Voices of American Law

The Court's landmark punitive damages case came in 1996, in the case of BMW of North America v. Dr. Ira T. Gore, Jr., 517 US 559. The case began when Dr. Gore discovered that his new BMW had been repainted, a fact that the company had not disclosed to him. He sued BMW, and an Alabama jury awarded Dr. Gore $4,000 in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages.
The documentary tells the story of this important Supreme Court case through the people involved: Dr. Gore, his attorneys, BMW's attorneys, BMW paint expert Daniel Doot, and Leonard Slick, the car detailer who uncovered the repainting.