LITIGATION TRENDS 2025 | 103 T O C E M P E S G A N T I I P C A P R O W C S P O R T C O N T A C T I N T A P P P A T C C L S E C that social media platforms are not “products,” in the same year, a federal MDL held that many of the allegations indeed sounded in products liability. Whether or not courts ultimately decide that social media platforms are products and permit public nuisance claims will surely affect the number of suits brought against social media companies. Despite a rising number of claims, social media companies have strong defenses to these attenuated claims including that these platforms are not products, do not infringe on any established rights, and that the consumers do not have standing. Nuclear Verdicts on the Rise in Product Liability Cases Often times a business decides to go to trial for strong strategic reasons including desire to set certain legal precedent, dissuade additional claims, protect its reputation, or to end the litigation. However, in the wake of a rise in nuclear verdicts – jury awards for damages exceeding 10 million or more – corporations may now have to weigh increased exposure when deciding to proceed with a jury trial. To combat these large jury verdicts, some state governments are actively pursuing tort reform to limit jury awards to the actual harm suffered by plaintiffs. Since 2020, the number of significant verdicts against corporations has nearly tripled, with the median verdict value more than doubling. In 2023, there were 89 nuclear verdicts against corporate defendants, a 27% increase from 2022, with the median verdict increasing from $41 million to $44 million. Although massive jury verdicts can be a threat for any business, certain industries have become more at risk. In recent years, many of the thermonuclear verdicts – awards exceeding $100 million – were product liability cases against pharmaceutical and medical device companies, tobacco manufactures, and asbestos-related product manufactures, including talc manufacturers. These industries have even seen billion dollar jury verdicts, causing concerns for all businesses alike. Several factors may contribute to these increasingly large verdicts, including the growing influence of social justice movements, media coverage of high-profile cases, the seeming normalization of higher awards, and trial tactics that pull on the emotional consciousness of jurors. These factors have influenced businesses to take a more proactive approach to reducing their risk – adding warnings, modifying designs or formulas for products, ensuring strict compliance with changing laws and regulations, and even removing products from markets altogether. Due to the uncertainties of litigation and increasing trial risks, it is no surprise that an increasing number of companies have begun opting for adverse judgment insurance to assist in covering their exposure at trial and protecting their bottom-line. What juries and the media coverage do not recognize is how nuclear verdicts indirectly impact communities by causing a rise in costs for food, goods, and services due to businesses needing to increase costs to consumers in order to maintain operations after a large verdict or following operational changes required by regulations or public scrutiny. Recognizing the threat that nuclear verdicts have on companies and communities alike, many states have taken action and passed laws aimed at tort reform. States are now actively preventing plaintiffs’ What juries and the media coverage do not recognize is how nuclear verdicts indirectly impact communities by causing a rise in costs for food, goods, and services. Recognizing the threat that nuclear verdicts have on companies and communities alike, many states have taken action and passed laws aimed at tort reform. E M P Product Liability 102 | Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
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