Category Archives: Remedies

Are the Courts Likely to Sustain the $65 Million in Punitive Damages Awarded Against Trump in the E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case?

A jury just found Donald Trump liable for over $83 million in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Of that, about $65 million are punitive damages.

Are the punitive damages likely to be sustained if challenged (as they will be) judicially?

To begin with, there’s the question whether the compensatory damages will stand. If they are found to be excessive, then the punitive damages would likely be gone as well, and a new trial on both damages held. I don’t have an opinion on the excessiveness of the compensatory damages because I did not pay close enough attention to the evidence at this latest trial.

But the punitive damages question presents different issues. Apart from any state court review, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that punitive damages sometimes are unconstitutional under the due process clause and require independent review (one of the leading cases here is State Farm v. Campbell).

The purpose of punitive damages is to punish and deter, and wealthier defendants would likely need a higher punitive damage award to be deterred. Also, Trump appears to be a recidivist, continuing to defame Carroll, which would justify a higher award.

That said, the Supreme Court has said that the wealth of the defendant cannot justify an otherwise unconstitutional award, and that when substantial compensatory damages are awarded (as they were in this case), then a punitive award should be in a relatively low ratio to compensatory damages (like a 1:1 ratio, meaning damages in the $18 million range).

It’s fairly common for a jury to award very high punitive damages to a rich defendant who has engaged in egregious conduct, only to see the punitive award lowered either by the trial court or on appeal.

We’ll see what happens, but the full $65 million in punitive damages is uncertain to stand.

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Now Available in Time for Winter/Spring Classes: The Fifth Edition of My Student Study Aid, Remedies: Examples and Explanations

Hot off the presses with a 2024 cover date:

Examples & Explanations for Remedies, Fifth Edition

The Fifth Edition of Examples& Explanations: Remedies provides a bridge between law school and the real world.

A favorite classroom prep tool of successful students that is often recommended by professors, the Examples& Explanations (E&E) series provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures. Each E&E offers hypothetical questions complemented by detailed explanations that allow you to test your knowledge of the topics in your courses and compare your own analysis.

New to the Fifth Edition:

  • Integration of recent Restatement Third, Torts: Remedies sections on compensatory damages and injunctions
  • New critiques of the theory of efficient breach in contract
  • Incorporation of recent Supreme Court authority on contempt, including the mental state required for civil contempt proceedings
  • New analysis of the ability to obtain punitive damages for suits in equity and restitution
  • Consideration of new Supreme Court statements about ripeness standards for declaratory judgments
  • Discussion of garnishment orders regarding new methods of payment, such as Venmo or Paypal


Professors and students will benefit from:

  • Updated materials on wrongful death, survival, and loss of consortium claims
  • Expanded material on reasonable certainty, mitigation, offsetting benefits, and collateral sources in damages
  • Updated discussion of ripeness and mootness issues, and the scope of injunctions
  • The integration of the new Restatement and its impact on the field of Remedies
  • Extensive practice questions on institutional reform litigation/structural injunctions
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Access Archived Audio of AALS Panel on Remedies: Remedies in the Restatement

I participated in this panel and you can listen here. The sound quality is not good. Here’s the description from the catalogue (Doug Laycock could not make it but was honored with a lifetime achievement award–you can hear that at the end of the recording):

SECTION ON REMEDIES, CO-SPONSORED BY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TORTS
AND COMPENSATION SYSTEMS
Solana, First Floor, South Tower, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
Remedies in the Restatements
Moderator: Zahr Said, University of Washington School of Law
Speakers: Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Columbia Law School
Richard L. Hasen, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
Douglas Laycock, University of Virginia School of Law
Jean C. Love, Santa Clara University School of Law
Pamela Samuelson, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
This session will discuss questions relating to the remedies portion of current Restatement projects on torts
and copyright, as well as more general questions about opportunities and challenges generated by intersections between the field of remedies and the specific subject areas of such Restatements.
Business meeting at program conclusion.

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Now Available: 2021 Teachers’ Update for Laycock & Hasen, Modern American Remedies (5th edition)

The 2021 Teachers’ Update to Laycock and Hasen, Modern American Remedies (5th edition) covers Supreme Court developments through the end of the October 2020 term, including cases touching on the standards for emergency injunctions, the rules for disgorgement, and nominal damages and mootness.  It also discusses current controversies such as disputes over presidential immunity, qualified immunity, universal or nationwide injunctions, and other interesting developments in the lower courts.

You can find and distribute the Teachers’ Update to the regular edition at this link.

You can find and distribute the Teachers’ update to the concise edition at this link.

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Now Available: 2020 Teachers’ Update for Laycock & Hasen, Modern American Remedies (5th edition)

[Bumping to the top:]

The 2020 Teachers’ Update to Laycock and Hasen, Modern American Remedies (5th edition) covers Supreme Court developments through the end of the October 2019 term, including cases touching on the standards for emergency injunctions and rules for disgorgement.  It also discusses current controversies such as disputes over the publication of a book by former National Security Advisor John Bolton, presidential immunity, the continuing debate over universal or nationwide injunctions, and other interesting developments in the lower courts.

You can find and distribute the Teachers’ Update to the regular edition at this link.

You can find and distribute the Teachers’ update to the concise edition at this link.

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Teachers’ (and Students’) 2019 Update to Laycock & Hasen, Modern American Remedies (5th Edition) Now Available

[Bumping to the top with instructions for downloading by professors.]

This supplement is current through the end of the Supreme Court’s term ending June 28. It is free for use for instructors assigning the book and their students. There are separate versions for the regular and Concise editions of the book.

The 2019 Update to Modern American Remedies: Cases and Materials, Fifth Edition and Concise Fifth Edition by Douglas Laycock and Richard L. Hasen is now available for you to download.


This update is current through the end of the Supreme Court’s term ending June 28. It is free for use by instructors assigning the book as well as their students. There are separate versions for the regular and Concise editions of the book.


To download the update, go to the regular edition  or Concise edition page and scroll down to the Student Resources section. The 2019 Update to Modern American Remedies files include an extra password to unlock. You will find an additional document under the Student Resources section called 2019 Update Access Code that discloses the password.


To access additional teaching materials for these titles, you will need a validated professor account onWKLegaledu.com. If you do not yet have a validated professor account, you may register atWKLegaledu.com/my-account/register. Account validation may take 1-2 business days. Once validated, you may log into your account using your own personal login, go to the relevant product page and scroll down to access the Professor Resources. You’ll find the 2019 Update also posted under the Professor Resources for your convenience.

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