In an earlier post, I discussed the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Dutra Group v. Batterton, which presents the question whether punitive damages may be awarded under federal maritime law in connection with an unseaworthiness claim.

On behalf of six fishing-industry trade associations, my colleague Matt Waring and I submitted an amicus brief in Dutra arguing that the Court should not allow punitive damages to infiltrate this unique body of law.
Continue Reading Mayer Brown Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court To Hold That Punitive Damages May Not Be Awarded In Connection With Unseaworthiness Claims

Car insuranceSeemingly minor legal issues sometimes can have a surprisingly significant effect. That is particularly true with the ratio guidepost because the effect of any dispute about the guidepost’s application is literally multiplied. We recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of organizations in an Eighth Circuit appeal that proves the point: Dziadek v. The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company, No. 16-4070.
Continue Reading Mayer Brown Submits Amicus Brief For Chamber Of Commerce, American Tort Reform Association, And American Insurance Association In Eighth Circuit Appeal Involving Proper Application Of Punitive Damages Guideposts

wvscaSealAs readers of this blog and litigants and their attorneys in punitive damages cases well know, the U.S. Supreme Court gets the final say on matters of constitutional interpretation, including the due-process requirements for punitive damages awards. Except if you happen to live in West Virginia.

It turns out that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has made it something of a habit in recent years to ignore, sidestep, or outright reject controlling principles of federal law by, as the U.S. Supreme Court itself pointed out in 2012, “misreading and disregarding” Supreme Court precedents. This trend has been particularly noticeable in punitive damages cases, in which members of the West Virginia court have openly expressed their hostility toward the Supreme Court’s due-process holdings in State Farm v. Campbell, BMW v. Gore, and Philip Morris USA v. Williams.Continue Reading West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals’ Refusal To Review Punitive Award For Excessiveness Under Due Process Clause Warrants Summary Reversal, Says Chamber Of Commerce In Mayer Brown-Authored Amicus Brief