Could somebody explain to me why do the American juries award these crazy sums? Even if a company is liable for causing a death, isn't $25m more than enough? Why $250m??? These sums would be ridiculous and outrageous here in Europe.
So if people think such sums are outrageous, why do they, when acting as jurors, so often award such sums? I don't get it!
Well, unfortunately some attorneys are very good at convincing juries, that the reward to the plaintif is not important. It's the dent the reward will put in the "BIG BAD GREEDY COMPANY" which is important. They tell the jury that 25 mil just won't teach the company a lesson, so the bigger the reward, the bigger the dent. The punitive damage debate has been going on in this country for quite some time now, and this is yet another example of how out of control it's getting. Gotta go. Good trading
The primary reason for such outrageous awards is that the jury is selected from a basic pool of morons. Have you ever seen a resonably intelligent person that can think logically on a jury? I may be off base but that is the overall impression that I get.