Insurance
Jul. 20, 2012
'Finances’ and punitive damages
How much impact should defendants' finances have on punitive damage awards?
Rex Heeseman
JAMS
555 W 5th St Fl 32
Los Angeles , CA 90013-1055
Phone: (213) 253-9772
Fax: (213) 620-0100
Email: rheeseman@jamsdar.com
Stanford Univ Law School
Rex Heeseman retired from the Los Angeles Count Superior Court bench in 2014. He is at JAMS, Los Angeles. Besides speaking at various MCLE programs, he co-authors The Rutter Group's practice guide on "Insurance Litigation." From 2002 to 2015, he was an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School.
With respect to a judicial analysis of an award of punitive damages, State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003), emphasized three "guideposts": the "reprehensibility" of the defendant's misconduct; the "ratio" (aka "multiplier") between the plaintiff's actual or potential damages and the amount of the punitive damages; and, the difference between those damages and civil penalties, if any, in comparable cases. The U.S. Supreme Court added that an examination of...
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