How Juries Think About Punitive Damages
The lawyers at Quinn, Emanuel (there’s no individual byline have written a good article on How Juries Think About Punitive Damages -The Empirical Evidence. One of the money quotes:
The studies also revealed an "anchor effect." The "anchor effect" refers to the tendency of juries to latch onto any numbers presented to them as the "anchors" for their calculations when they receive little or no guidance from a court in setting dollar awards. As a result, plaintiff 's attorneys who ask for a higher figure typically receive a larger award. One study presented cases that were identical except for plaintiff 's closing argument. One requested punitive damages of $15 to $50 million while the other requested a range of $50 to $150 million. The corresponding awards averaged $20 and $52 million, respectively.
That goes along with what I was talking about with the lawyer’s suggestion of an award being a high anchor for the jury. Thanks to Evan Schaeffer at the Illinois Trial Practice Weblog for pointing out the article.
