nuclear verdicts

Punitive damages in huge Wabash judgment slashed but still over $100M

A court in Missouri rejected a wide variety of requests from trailer builder Wabash National arising from the lawsuit that led to one of the biggest nuclear verdicts ever in trucking and equipment, but the company did win a huge reduction in punitive damages.

The $450 million in punitive damages was slashed to $108 million by Judge Christoper McGraugh of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri in a decision handed down last week. 

But on virtually every other request made by Wabash regarding...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/punitive-damages-in-huge-wabash-judgment-slashed-but-still-over-100m

Georgia Senate votes to allow seat belt evidence in accident lawsuits

Jurors could be told whether a plaintiff injured in an auto accident was wearing a seat belt under a bill passed in the Georgia Senate.

The seat belt provision is just one component of the wide-ranging tort reforms in Senate Bill 68, which passed Friday with mostly Republican support. The bill now goes to the Georgia House of Representatives, and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has signaled his support for it, Capitol Beat News Service reported.

The legislation seeks to curtail massive jury awards...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/georgia-senate-votes-to-allow-seat-belt-evidence-in-accident-lawsuits

El Senado de Georgia vota para permitir evidencia del cinturón de seguridad en demandas por accidentes

el-senado-de-georgia-vota-para-permitir-evidencia-del-cinturon-de-seguridad-en-demandas-por-accidentes

Se les podría decir a los jurados si un demandante herido en un accidente automovilístico llevaba un cinturón de seguridad debajo Se aprobó un proyecto de ley en el Senado de Georgia. La disposición del cinturón de seguridad es solo un componente de las amplias reformas de agravio en el Proyecto de...

https://fullavantenews.com/el-senado-de-georgia-vota-para-permitir-evidencia-del-cinturon-de-seguridad-en-demandas-por-accidentes/?lang=es

Atribuya otro veredicto nuclear: más de $ 21 millones en el caso de Los Ángeles

El último veredicto nuclear contra el transporte de transporte se produjo en un Tribunal Superior de Los Ángeles, donde un jurado ha entregado una adjudicación de más de $ 21 millones, mucho más alto que una oferta de acuerdo que los acusados ​​habían rechazado. El accidente que involucró a Leila...

https://fullavantenews.com/atribuya-otro-veredicto-nuclear-mas-de-21-millones-en-el-caso-de-los-angeles/?lang=es

Chalk up another nuclear verdict: More than $21M in Los Angeles case

The latest nuclear verdict against trucking came in a Los Angeles Superior Court, where a jury has handed down an award of more than $21 million, far higher than a settlement offer the defendants had rejected.

The crash involving Leila Miyamoto-Workman and her son Jack Miyamoto took place in Los Angeles in July 2016. 

The Courtroom View Network covered the trial live. In a report, it quoted the Feb. 11 jury verdict as $21.3 million.

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https://www.freightwaves.com/news/chalk-up-another-nuclear-verdict-more-than-21m-in-los-angeles-case

Werner optimistic after tough Q4

Management from Werner Enterprises noted some green shoots on a Thursday quarterly call but the period was marred by unfavorable claims developments.

Werner (NASDAQ: WERN) reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 8 cents after the market closed, 14 cents below the consensus estimate and 31 cents lower year over year. The number included a $19 million hit, or 22 cents per share, from unfavorable changes in liability claims.

The company said the “unprecedented rise in verdicts and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/werner-optimistic-after-tough-q4

First look: Liability claims sink Werner’s Q4

Werner (NASDAQ: WERN) reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 8 cents, well shy of the 22-cent consensus estimate and 31 cents lower year over year. The number included a $19 million hit, or 22 cents per share, from unfavorable changes in liability claims.

“This is a reflection of the ongoing unprecedented rise in verdicts and litigation settlements across the industry, particularly for larger carriers,” a Thursday news release stated. “In contrast to these trends, in 2024 we...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/first-look-liability-claims-sink-werners-q4

Werner case at Texas Supreme Court: Did driver fail to perform a legal ‘duty’?

Arguments in briefs submitted in the ongoing Werner Enterprises nuclear verdict case in Texas have tended thus far to focus on legal questions such as whether various precedents should have done more to protect the truckload carrier from the giant judgment for a horrific crash that took place almost exactly 10 years ago.

But when the case went before the full Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday, oral arguments by Werner’s lead appellate attorney and his counterpart on the plaintiffs’ side went right...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/werner-case-at-texas-supreme-court-did-driver-fail-to-perform-a-legal-duty

Latest nuclear verdict in trucking: $141.5M against defunct Florida carrier

A Florida Circuit Court jury has levied punitive damages of $125 million against a trucking company that no longer exists and was no more than a few trucks in size when it was in operation.

The punitive damage award was assessed last week against K&N Logging LLC. John Moffitt Howell, the attorney who represented K&N, its owner and the driver of the logging truck involved in a March 2020 series of collisions near Fernandina Beach, Florida, said in an interview with FreightWaves that the company...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/latest-nuclear-verdict-in-trucking-141-5m-against-defunct-florida-carrier

Trucking groups and others take renewed stab at tort reform in Texas

Texas’ trucking sector heralded the enactment of a law in 2021 as a big victory in its fight against nuclear verdicts, typified by a huge award against Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) in the Lone Star State.

But just a few years later, the impact of the law, HB 19, is generally seen as a bust for the trucking industry’s attempts to fend off large judgments, whether or not they cross the $10 million nuclear verdict dividing line.

That disappointment has spurred a new effort to change the law...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-groups-and-others-take-renewed-stab-at-tort-reform-in-texas

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