Today, amounts are skyrocketing so much that a new term, "thermonuclear," is being used to describe verdicts that far exceed the $10 million threshold. Photo: denisik11/Adobe Stock
An award of $222 million was granted in a lawsuit against a power company; $440 million in a case involving a constructive termination case; and $730 million in a truck collision lawsuit…plus more.
Jury awards of $10 million+ — commonly referred to as nuclear verdicts because of their widespread destructive impact not only on insurers but on consumers as well — are increasing in both amount and frequency, as reported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) last year. In 2019, there was a 300% rise in nuclear verdicts, compared to the annual average from 2001 to 2010. The ILR report found that the median verdict grew from $19.3 million in 2010 to $24.6 million in 2019, a 27.5% increase.
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