Nuclear Verdicts — A Growing Concern

There is a growing concern over juries issuing what are being called “nuclear verdicts.” These are verdicts for assorted transgressions that have leaped into the millions of dollars.

The corporate PR firm, Marathon Strategies defines nuclear verdicts as legal-system abuse and says they have contributed greatly to rising business insurance costs. The company came to that conclusion after reviewing 900 cases against corporate defendants between 2009 and 2023.

The verdicts were of $10 million or more and impacted a variety of industries.

• Since 2009 verdicts from state and federal courts against corporations totaled $169 billion
• Since 2009 over half of these verdicts came from the PIA Western Alliance state of California and Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania
• The nuclear verdicts involved 100 different industries.
• Most common were chemical production, oil and gas, telecommunication services, IT consulting and semiconductor manufacturing.

Here are the totals in the top-5 states:

1. Texas

Total amount from 2009 to 2023 — $45 billion

2. Florida

Total amount from 2009 to 2023 — $33.2 billion

3. California

Total amount from 2009 to 2023 — $25.23 billion

4. Missouri

Total amount from 2009 to 2023 — $11.83 billion

5. Pennsylvania

Total amount from 2009 to 2023 — $11.34 billion

Source link: PropertyCasualty360.com — https://bit.ly/4bBMbQP