Maui Jury Awards $43 Million in Punitive Damages

Maui is one of my favorite vacation spots. I go to enjoy the island’s natural beauty and balmy tropical weather. But this report from the Maui News suggests that other mainlanders visit Maui’s sunny shores in search of something else: punitive damages. A jury there has awarded $43 million in punitive damages (on top of $10 million in compensatory damages) to a group of investors who claim they were defrauded in connection with their investments in a lakeside development in Tennessee. The defendant is a Chicago banker who resides part-time on Maui. The story says that locals cannot remember a larger civil verdict in Maui.