Infringement case leads 2019 ‘Largest Verdicts’ list

A major jury verdict in Alexandria federal court is a triumph for music labels against a cable giant, and it tops the list in Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s compilation of “Largest Verdicts” for 2019.

In a result that was hailed by music executives across the country, multiple labels filed a copyright infringement suit against Cox Communications. Sony Music Entertainment was the leading plaintiff in the suit; the verdict was for $1 billion.

Ultimately, the case was laid out that Cox didn’t do enough to curb the trend of illegal downloading of copyrighted music. Damages for over 10,000 songs were handed down by a jury in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

The full list of last year’s 17 million-dollar verdicts in Virginia can be found HERE.

The criteria for inclusion in the list is the same as in past years:

1. The verdict must be for at least $1 million
2. The verdict was returned in a Virginia courtroom
3. The verdict was returned in the prior calendar year, in this case 2019

Medical malpractice verdicts reigned supreme once again in this year’s compilation, with eight verdicts involving malpractice by various doctors or practice groups. In total, eight of the 17 verdicts featured were medical malpractice cases.

If we have missed any million-dollar verdicts from 2019, please let us know. We’ll be glad to add that information to the online version of the feature so it can be as complete as possible.

And note that we will present the 2019 survey of million-dollar settlements in our Feb. 10 edition. If you have a qualifying settlement that you haven’t reported yet, please send it to [email protected] by Feb. 1.

— Jordan Bondurant