On Friday, a Florida jury awarded Hulk Hogan $115 million in damages against news entity Gawker after it posted a sex tape of Hogan without his knowledge.
It is too early to know whether Gawker will appeal but according to CNN Reporter Tom Kludt Florida law requires a party to post a bond for the full amount of damages although that is capped at $50 million. The jury awarded $55 million in economic injuries and $60 million for emotional distress. This does not include an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
The NY Times provides a concise synopsis of the trial.
A statement from Nick Denton, founder of Gawker, inferred that there will be an appeal.
Payout Perspective:
For those wondering whether Gawker could even afford to put up a supersedeas bond, Michael McCann indicates that Florida law allows judges discretion in determining how much a party must post especially if imposing such a bond would be a substantial injustice. But, even before an appeal, one might expect Gawker’s attorneys file a Motion for Remittur which would request the court to reduce the amount of damages awarded by a jury. In addition, or in the alternative, Gawker might seek a Motion for New Trial and/or Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict. Each of these alternatives would see Gawker requesting relief from the jury award due to some legal circumstance that was not followed and/or was done in clear erro. Since the presiding judge would hear such a motion, the likelihood of success would be low since the trial court judge would be the one that would be overruling themselves.
We should see in the coming days the plan for Gawker. Frankly, Hogan is not getting the money awarded by the 6-person jury any time soon.
Sounds good brotha!
They couldn’t handle the power of the pythons.
Jason,
I thought they had to fork over the $50M immediately. No?
@Diego,
They have a certain amount of time to file the appeal (30 days I believe). They can ask for a reduction of that amount but it will be up to the trial court judge.