Exemplary Damages

Bledsoe v. United Graffix, Inc. (Ky. App. Nov. 9, 2012) (unpublished).  Opinion here.

Plaintiff owned a billboard along I-75 in Kentucky; defendant wrongfully converted it, for its own profit, for a substantial length of time.  The jury awarded $96,000 in punitive damages, even though no compensatory damages were awarded (a third party, also responsible for the conversion, had already paid all $17,200 of the compensatory damages that had been proved).  The appellate court nonetheless upheld the exemplary award in full, taking into account the defendant’s profiting from its wrongdoing and the 5.5-to-1 ratio between the $96,000 in exemplary damages and the $17,200 in total harm done to the plaintiff.

John F. Kelly, Jr., London, KY, for plaintiff.

Marcia Milby Ridings, London, KY, for defendant

CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Smith (W. Va. June 7, 2012).  Decision (official; Leagle).  Background: West Virginia Legal Record.

Per curiam opinion. Dissent by Chief Justice Menis E. Ketchum II

Exemplary award was on top of $1.5 million in compensatory damages.

Mark A. Atkinson, Paul L. Frampton, Jr., and Harry M. Hatfield for plaintiff.

Marc E. Williams, Melissa Foster Bird, and Jeremy C. Hodges for defendant.

Nardelli v. Metro. Group Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. (Ariz. App. May 1, 2012).  Court sets award at a 4-to-1 ratio to compensatory damages.

Steven C. Dawson of Dawson & Rosenthal for plaintiffs.

Richard A. Dillenburg for defendants.

Decision here.

Update (11/16/2012):  Commentary by attorney Nathan D. Meyer here.