The Supreme Court threw out an $80 million judgment against Philip Morris.
The Supreme Court threw out an $80 million judgment against Philip Morris. The plaintiff's lawyer had told the jury to think about all the people whom the company was hurting when it decided how much to award in punitive damages. But the Court found that the company couldn't fairly...

Food Safety Act lying in limbo with govt.
Byline: Mahendra Kumar Singh & Nitin Sethi NEW DELHI: The Indian government is keen to empower consumers against sub-standard goods. On the anvil are tough laws which will include the critical product liability clause, making erring manufacturers and suppliers liable to pay punitive damages. The...

Patient's falls: skilled nursing facility to pay large verdict.
The jury returned a verdict of more than $33 million. Of that sum $28.6 million was for punitive damages. The judge threw out the punitive damages on the grounds that the facility, although guilty of negligence in management of the patient's care, was not guilty of intentional...

How aware of patient confidentiality are you?
CASE ON POINT: Randi A. J. v. Long Island Surgi-Center, NYAPP2 2007-06953-(09/25/2007)--NY. ISSUE: Is protecting patient confidentiality part of a nurse's job? Yes! A breach in confidentiality can result in punitive damages. CASE FACTS: A 20-year-old unmarried woman who lived with her parents decided to...

How to manage the risk of punitive damages: companies that manage punitive damages as a separate category of risk are frequently better able to limit their exposures.
Despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, punitive damage awards continue to make headlines as juries grant colossal amounts to plaintiffs. It's become so bad that companies need a clear-cut strategy to contain these runaway jury verdicts. With annual punitive awards now totaling in the billions of...

Renowned Attorney Willie Gary Announces $1 Billion Punitive Damages Lawsuit Against Bridgestone/Firestone.
STUART, Fla., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- B Willie Gary, internationally recognized trial lawyer, will hold a press briefing June 18, 2001 at 11:00 a.m. in the first floor conference room of the Martin County Circuit Court, Stuart, Florida. The press conference will announce a $1 billion punitive...

Settlement Reached In Corpus Christi Rezulin Trial; No Punitive Damages Rendered; Earlier Compensatory Damage Verdict to Be Vacated; Settlement Is Substantially Below Compensatory Award.
NEW YORK -- Plaintiffs Margarita Sanchez and her family have reached a settlement agreement with Pfizer Inc, the company announced. Finalization of the agreement is expected next week. The settlement will vacate a jury verdict rendered earlier today in the District Court of Nueces County (214th Judicial...

Marsh and regulators expected to settle by February: bargaining points include bid-rigging, restitution and punitive damages.
The New York Attorney General's office and the New York Insurance Department are expected to settle outstanding civil complaints against Marsh by late this month, says a well-placed source. "The goal is to settle all civil complaints and citations in one, final agreement," the source said. "All...

Nurses fail to disclose decubitus ulcers: punitive damages awarded. (Nursing Law Case of the Month).
CASE ON POINT: NME Properties, Inc. v. Rudich, 2003 WL 289415 So.2d -FL ISSUE: Despite all of the advances in medical technology one of the oldest and most recurring complaints of patients relates to decubitus ulcers. In this unusual case, nurses failed to chart a patient's decubitus...

State farm and punitive damages: call the jury back.
INTRODUCTION The jury sits at the center of our democratic republic, of our constitutional system of checks and balances, and of the guarantees of liberty set out in our Bill of Rights. If this proposition seems remarkable, it is because Americans' right to trial by jury in...