West Virginia Leads Nation in High Jury Verdicts and Punitive Damages Awards

A recent report from the National Law Journal shows that in 2007, three of the top seven highest jury awards in the nation were from West Virginia. At number three, the January verdict for $404 million ($270 million in punitive damages) in the Tawney vs. Columbia Natural Resources case in Roane County; at number five, the October verdict of $251 million ($196.2 million in punitive damages) in the Perrine vs. DuPont case in Harrison County; and at number seven, the July verdict of $219 million in the Wheeling Pitt vs. Central West Virginia Energy case in Brooke County.