Large corporations as heros of punitive damages

As you know, the imagination of the public is captured by awards of “punitive damages” and “jackpot justice.”  Most of this stuff is just propaganda spread by lawyers and various thinktanks on behalf of their clients.  Not that there is anything wrong with that. Heck, if you can’t be a real lawyer, just write about “policy” and “tort reform.”

But, Wait a Second points to a very large award of punitive damages (first reduced, and later affirmed) in favor of Motorola. Because the defendant didn’t take the proceedings seriously (even though they were represented by large firms), I doubt that the Supremes would take this up.

I wonder if all the normal “Tort Reform” mouthpieces are going to condemn the Second Circuit’s decision as “judicial activism” and jackpot justice and condemn their lawyers as being “trial lawyers.”  After all, punitive damages over a billion dollars seem quite large.