The GigReporter

Jury verdicts in personal injury and wrongful lawsuits involve subjective, noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and sometimes punitive damages. Anger at large corporate defendants has long motivated American jurors to inflate these damage calculations into the so-called “nuclear verdict” range of ten million dollars or more.  According to The Wall Street Journal[1] this phenomenon has grown over the past ten years and escalated especially in the last two.

The plaintiffs’ bar attempts to obtain nuclear verdicts by convincing juries that corporate defendants are reckless and can only be deterred from their behavior by high monetary penalties far beyond their purely economic costs. Vulnerability to nuclear verdicts often correlates with how well-known a corporate defendant is, as fame will make it easier to find jurors that believe it can’t be deterred by ordinary damages. The Journal article cites verdicts against Charter Spectrum and Exxon-Mobil in the range of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars; earlier this year an SCI blog noted a verdict against Amazon resulting from a delivery driver accident that was over $40 million.

Nuclear verdicts are often substantially reduced by posttrial motion practice or on appeal, but even so, their increased prevalence has driven up the cost and reduced the availability of liability insurance. Insurers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have long advocated for various legislative reforms to reduce or eliminate these outcomes, and they may have a stronger chance of success with these new statistics to bolster their warnings. However, large numbers of nuclear verdicts come from the more business-hostile states, including California, New York, Illinois, and Washington, where successful legislative reform on this issue is unlikely.

Last-mile logistics brokers may not be as likely a target for nuclear verdicts, but the industry certainly is and depending on the Plaintiff’s firm the potential for a nuclear verdict is real.  The only way to avoid this risk is by having comprehensive insurance coverage.   

SCI sponsors a new partner program, called HNO+, specifically designed with your business in mind.  This exclusive program includes $1 million coverage for Hired & Non-Owned vehicles, Contingent Auto Liability, and General Liability/3rd party liability, alongside $100,000 for Errors and Omissions and Primary Cargo/Contingent Cargo Liability.   HNO+ is set to redefine industry standards with its no premium down and pay-as-you-go features.  This is the most flexible risk-mitigating insurance program you can own for your business.

[1]“‘Nuclear’ Jury Verdicts Rise Alongside American Anger”, July 8, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-jury-verdicts-rise-alongside-american-anger-f63b94b3?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink .