West Virginia Code 4-11A-4 – Limitation on appeal bond
The bond that any appellant who is a signatory or a successor to a signatory of the master settlement agreement or who controls or is under common control with a signatory of the master settlement agreement may be required to post to stay execution on a judgment during an appeal in any cause of action shall be set in accordance with the provisions of section fourteen, article five, chapter fifty-eight of this code and the West Virginia rules of civil procedure: Provided, That an appeal bond may not exceed $100 million for compensatory damages and all other portions of a judgment other than punitive damages and $100 million for punitive damages unless the appellee proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the appellant or appellants are purposefully dissipating or diverting assets outside of the ordinary course of its business to the effect that the ability to pay the ultimate judgment is impaired. For purposes of this section, multiple judgments resulting from cases that have been consolidated or aggregated for purposes of trial proceedings shall be treated as a single judgment.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 4-11A-4
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Master settlement agreement: means the master settlement agreement as defined in section one of this article. See West Virginia Code 4-11A-7
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.