Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Law
Bringing Predictability To The Chaos Of Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi, Benjamin J. Mcmichael
Bringing Predictability To The Chaos Of Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi, Benjamin J. Mcmichael
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Punitive damages remain unique in the American legal system. Awarded in the civil context with none of the protections offered in criminal law, courts levy punitive damages to punish and deter. The Supreme Court of the United States has clearly stated that courts may only seek to achieve these two goals when imposing punitive damages. A closer reading of the Court's punitive damages jurisprudence, however, reveals another goal that has largely been ignored: predictability. Unlike punishment and deterrence, predictability is not a purpose for which to award punitive damages. Instead, the Court requires that, when awarded, the level of punitive …
Assessing The Insurance Role Of Tort Liability After Calabresi, W. Kip Viscusi, Joni Hersch
Assessing The Insurance Role Of Tort Liability After Calabresi, W. Kip Viscusi, Joni Hersch
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Calabresi’s theory of tort liability (1961) as a risk distribution mechanism established insurance as an objective of tort liability. Calabresi’s risk-spreading concept of tort has provided the impetus for much of the subsequent development of tort liability doctrine, including risk-utility analysis and strict liability. Calabresi’s analysis remains a powerful basis for modern tort liability. However, high transactions costs, correlated risks, catastrophic losses, mass toxic torts, shifts in liability rules over time, noneconomic damages, and punitive damages affect the functioning of tort liability as an insurance mechanism. Despite some limitations of tort liability as insurance, tort compensation serves both a compensatory …
Saving Lives Through Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi, Joni Hersch
Saving Lives Through Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi, Joni Hersch
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This Article proposes that the value of statistical life ("VSL ") be used to set the total damages amount needed for deterrence when punitive damages are warranted in wrongful death cases. The appropriate level of total damages should be achieved by adjusting the value of punitive damages. Compensatory damages should not be distorted to establish the total damages level needed for efficient deterrence. Attempts to introduce hedonic damages as a compensatory damages component, and proposals to use the VSL on a routine basis when setting compensatory damages awards, are misguided and will undermine the insurance and compensation functions of compensatory …
Saving Lives Through Punitive Damages, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Saving Lives Through Punitive Damages, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This Article proposes that the value of statistical life ("VSL ") be used to set the total damages amount needed for deterrence when punitive damages are warranted in wrongful death cases. The appropriate level of total damages should be achieved by adjusting the value of punitive damages. Compensatory damages should not be distorted to establish the total damages level needed for efficient deterrence. Attempts to introduce hedonic damages as a compensatory damages component, and proposals to use the VSL on a routine basis when setting compensatory damages awards, are misguided and will undermine the insurance and compensation functions of compensatory …
Punitive Damages By Numbers: Exxon Shipping Co. V. Baker, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Punitive Damages By Numbers: Exxon Shipping Co. V. Baker, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker is a landmark that establishes an upper bound ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages of 1:1 for maritime cases, with potential implications for other types of cases as well. This article critiques the Court’s reliance on the median ratio of punitive to compensatory damages in samples of verdicts to set an upper bound for punitive damages awards. Our critique of the approach draws on the properties of statistical distributions and a new analysis of cases with punitive damages awards. The Court’s conclusion that a 1:1 ratio establishes a …
The Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards, W. Kip Viscusi
The Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This paper provides an analysis of 64 punitive damages awards of at least $100 million. Based on an inventory of these cases, there is evidence that these blockbuster awards are highly concentrated geographically, as two states account for 27 of the 64 awards. The awards also have been rising substantially over time, with the majority of these blockbuster awards taking place since 1999. An assessment of the current status of the blockbuster punitive damages awards indicates that most of these awards have been appealed, but the reversal of these punitive damages awards is the exception rather than the rule. Many …
Punitive Damages: How Judges And Juries Perform, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Punitive Damages: How Judges And Juries Perform, Joni Hersch, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This paper presents the first empirical anatysis that demonstrates that juries differ from judges in awarding punitive damages. Our review of punitive damages awards of $100 million or more identified 63 such awards, of which juries made 95 percent. These jury awards are highly unpredictable and are not significantly correlated with compensatory damages. Using data on jury and bench verdicts from the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1996, we find that juries are significantly more likely to award punitive damages than are judges and award higher levels of punitive damages. Jury awards are also less strongly related to compensatory …
The Challenge Of Punitive Damages Mathematics, W. Kip Viscusi
The Challenge Of Punitive Damages Mathematics, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Proposals to provide juries with specific numerical instructions for setting punitive damages should bring greater rationality to punitive damages awards. This approach is tested using evidence from 353 jury-eligible citizens who applied these formulas to a series of legal cases. Few respondents assessed the correct values of punitive damages from the standpoint of deterrence. Anchoring effects of appeals by a plaintiffs lawyer or media coverage of similar awards lead respondents to abandon the punitive damages formula and set punitive damages based on the anchor. Minorities and the less well educated were particularly unwilling or unable to apply the recommended punitive …
The Social Costs Of Punitive Damages Against Corporations In Environmental And Safety Torts, W. Kip Viscusi
The Social Costs Of Punitive Damages Against Corporations In Environmental And Safety Torts, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Legal scholars and judges have long expressed concerns over the unpredictability and arbitrariness of punitive damages awards. Proposed remedies, such as restricting punitive damages to narrowly defined circumstances, have not yet met with success. This paper addresses the threshold issue of whether, on balance, punitive damages have benefits in excess of their costs. There is no evidence of a significant deterrent effect based on an original empirical analysis of a wide range of risk measures for the states with and without punitive damages. These measures included accident rates, chemical spills, medical malpractice injuries, insurance performance, and other outcomes that should …