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Reductions in Punitive Damages Awards: Practice Tips
Our previous article in the March issue reviewed punitive damages awards since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003). This month we will look at the way the Court's directives impact pretrial activities, evidentiary issues, and jury instructions in our cases.
Pretrial Considerations
Battles are occurring in many cases regarding the effect of the State Farm decision on the discoverability of evidence. For example, in Permanent General Assurance Corp. v. Hernandez, 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 1705 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 12, 2004), a plaintiff brought suit claiming that the defendant discriminated against persons of minority and low income by denying or unreasonably disputing vehicle theft claims. The plaintiff sought files for all of the defendant's insureds that had submitted a claim for vehicle theft for the past 6 years. The court denied the plaintiff's discovery demand, stating that, after State Farm, “a defendant can be punished only for the harm done to plaintiff.” Id. at *9-10. Thus, the court considered the pattern and practice evidence sought by the plaintiff to be irrelevant and inadmissible for the purpose of assessing punitive damages. Objections to discovery should also be made if out-of-state conduct is the subject of an interrogatory or request to produce.
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