It happens with some frequency, the following scenario: there is a car wreck. Innocent party gets her vehicle in to her mechanic. Innocent party gets a rental car while her vehicle is being fixed. At-fault person carries insurance! Both people breath a sigh of relief, believing...
Now we all know, in some detail, what the United States Supreme Court said about punitive damages in State Farm v. Campbell. So what? Is it important to you and me? Can anyone, with a straight face, seriously be upset that a jury verdict for...
(To see the first two parts of this post, click here and here). The United States Supreme Court accepted the writ to review the Utah Supreme Court's ruling that the Campbell's $145 million punitive damages verdict was constitutional. And then held that it was not. (See the...
In Part 1, I gave you the facts for the underlying case. In summary, Campbell was at-fault for causing a wreck which seriously injured Slusher and killed Ospital. State Farm -- Campbell's auto insurance -- took the case all the way to trial. In...
Since I’ve spent the last couple weeks (here and here) talking in generalities about punitive damages, I thought I’d talk specifically about State Farm v. Campbell today. Campbell started off with a tragic, yet common, car wreck. Campbell was driving his car in Utah and decided...
Anybody out there NEVER been jerked around by an insurance company? *crickets* Hello? This thing on? Ok. Anybody out there ever BEEN jerked around by an insurance company? Ah, yes. That's what I thought. Everybody has had their bad/frustrating/time-consuming/patience-draining/insert-your-own-adjective experience(s) dealing with an insurance company. Now, I'm not...
Some things just make my blood boil. The trial lawyer wisdom nowadays says you're not supposed to show your emotion: be the messenger and let the judge and jury get mad, don't do it yourself. Well, yesterday I filed a lawsuit and I'm angry on...