HOUSTON - Texas companies were ordered to pay out $3,703,058,833 stemming from nuclear verdicts in 2023 – the second-highest statewide total across the nation, according to a Marathon Strategies report.
The report, entitled “Corporate Verdicts Go Thermonuclear,” found that Texas leads the country in the sum of verdicts and the number of verdicts, totaling $45,011,777,533 over 207 verdicts.
“From rapper Flo Rida’s $82 million breach of contract case against an energy drink company to a nearly $1 billion sports car liability award against Mitsubishi, juries across the country in 2023 found corporate defendants liable for over $14.5 billion in ‘nuclear verdicts,’” the report states.
“No company is safe: nearly 50 unique industries faced these cases last year, including chemicals, automobiles, home furnishings, internet services, and electric utilities.”
According to the report, 89 lawsuits against a corporate defendant resulted in a “nuclear verdict” award in 2023 – a 15-year high. The median nuclear verdict also rose to $44 million last year, up from a low of $21 million in 2020.
“While some states are more prone to handing out nuclear verdicts than others, we found that these jury verdicts are happening in courts throughout the country, both rural and urban,” the report states. “In 2023, states with the largest sum of verdicts were Missouri ($4 billion), Texas ($3.7 billion), Pennsylvania ($1.2 billion), and Washington ($1.1 billion).”
Florida ($492 million), which is historically the number two state for nuclear verdicts, dropped to seventh in 2023, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed comprehensive tort reform into law.
Marathon’s research shows that after product liability matters, patent cases are the second-most common source of nuclear verdicts. In recent years, Texas has become the nation’s top spot for patent litigation.
Texas was also in the top five for largest nuclear verdicts in 2023, with a $336,160,000 verdict against FedEx in a labor law dispute filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas.
The report also explores reforms measures taken by states, mentioning that Texas passed HB 1745, which limits vicarious liability claims against rideshare companies.
The bill requires an affidavit when a claimant names a transportation company as defendant that specifically sets forth each theory of recovery, and also requires the claimant to file a third-party expert affidavit attesting that the damages exceeded the applicable insurance coverage.