Law360 reported on January 21 (and it escaped my notice until now) that U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea of the District of Connecticut awarded $27.5 million in punitive damages in an antitrust and trade secrets case.

According to the Law 360 article, a jury awarded $35 million in compensatory damages, which Judge Shea founded to be excessive.  He ordered a conditional new trial on the issue of compensatory damages, subject to an agreement by the plaintiff (MacDermid Printing Solutions) to reduce the award to $20 million.  But the defendant (Cortron Corp.) probably didn’t spend much time celebrating when they learned that Judge Shea also granted the plaintiff’s motion for punitive damages and awarded $27.5 million.