More than half of U.S. companies had at least one trial last year. Of those cases 40 percent went to verdict. These findings from Fulbright & Jaworski’s Second Annual Litigation Trends Survey explain the difficulty we had in choosing just five cases to highlight in our annual list of the most significant verdicts of the year. Luckily, with the help of some of the country’s top litigators, we were able to narrow the list to a manageable, but diverse group.
Plaintiffs range from the eminently sympathetic–a 69-year-old wife and mother of three who died of a rare blood disorder–to the less downtrodden–a billionaire who sold his Florida mansion for $69 million in 2004. Damages range from absolutely nothing to absolutely outrageous. Jurisdictions range from New York’s business-friendly courts to the dreaded Madison County, Ill. Some are high-profile; others got little media attention. Four are cautionary tales, and one is a victory worth noting.
