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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 13, 1997 |
CONTACT: John H. Sullivan PHONE: (916) 443-4900 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 13, 1997 |
CONTACT: John H. Sullivan PHONE: (916) 443-4900 |
The San Diego findings, included in a recently-published study by the Washington Legal Foundation, revealed that punitive damages were demanded in 60% of the tort and contract suits against government entities, 41% of the suits against businesses, and 26% of the suits filed against individuals.
"These are disturbing numbers in light of the law's attempt to reserve punitive damages for cases that involve serious intentional misconduct," said John H. Sullivan, president of the Association for California Tort Reform (CJAC). "It is time for lawmakers to bring unwarranted punitive damage claims under control."
The San Diego data was developed by an Civil Justice Association of California-sponsored study which analyzed 2,528 cases filed during 1995 and 1996 in the superior courts of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Joaquin, and Sacramento counties. The study found that on the average punitive damages are demanded in 37 percent of the tort and contract suits filed against businesses, and 34 percent of those suits filed against government agencies.
The Civil Justice Association of California findings support a February 1996 study by the Pacific Research Institute which also discovered similar percentages in the frequency of demands for punitive damages and concluded that trial lawyers often use punitive damages as powerful leverage to generate higher out-of-court settlements.
Sullivan said that trial lawyers try to obscure the evidence of abuses by claiming that punitive damage jury verdicts occur relatively infrequently. But he noted that there are few jury awards of any kind--98 percent of cases reviewed in the Pacific Research Institute study were settled or otherwise concluded prior to a jury verdict.
"The important issue is how runaway jury awards affect the entire settlement process," Sullivan said, noting that the average jury verdict in California increased from less that $1 million to $6.6 million between 1984 and 1994.
NOTE: Sullivan and California Chamber of Commerce President Kirk West will speak Thursday, March 13, at 1 p.m., at a luncheon sponsored by San Diego County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse at the San Diego Hilton Beach & Tennis Resort at 1775 East Mission Bay Drive. They will be available to meet with news media after the luncheon at 1:30 p.m.
