Jury verdicts over $10M rose 40% in 2025: Marathon Strategies

By Erin Ayers, Front Page News

The number of U.S. jury verdicts exceeding $10 million, commonly called “nuclear verdicts,” jumped over 40% in 2025 to nearly 200 for a total of $25.6 billion, according to a new report from Marathon Strategies.

Last year also saw 40 cases with verdicts over $100 million, four of which exceeded $1 billion, per the report. The trend extended across 28 states, 97 courts, and dozens of industries, driven primarily by products liability cases.

“No company is immune to this trend: 68 industries were the subject of a nuclear verdict in 2025, compared to 55 in 2024 and 48 in 2023,” commented Marathon, a communications and research firm. “The hardest-hit sectors included beverages ($3.8 billion); pharmaceuticals ($2.9 billion); automobiles ($2.9 billion); hotels, restaurants, or leisure facilities ($2.3 billion); fertilizers & agricultural chemicals ($2.2 billion); banks ($894 million); and oil & gas ($892 million).”

In terms of jurisdictions, Georgia led the nation in large verdicts with $4.9 billion in 10 cases including two “blockbuster” products liability cases against Ford Motor Co. and Bayer AG. Texas followed with $3.4 billion, California at $2.6 billion, Florida at $2.5 billion, and Maryland at $1.7 billion.

Marathon noted that Nevada technically had the second largest total in 2025, but should be considered an outlier as it reflected cases involving Real Water, a beverage found to be contaminated by chemicals. However, Florida’s place in the top five should be monitored, the firm warned, as it featured two “thermonuclear” verdicts, including an $833 million case against Wells Fargo and a $779 million award over an illegal gambling operation at an internet café.

“Florida’s trajectory in 2025 should serve as a warning to defendants about the limits of tort reform,” Marathon said. The state signed comprehensive tort reform into law in 2023 and saw a “marked decline” in high-value jury verdicts in 2024. It rebounded in 2025, however.

“These developments may lead some observers to question the efficacy of Florida’s 2023 tort reform package, though it is still early,” commented the firm in the report. “Without question, these cases should underscore for policymakers and businesses alike the volatility of nuclear verdicts: it only takes two or three verdicts to have a severe impact on a state.”

Last year also featured a few novel cases, including a first-of-its-kind federal nuclear verdict against a marijuana company, as well as a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) verdict against a right-wing internet troll posing as a government spy.

Several states have enacted tort reform in 2025, including Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Texas also considered significant tort reform but failed to pass a bill before the end of term.

Marathon attributed the ongoing growth in nuclear verdicts to mistrust of corporations, social pessimism, erosion of tort reform, and public desensitization to large awards.

The trend is unlikely to abate in 2026, Marathon added, citing research from Orrick indicating that 72% of U.S. consumers feel it is a juror’s duty to “send a message” to corporate defendants.

Attorney advertising also continues to ramp up, and emerging areas of litigation including forever chemicals, generative artificial intelligence (AI), extreme weather, climate change, and social media addiction liability will keep courts busy, per the report.

“Surveys of corporate counsels indicate that reaching pre-trial settlements has become more difficult due to increasing legal costs, regulatory changes, and high settlement demands,” Marathon said, adding that a shift toward “juror activism” may also become further pronounced as Gen Z and Millennials comprise a larger share of juries.

In addition to being the subject of litigation, AI is already having another impact, Marathon said.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to aggravate an already highly litigious society, as plaintiff lawyers and third-party litigation funders use it to help identify potential avenues for litigation, market class action cases in progress, and litigate cases more efficiently,” the firm warned.

Managing Editor Erin Ayers can be reached at [email protected]