Verdicts Against Business Increasing

Bloomberg News recently reported that legal experts believe the stalled economy has been affecting lawsuits against companies in unrelated cases across the country.

Ten of the 50 largest jury verdicts in 2010 came in product-defect cases, compared with five in 2009 and one in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There were 15 such verdicts of $25 million or more in 2010, compared with seven in 2009.

The total of the largest five product-liability verdicts was $1.1 billion, up from $620 million in 2009 and $408 million in 2008. The 77% growth from last year accelerated a trend from the previous year, when the biggest five product verdicts rose 52% from 2008.

“There hasn’t been any radical change in product-liability law to cause this,” said Victor E. Schwartz, a Washington attorney and litigation expert who represents companies. “It’s more atmospheric than legal.”

Attorneys for corporations facing product-defect claims are finding it harder to weed out bias during jury selection, said Schwartz, who is general counsel of the American Tort Reform Association.

“The old form of bias was when a juror may have had a personal interest in the case or a bias for a plaintiff or against a particular defendant,” Schwartz said. “Prejudice today is more subtle and not always conscious.” ◆