Perspective
Jan. 24, 2012
Punitive damages' impact on institutional bad faith
The maximum for punitive damages may not be enough to deter institutional wrongdoing. By William M. Shernoff and Howard S. Shernoff of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP.
Since the beginning of American jurisprudence, courts have endorsed the use of punitive damages as a deterrent to egregious misconduct. For example, back in 1869 in the case of Goddard v. Grand Trunk Railway (57 Me. 202), the court traced the genesis of punitive damages back to English law: "The right of the jury to give exemplary damages for injuries wantonly, recklessly, or maliciously inflicted, i...
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