Overlawyered » jackpot justice

“Mississippi Court Reverses $322 Million Asbestos Verdict”

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:08:15 +0000

“A Mississippi court has reversed a $322 million asbestos verdict against Union Carbide — believed to be the largest in U.S. history — after the judge failed to disclose his own father had pending asbestos litigation against the same company. … The jury ruled for Brown even though nine treating physicians, an independent medical examiner and an X-ray technician all testified that the plaintiff had no symptoms of asbestos-related disease.” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes; earlier here, here and here]

Tags: asbestos, jackpot justice, Mississippi, recusals

July 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:08:23 +0000

“Battle of the tort reform flicks”: trial-bar-backed “Hot Coffee” documentary said to be more entertaining than U.S. Chamber-backed “InJustice” [TortsProf, Abnormal Use, Daily Caller, Frank/PoL, Above the Law, Fisher, LNL] Memo to liberal studio heads: c’mon, now’s the time to greenlight more business-bashing flicks [Alyssa Rosenberg, TP]
Interlock makers join forces with MADD to lobby for new federal DUI mandates [Luke Rosiak, Wash Times] More: Greenfield.
Consumer found liable after posting gripes about driveway contractor on Craigslist [Minneapolis Star-Tribune] P.S.: Default judgment, not merits [h/t ABA Journal]
Angelos law firm obtains $1 billion+ punitive award in Exxon Baltimore gasoline leak case, bringing total to $1.5 billion+ [AP, earlier]
Taiwan: “Jail Time (And $7000 Fine) for Saying a Restaurant’s Dishes Were ‘Too Salty’” [Volokh]
Headed for SCOTUS? Sixth Circuit panel strikes down Michigan law banning discrimination in higher ed admissions and other state activities [Gail Heriot, Daily Caller; Hans Bader, CEI]
Court in British Columbia includes C$30,000 in damage award for injury plaintiff’s purchase of medical marijuana for pain management [Erik Magraken]

Tags: Baltimore, Canada, Craigslist, illegal drugs, jackpot justice, MADD, oil industry, restaurant critics, Sixth Circuit

Judge’s impartiality questioned in $322 million Mississippi jury verdict

Walter Olson — Thu, 19 May 2011 16:45:02 +0000

“In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for Union Carbide said Circuit Judge Eddie H. Bowen neglected to notify defense lawyers that his parents had been involved in similar asbestos litigation and had settled a case against Union Carbide.” A rural Mississippi jury earlier this month returned the largest asbestos verdict in American history, $322 million, against Union Carbide and other defendants. [AP/Stamford Advocate; Jackson Clarion-Ledger] More problems with verdict: Point of Law.

Tags: asbestos, jackpot justice, Mississippi, recusals

$9M alienation of affection award in NC

Ted Frank — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:31:25 +0000

The defendant wasn’t at trial and didn’t have a lawyer, and plans to appeal; the judgment might as well be for $73 gazillion, as the ex-husband is already in contempt of court for failure to pay spousal support. (Greensboro News-Record March 18 and March 17 via Volokh). We’ve been covering the issue for years, as a click on the tags will reveal.

Tags: alienation of affection, family law, jackpot justice, North Carolina

Truck-driver father runs over own daughter; guess who is to blame?

Ted Frank — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:42:02 +0000

In 2004, truck driver Simon Loza Mejia violated company regulations, and took his eight-year-old Diana Yuleidy Loza-Jimenez along on a long-haul trip from Oregon to Bakersfield. That November 27, he was pulling away in the truck, but apparently didn’t bother to check where his daughter was, and ran over her. This was, argued her attorneys, the fault of her father’s employer—and a Sacramento County judge agreed with the argument that it was legally irrelevant that her father was the one who ran her over. Unsurprisingly, a jury ignorant of the facts awarded Diana, whose lower body was crushed, a jackpot verdict of $24.3 million, over $20 million of which was noneconomic damages. (Andy Furillo, “Sacramento jury awards record $24.3 million to girl run over by dad’s truck”, Sacramento Bee, Mar. 9 (h/t @BobDorigoJones)).

Tags: California, deep pocket, jackpot justice, noneconomic damages, pedestrian, personal responsibility, vicarious liability

Famed NYC lawyer turns down $8 million offer in cerebral palsy case

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:34:02 +0000

And then the jury awarded $0.00. [NY Post] Thomas Moore of New York’s Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore is generally acknowledged to be among the most nation’s successful medical malpractice lawyers.

Tags: jackpot justice, medical malpractice, obstetrics

Carelessness for millions in New York City

Ted Frank — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:24:38 +0000

Dustin Dibble was intoxicated when a Manhattan subway train ran over him in 2006, but a jury found the transit authority 65% responsible in February: $2.3 million for the lost right leg.

James Sanders stumbled onto the tracks and was hit by a train in 2002, but a New York City jury again found him only 30% responsible: $7 million for a lost right leg and eye.

Gloria Aguilar did not look both ways when she crossed the street; there was a dispute whether she was in the crosswalk. A Manhattan jury–after a seven-week trial–found the transit authority 100% responsible, and awarded $27.5 million for her lost left leg; a judge refused to reduce that figure.

Clearly a left leg is more valuable than a right leg. Or, as I’ve noted several times in the past, noneconomic damages are essentially random jackpots.

New York City is appealing all three verdicts. (Liz Robbins, “Woman Run Over by Bus Is Awarded $27.5 Million”, New York Times, Apr. 16).

Tags: deep pocket, jackpot justice, New York, noneconomic damages, personal responsibility, remittitur, taxpayers

Cantrell v. Target: $200 medical bill = $3.1 million verdict

Ted Frank — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:56:24 +0000

Let us stipulate: when Rita Cantrell tried to pay for her goods with a thirty-year-old $100 bill, Target employees were foolish in being unable to recognize the old currency, and mistakenly identified it as a possible counterfeit. Cantrell fled the store when Target asked if she had another means of paying, raising suspicions, so Target security staff passed along a photo of Cantrell to 70 other local stores participating in a loss-prevention consortium to notify them of the incident. One of the stores recognized Cantrell as one of its employees and called in the Secret Service, which investigated, and found that the bill was real; Target passed along a new notice clearing Cantrell of any wrongdoing.

Cantrell, shaken and embarrassed by the involvement of the Secret Service and her employer, incurred $200 of medical expenses–and sued. Cantrell acknowledged that Target had a right to notify other stores of the incident, but complained that the manager could have worded his e-mail differently, and, besides, some of the members of the loss-prevention consortium did not have retail operations and thus did not need to know about the incident. Notwithstanding Target’s motion for summary judgment, the court let the case proceed to a jury, which happily proposed that Cantrell be made a millionaire for the inconvenience–$100,000 in “compensatory” damages, and a 30-1 punitive damages ratio. Magistrate Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks entered judgment without touching the figure or waiting for post-trial briefing, and Target says it will appeal, so we’ll see what the Fourth Circuit does with this next year. (Cantrell v. Target Corp., No. 6:06-cv-02723-BHH (D.S.C. 2008); Eric Connor, “Jury set $3.1 milion award in Target case, lawyer says”, Greenville News, Oct. 28).

Tags: jackpot justice, libel slander and defamation, noneconomic damages, punitive damages, South Carolina

Mirapex jackpot justice – literally

Ted Frank — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:41:35 +0000

Gary Charbonneau had a gambling history, including substantial wins, which devolved into compulsive gambling in 2002. He blames this on his Parkinson’s disease medication, Mirapex, which he started taking in 1997. Mirapex changed its warning label to include reports of a correlation while Charbonneau was taking the drug; Charbonneau’s doctor kept prescribing the drug. Nevertheless, Charbonneau was able to persuade a jury that the failure to warn was what was responsible for his $200,000 gambling losses (much of which came from gambling illegally) and resulting marital troubles. The jury verdict even awarded $8 million in punitive damages, giving a whole new meaning to jackpot justice (though one would expect the trial court to reduce this substantially). The only press coverage of this lawsuit, aside from a handful of blogs (Pharmalot; TortsProf; InjuryBoard), is in an op-ed I wrote for today’s Examiner about the case and about how a Supreme Court case and Congressional legislation could affect it. (Theodore H. Frank, “Jackpot justice gets new meaning,” DC Examiner, Aug. 19).

Tags: compulsive gambling, failure to warn, jackpot justice, Mirapex, overwarning, pharmaceuticals, preemption, product liability, punitive damages, Supreme Court, Ted Frank

“Securities laws are not insurance to protect against economic losses.”

Ted Frank — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:38:11 +0000

Hear, hear. (In re Apollo Group, Inc. Securities Litigation (D. Ariz. 2008) via WSJ Law Blog; Bloomberg). Plaintiffs will appeal the trial court’s decision to throw out the $277 million verdict.

Tags: class actions, jackpot justice, proximate cause, securities litigation

Overlawyered » jackpot justice

“Mississippi Court Reverses $322 Million Asbestos Verdict”

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July 14 roundup

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Judge’s impartiality questioned in $322 million Mississippi jury verdict

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$9M alienation of affection award in NC

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Truck-driver father runs over own daughter; guess who is to blame?

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Famed NYC lawyer turns down $8 million offer in cerebral palsy case

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Carelessness for millions in New York City

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Cantrell v. Target: $200 medical bill = $3.1 million verdict

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Mirapex jackpot justice – literally

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“Securities laws are not insurance to protect against economic losses.”

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