Mayer Brown’s Guideposts blog has a nice tribute to Andy Frey, who retired from that firm at the end of 2020.  It’s no exaggeration to say that Andy had more influence on the development of punitive damages law over the past 40 years than any other lawyer.  

Andy argued four punitive damages cases in the Supreme Court, all of which had a profound impact on the development of modern punitive damages law: Browning-Ferris v. Kelco, Honda v. Oberg, BMW v. Gore, and Philip Morris v. Williams.

I had the pleasure of working with Andy on several occasions, starting with the Lockheed Litigation cases in the late 1990s.  He consulted with our firm on on those appeals, always offering creative suggestions and exploring new ideas for moving the boundaries of the law in this area.  The California Court of Appeal ultimately reversed a $380 million punitive damages award in one of those appeals, which marked the beginning of my focus on this practice area.

Congratulations Andy and best wishes for a happy retirement.