Within the past 15 years or so, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued several opinions setting out restrictions on punitive damages. Because punitive damages can be viewed as a taking of property, they implicate the Due Process Clause of the U. S. Constitution. The first of these cases, and perhaps the most interesting, was BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559 (1996). Dr. Ira Gore purchased what he thought was a brand new BMW, only to find out months later that the vehicle had been damaged slightly when being transported, and had been repaired and repainted prior to its delivery to him. He was not told about the repairs, and only learned the vehicle had been repainted months after the transaction. BMW had an internal policy of selling those vehicles as new without informing the dealer or purchaser, when the cost to repair was less than 3% of the value of the vehicle. The paint job on the Gore vehicle cost less than $1,000. Nonetheless, an Alabama jury found that BMW had engaged in fraud and awarded Dr. Gore $4,000 in compensatory damages, and $4,000,000 in punitive damages. Though the Alabama Supreme Court later reduced the amount to $2,000,000, even that number was a bit too breathtaking for the U. S. Supreme Court. In sending the case back to the Alabama courts, the Supreme Court issued several guidelines for all states to follow on the issue of punitive damages. The court held that such an award must bear a relationship to the nature of the conduct, must bear some reasonable ratio to the amount of compensatory damages (here the ratio was 1,000:1!), and take into account existing state civil and criminal penalties for similar conduct. In subsequent cases, the Supreme Court has held that only in extraordinary cases will punitive damages exceeding double digit ratios to compensatory damages be considered appropriate. More…

Two Faraci Lange LLP attorneys are listed among the Top 50 Upstate New York attorneys in the 2011 edition of New York Super Lawyers.

Angelo G. Faraci and Stephen G. Schwarz are among the 50 attorneys who received the highest point totals during the New York Super Lawyers-Upstate nomination, research and review process.

Faraci, of Rochester, is listed in the New York Super Lawyers in personal injury plaintiff: medical malpractice. He has been listed in New York Super Lawyers since 2007. Schwarz, of Fairport, is listed in personal injury plaintiff: medical malpractice. He has been named to New York Super Lawyers since 2007.

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Periodically, a client will ask about punitive damages. The topic often arises in situations where the other party’s negligence had the potential to create much greater harm than actually occurred. Example:  A company’s defectively designed product which could have caused death or serious injury did not, but only due to sheer luck. The client learns that they are not entitled to recover for an injury that could have occurred, only for what did occur. Most clients accept this, but are genuinely concerned that something worse does not happen to someone else. This sometimes leads to questions about punitive damages.

Punitive damages are distinct from compensatory damages, which are awarded to compensate the injured party for his/ her losses. Punitive damages cannot be awarded without some recovery for compensatory damages. They are assessed in addition to compensatory damages as an expression of a jury’s outrage over the conduct of the defendant. However, ordinary negligence, even gross negligence, will not result in recovery of punitive damages. More…

Faraci Lange LLP attorneys once again have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America^®.

The seven attorneys named in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers are:

• Matthew F. Belanger, of Brighton, in the practice areas of personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. Belanger has been named to Best Lawyers since 2008.
• John A. Falk, in medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. The Brighton resident has been named to Best Lawyers since 2009.
• Angelo G. Faraci, of Rochester, in legal malpractice law, medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. Faraci has been listed in Best Lawyers since its inception in 1983.
• Paul K. Lange, of Rochester, in medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. He was first named to Best Lawyers in 2001.
• Joseph A. Regan, in medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. The Rochester resident has been named to Best Lawyers since 2005.
• Stephen G. Schwarz, of Fairport, in medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. Schwarz has been named to Best Lawyers since 1999.
• Brian M. Zorn, of Victor, in medical malpractice law, personal injury litigation and product liability litigation. Zorn has been named to Best Lawyers since 1995.

Best Lawyers is regarded, by both the legal profession and the public, as a definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S. The new 2012 Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous national survey involving more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

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