The U.S. Supreme Court expresses concern about punitive damages “run wild” and warns that “unlimited jury discretion—or unlimited judicial discretion for that matter—in the fixing of punitive damages may invite extreme results that jar one’s constitutional sensibilities.” See Pacific Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Haslip, 499 U.S. 1, 18 [1991]). The Court requires judicial review of the size of a punitive damage award (see Honda Motor Co., Ltd. v. Oberg, 512 U.S. 415 [1994]); sets guideposts for courts to evaluate whether a punitive damage award is unconstitutionally excessive (see BMW of N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559 [1996]); requires greater proportionality between actual harm and punitive damages (see State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 [2003]); and prevents punishment for harm to nonparties (see Philip Morris USA v. Williams, 549 U.S. 346 [2007]). In Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, 554 U.S. 471 (2008), the Court finds, in the federal maritime context, that “few awards exceeding a single-digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages, to a significant degree, will satisfy due process. Read More
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act reduces the financial liability of vaccine makers to ensure a stable market supply of vaccines. The act creates the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a federal no-fault system for compensating vaccine-related injuries or deaths. Read More
A significant number of states enact laws to establish outer time limits (statutes of repose) on product liability claims and for improvements to real property, abolish or limit joint and several liability, provide relief to innocent product sellers, and establish punitive damages reforms. Read More
Plaintiffs’ lawyers discover the long-dormant Alien Tort Statute (ATS), part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. In Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (2d Cir. 1980), the ATS is used for the first time to bring a modern human rights claim. ATS claims against corporations for conduct occurring outside the U.S. jumps. Some 150 ATS-related lawsuits are filed between 1980 and 2012. Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court invalidates a state’s blanket ban on attorney advertising on television or in radio or print in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977). The court rules that the First Amendment’s protection of commercial speech does not allow rules that prohibit lawyers from truthfully advertising the availability and terms of routine legal services. As a result, attorney advertising, which had been traditionally frowned upon, becomes widespread. The Court indicates, however, that “[a]dvertising that is false, deceptive, or misleading of course is subject to restraint.” Read More
California responds to a medical malpractice insurance crisis by enacting the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), which limits noneconomic damages (e.g., pain and suffering) to $250,000 in any action against a health care provider based on professional negligence. More than half of states now place a reasonable limit on damages for pain and suffering in medical liability cases or all personal injury lawsuits. Read More
The modern history of asbestos litigation may be traced to Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp., 493 F.2d 1076 (5th Cir. 1973), where the court found that asbestos insulation manufacturers could be held strictly liable for harms to workers occupationally exposed to their products. Hundreds of thousands of claims are filed over the next four decades and more than 120 companies eventually file bankruptcy due at least in part to asbestos-related liabilities. Read More
After lawsuits related to automobile accidents became a staple of the plaintiffs’ bar, several states adopt partial no-fault automobile insurance laws. No-fault automobile insurance aims to save drivers the time and expense of lawsuits arising from accidents. Partial no-fault automobile insurance law had loopholes, often excluding claims for death, disfigurement, and sometimes serious bodily harm, leaving litigation intact for the most severe cases. Read More
In Madison County (IL) courts, the more things change, the more they . . . get worse? That's the only plausible conclusion from a recent Madison-St. Clair Record analysis of asbestos cases in the notorious legal jurisdiction. Read More
In recent years, Texas-based firm Baron & Budd has spent $50,000 "in support of mostly Democratic state attorney general candidates in several states, including Washington." Washington AG Bob Ferguson "received $1,800 in 2012 and $1,000 in 2016" and he has now hired Baron & Budd "on a contingency fee basis." Read More
Between July 2014 and September 2015, a single Chicago attorney filed more than 500 Illinois False Claims Act suits in Cook County Circuit Court against out-of-state liquor sellers, 201 of which were dismissed by a judge. Read More
A new study by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) has found that collective actions-a legal mechanism that pools claimants to litigate for injunctive relief and/or compensation-is a growing business in Europe. ILR's study, which analyzes collective redress developments in ten EU Member States, shows that claimants are using a surprising number of recently introduced collective redress systems, with the value and volume of claims being filed on the rise. Read More
The New York Times' Peter J. Henning examines the constitutional challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's use of in-house judges. "Until the appeals courts finally reach the constitutional questions, the uncertainty surrounding the S.E.C.'s administrative proceedings will persist." (New York Times) Read More
Introduction of federal class actions. A 1966 amendment to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ushers in the modern opt-out class action. One law professor observed, “No change to the original Federal Rules has been a greater boon to plaintiffs and a greater burden to the business community.” See Brian T. Fitzpatrick, The Ironic History of Rule 23, Vanderbilt Law Research Paper No. 17-41 (2017). Read More
Strict product liability adopted. Strict product liability is first recognized by the California Supreme Court in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, 377 P.2d 897 (Cal. 1963), allowing plaintiffs to recover for harms caused by defective products without proving that the manufacturer was negligent. This is followed by the American Law Institute’s adoption of strict liability in Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts in 1965. Many states begin to adopt strict products liability. “Mass tort” litigation begins soon thereafter, with cases involving the sale of the anti-cholesterol drug MER/29. See Paul D. Rheingold, The MER/29 Story—An Instance of Successful Mass Disaster Litigation, 56 Cal. L. Rev. 116 (1968); Roginsky v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 378 F.2d 832 (2d Cir. 1967). Read More
Pain and suffering awards take off as a result of efforts by pioneering trial lawyers such as Melvin Belli. See Melvin M. Belli, The Adequate Award, 39 Cal. L. Rev. 1 (1951). Trial lawyers become adept at increasing awards for pain and suffering. For example, in the 1930s, awards greater than $10,000 were uncommon, but only 20 years later, there were 53 verdicts of $100,000 or more in a single nine-month period—a cumulative impact of more than $5 million in just nine months. See Philip L. Merkel, Pain and Suffering Damages at Mid-Twentieth Century: A Retrospective View of the Problem and the Legal Academy’s First Reponses, 34 Cap. U. L. Rev. 545 (2006). Read More