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Remembering Stengel and Celebrating the Arizona Supreme Court

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Those familiar with his legend know that Hall of famer Casey Stengel managed the New York Yankees in their mid-century heyday and, for a short time at their inception, the New York Mets.  But he also is remembered as one of baseball’s great characters.

One story about Stengel was told by the great broadcaster Curt Gowdy.  He was having a beer with Stengel at a bar in Cleveland.  Stengel received his beer and quickly downed it in one long gulp, leading Gowdy to ask why he drank it so fast.  Stengel said he drank beer that way ever since “the accident.”

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California Confronts the High Liability Costs of Scientific Uncertainty

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Much has been said about the eye-popping verdict and the post-trial rulings in the Roundup case tried in San Francisco earlier this year. Johnson v. Monsanto Co., 2018 WL 5246323 (S.F. Super. Ct. Oct. 22, 2018). The court sustained the jury’s award of ~$39 million in compensatory damages, including $37 million in non-economic damages, and its finding that Monsanto was liable for punitive damages. The court reduced the punitive award on due process grounds to a one-to-one ratio, slashing it from $250 million to approximately $39 million. Monsanto recently filed its notice of appeal, and as we await the briefing and argument, a few issues and takeaways merit further discussion, particularly several disturbing issues surrounding the award of punitive damages. We will save for another day (or post) other significant liability and damages issues.

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