Source of article 2's Company - Magnus Insights.

Many of the posts we write are inspired by recent events, though our list has many titles we created as far back as 10 years ago at the inception of the Magnus Insights, 2’s Company blog. I’ll admit that there are many DF titles I haven’t written yet. I’m writing today, while smiling a bit, at one of the minor details that have a major impact in our work, that is, calculators. That’s right, this post is about calculators. I titled this post “12 Digits,” because 8 is not enough (despite that it was on the 1970s era TV show). (As an aside, I don’t know why 8 digits became the norm. The first handheld calculator I ever touched was invented by a friend of an uncle of mine. It was 8 digits, red LED, and was made in the guy’s garage. In the early 1970s, it cost, wholesale, $400. That was huge money!) There is an old adage about having to take off one’s shoes when counting something and you run out of fingers. Well, that means one literally needs more than 10 digits. In any event, I just had to purchase some 12 digit calculators, at less than $10 each I will add. Our battle worn, standard, 8 digit calculators have become obsolete when used by mock jurors in calculating and awarding damages. It’s not that jurors are frequently awarding damages exceeding 8 digits, the maximum of which could be as high as $99,999,999, though if decimal places are involved, as they sometimes are, it drops to $999,999.99. It is that, whether it is supposed to happen or not, mock jurors often use averaging to reach a number which they then use to try to get each other to agree with in awarding damages. Adding up what each of 6, 8, 10 or more mock jurors results in numbers exceeding 8 digits. Melissa and I have written about nuclear verdicts and we’ve discussed this phenomenon at length with many clients. While I think the nuclear verdict phenomenon is concerning, I think it is also sensationalized like many things are, because they get attention. Yet, perhaps the need for more than 8 digits is a tangible example of the trend toward higher damages. We are now ready for up to $999,999,999,999!