Billion?... With a B? Un.Be.Farking.Leivable

Whittaker is unlikely to collect the entire one-point-six billion.

You think?

The jury ruled Perry and Southwestern Life each must pay 800 million in punitive damages and ten million dollars in compensatory damages.

How farking dumb is a jury that says an individual employee must pay 800million? Why not be realistic and say... repossess his house and car? Why abuse the system and make so much fun of it in such a minor case that some day the govt will be forced to place limits on the maximum amount that someone can sue for?

Then every major corp will just set aside a few million $ for maximum insurance and continue to treat customers even badly. Right now, there is a chance that they can get sued $1.6B and be forced to pay if they really deserve it (like tobacco industry).

Simply amazing.

1.6 billion.

I can't even count that high!

Jeez. That's way too much. It's not like she spilled coffee on her crotch.

Anybody else remember "Square One".

"What's the highest number there is?"
"16,000,000,000"
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Well, add one to it."
"16,000,000,001... But that has to be the highest number!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Well, add one to it."

/etc...

She'll never see a red cent.

Those southern hick states are notorious for giving out huge jury verdicts. Plaintiff's love to sue out big cases down there.

Apparently, all that this ins. agent did was accept $50.00 per month payments on a life insurance policy that was invalid. Obviously she hasn't died, so it's a little hard to understand how the jury came up with such a huge sum in compensatory and punitive damages.

This is the Plaintiff's attorney's website. You'll never guess who his law partner is . . . . . .

http://www.jocksmith.com/index.php
[can someone make this a clickable link]

The case centered on a $25,000 policy Whittaker opened in May 1995. She paid premiums of about $50 per month to Perry until December 2001, when he advised her to let her policy lapse. Whittaker became suspicious and called the insurance company, which told her the policy had been void since October 1996.

Jock M. Smith said Southwestern Life was negligent in not investigating Perry's past, which he said included a $5 million verdict in Macon County in 1988 for similar misconduct with another insurance company.

Smith told jurors during the two-day trial to send a message "loud enough to ring across the nation, that this kind of conduct cannot be tolerated - where in the year 2004, we're still dealing with agents who are stealing money out of policyholders."

"I feel great and it's a blessing," Whittaker told the Montgomery Advertiser for a story Friday. "I think I had a good jury - and they went along with us."

Man I wish was stupid & trusting so somebody would take advantage of me and I could sue them for the GNP of a small african nation.

"Those southern hick states"

Asinine.

Perfect tag.

We must put caps on these lawsuit awards now. Like right now.

Behold the power of the dumbed-down general populace, full of little but resentment for anyone they perceive as being "better off." This monitary award had zero to do with the case and everything to do with a bunch of little nebbishes suddenly being given a whole lot of power.

The jury trial is crucial to our justice system, but so is a reasonably educated and non-propagandized public.

Must sleep now...

"Those southern hick states"

Gee, I didn't know you could call African Americans "hicks" these days.

I'm not from the US... but isn't a jury supposed to be composed of random people from that area? Wouldn't it then be safe to assume that because this jury is composed wholly of retarded assmonkeys, so is the state they are from ?

No, Philonius. Juries are made up of people who are stupid to get out of jury duty.

Well, thats exactly what's wrong with trials by jury... some random idiots deciding what's right ><

CadetHappy

I happen to live in one of these so called "southern hick states" ...and while I totally disagree with the verdict, please do not blame it on us poor, uneducated, barefooted, banjo playing, fried chicken eating, cousin marrying, tobacco chewing southerners. Broad statements like that show ignorance, not superiority.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to put on one of my wife beaters and go slop the hogs 'cause Hee Haw is about to come on.

(Putting pinky to corner of mouth) 1.6 billion?
That's US dollars, right, and not red Jello beans?

Daft.

I think the judge ment to say 1.6 billion pennies, not dollars.

A couple of points (I am a lawyer - don't be hatin'):

(1) Punitive damages are meant to punish (thus the word 'punitive'). How do you punish a multi-billion dollar company? By hitting them in the pocketbook. In any case that seeks punitive damages (which are ordinarily only available if there is some kind of intentional, outrageous conduct - such as one of your agents stealing your client's money), there will be evidence presented to the jury about the company's net worth, yearly income, etc. I imagine this company is worth billions.

(2) Most states have caps on punitive damages - even though a jury might award a huge amount, the judge will likely reduce this award to something more reasonable.

Just my $.02

mom?

/stands to inherit 1.6 billion dollars

In other news..

Man awarded a trillion dollars in a case against martians probing him anally.

Wish it'd happen to me. Would buy my return ticket to Mars whenever NASA gets around to building a ship to go there.

And there'd be no hard feelings, I'd even advertise for the insurance company, by way of a small thank you.

The rest would go to sex, travel and a university degree [whatever order is more suitable at the time]

See <b>ebell</b>'s post, you asshats who think this is *way* to much money. How else would you suggest punishing a company worth billions of dollars? Tickling their feet? Sending them a shipment of ill-flavored coffee?

Punishment doesn't work unless it makes you not want to do whatever it was that you did again. Capping punitive damages to some tiny amount, which, say, 50,000,000 is to a company that is worth several billion, does absolutely nothing.

I'm starting to think that most of you who's jaws dropped at the figure really can't image that much money, and are too awed by the some to make rational judgements about it.

I think you meant, by the "sum."

Yep, I did. I also ment not to unclick the HTML enabled button.

I think only thing asinine about this story is the obviously outrageous amount of money involved.

The company and the asshat who was ripping her off (even if it was only $50 a month or whatever) need to taken for as much as they can. So maybe she won't $1.6B ... but maybe she'll get as much as they can squeeze out of them. It's like when you were a kid and asked Mom if you could stay up until midnight. She'd say no but maybe she'd go ahead and let you stay up till 10 or 11 ... which was better than 9 o'clock.

the legal system in general and lawyers in particular are ruining their own system and just daring congress to act.

In Alabama now days poor women can't get an obstetrician anymore because anytime there are any complications in birth no matter how small a lawyer will come along and convince the mother it was malpractice. And they tempt them with thoughts about buying a better house or paying for the kids college remember these are mostly poor women. All the lawyer has to do is file the suit and 99% percent of the time the doctors insurance company will automatically settle for $50,000-$200,000. They settle because they fear juries that give away someone elses billion dollars without a care.

This is happening so often that the doctors insurance premiums are going up and some can't afford insurance anymore. But the lawyer's have their 1/3 cut of that settlement, that's at least 5 figure payday with a minimum of work, after all they don't often go to trial. 10 such suits and you don't have to get a real job.

Commish--you forgot to add: go to a Klan rally.

aurorous, you are definitely right that doctor's insurance premiums are sky-rocketing

but don't forget to dish out a healthy amount of blame to the insurance companies--they are gouging the doctors despite the fact that malpractice verdicts have been relatively stable the last decade

aurorous:

10 such suits and you don't have to get a real job.

My firm doesn't do much plaintiff work (we specialize in insurance defense), but, believe me, it takes a LOT of money to bring a law suit and to keep a law office open. While some lawyers have been very successful at getting some big verdicts, those are few and far between.

Don't get me wrong, the plaintiffs' attorneys are in the business of suing and getting settlements, but it's not as easy or cheap as you make it sound.

My own personal take on punitive damages is this: punish the evil companies, but don't give an excessive windfall to the plaintiffs. That is, make the companies pay up, but only give the plaintiffs a fraction of the punitives. Give the rest to some kind of charity fund - perhaps for legal services or health care for the poor. Sadly, with the power that the trial lawyers have in this country, it'll never happen.

I have been to Mississippi and Alabama--they are the armpit of America, and they are most definitely hick states. They certainly have some nice progressive cities and universities, I didn't mean to lump them into my overbroad comment, but you couldn't pay me to live down there.

2004-02-07 08:13:01 AM aurorous

the legal system in general and lawyers in particular are ruining their own system and just daring congress to act.

Insurance is what feeds the lawyers. And given the ready source of food, they continue to breed.

How else would you suggest punishing a company worth billions of dollars? Tickling their feet? Sending them a shipment of ill-flavored coffee

Um, how about making it a criminal act? Why have the responsible parties do time in jail? Isn't this how we punish criminal behaviour in this country?

Oh, but wait. Attorney's that handle civil cases wouldn't make any money that way.

Reality: She might *might* get to keep the 10 million but the punitive damages are going to be reduced to a very very small fraction or to zero. Courts these days tend to not like giving out punative damages.

ebell
That is, make the companies pay up, but only give the plaintiffs a fraction of the punitives. Give the rest to some kind of charity fund - perhaps for legal services or health care for the poor.

Let's not be hearin' any of that commie bull on Fark, boy!

Actually, although I think your suggestion opens up a whole can of worms, I agree with it to a large part. As you said earlier, punitive damages are just that: they have to be large to punish a multi-billion dollar corp. However, why should they necessarily go to the plaintiff, who is already getting compensatory damages.
The question, finding a way of using the punitive damages in a way that the majority finds acceptble.

The worst part about a case like this is that now the rates for every other customer of that company will go up to cover the costs of the punishment. Too bad the other customers can't sue her for ruining their life insurance policies.

I'm also kind of curious as to why she kept paying ont eh life insurance policy, and how she was paying. For example: was she paying the guy cash or something? I don't see why anyone could keep paying premiums on an expired policy and how that guy could have pocketed the money, as you usually would receive a bill from the company and make a check out in the name of the company.

This woman should be thankful she wasn't exposed to a woman's breast in the process. That'd be worth at least $2.8 bil in pain and suffering.

The jury ruled Perry and Southwestern Life each must pay 800 million in punitive damages and ten million dollars in compensatory damages.

WTF??!!

Jesus tapdancing Christ!!!

And we wonder why they're trying to put caps on awards.

Billion??!!

I love reading posts by armchair lawyers. It warms the cockles of my heart. Even the sub-cockles. Idiots.

I love reading posts by people with heart-cockles.

cockle n.
Any of various bivalve mollusks of the family Cardiidae, having rounded or heart-shaped shells with radiating ribs.

I knew those self-righteous attorney's were mollusks!

How farking dumb is a jury that says an individual employee must pay 800million? Why not be realistic and say... repossess his house and car?



Maybe he can be her personal slave for life.

Everything was fine, until they crossed the Macon county line.

CadetHappy

That's ok, we don't want you down here anyway.