time of the deadly West Virginia mine explosion was implicated by a former longtime subordinate Thursday of ordering a widespread corporate practice of warning coal miners about surprise federal inspections. Source: Ex-subordinate implicates former [...]
Walter Olson Knows The Difference Between Punitive And Compensatory Damages, Right?
I ask because over at Point of Law, he links to a post criticizing the $300 million dollar verdict against Philip Morris. The post badly distorts the law: Think for a minute about this theory of justice. Imagine applying it to, say, car accidents. By this logic, if a billionaire in a Rolls Royce crashed [...]
Philip Morris Makes Ten Million Bucks A Day?
Putting it in that light, a $244 million award for punitive damages doesn’t sound that high, does it? The Litigation Daily spoke with Naugle’s attorney, Robert Kelley of Kelley and Uustal, on Friday. We wanted to know, first of all, why this award was so much larger than those in previous Engle trials. One reason, [...]
Proof that lying and violating discovery orders pays
For proof, look no further than the actions of the tobacco industry: Last month, a Los Angeles jury awarded $13.8 million in punitive damages to the daughter of Betty Bullock, a smoker who had sued Philip Morris USA Inc. before she died of cancer. It was a huge loss — for the plaintiff. Just seven [...]
Should tort “reform” protect Chinese manufacturers?
Brian Wilson and I don’t think so, but as Brian notes on his Bulls-Eye Blog, tort “reform” measures pushed through the Ohio legislature by big business do in fact protect even the most negligent of Chinese manufacturers. What if a dangerous product injured a child in Ohio? Under recent "tort reform" laws passed by Ohio [...]
