Massive jury awards of $10 million or more—known as “nuclear verdicts”—continue to increase in size and frequency, according to a new study released today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform. Between 2013 and 2022, the median nuclear verdict was $21 million, with the median nuclear verdict in product liability cases peaking at $36 million in 2022.
Nuclear Verdicts: An Update on Trends, Causes, and Solutions analyzes more than 1,200 verdicts between 2013 and 2022. The report, which looks at the trends, drivers, and types of cases leading to nuclear verdicts, found:
- Product liability cases ($25 million) and auto accidents ($21 million) have some of the highest median verdicts.
- Juries in state courts, rather than federal courts, produced most nuclear verdicts.
- California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas produced around 61 percent of the nuclear verdicts across the country.
- Third party litigation funding, lawsuit advertising, and plaintiffs’ lawyers’ courtroom tactics fuel the size and frequency of nuclear verdicts.
“Nuclear verdicts are increasingly the new normal in jury awards, and the data shows that these awards are becoming entrenched. It’s time to address this problem before it gets worse,” said Oriana Senatore, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform Senior Vice President of Research and Strategic Development. “Most people may not realize that nuclear verdicts affect almost everything, from the prices of common household products to availability and affordability of insurance.”
The study outlines a series of comprehensive reforms that could reduce nuclear verdicts and restore confidence, fairness, and more predictability in jury awards, including:
- Requiring disclosure of third party litigation funding.
- Reining in misleading lawsuit ads.
- Promoting sound science in the courtroom.
- Prohibiting plaintiffs’ lawyer anchoring tactics.
“Policymakers and courts should adopt commonsense reforms to rein in these massive verdicts,” continued Senatore. “For example, lawsuits should be filed in courts where the plaintiff lives or where the incident occurred rather than in unrelated jurisdictions known for massive jury awards. Advertisements should use the real amount plaintiffs received, and litigation funding agreements should be disclosed to all parties involved in a case. Without these and other reforms, our litigation system will continue to benefit trial lawyers, not consumers.”