Exploring Treble Damages: RICO Implications from Medical Marijuana Inc. v. Horn on Personal Injury

This session explores the foundational rationale behind treble damages, including deterrence, punitive incentives, and the ‘private attorney general’ concept. Participants will examine key statutory regimes—RICO, Clayton Act, and state analogues—while learning how treble damages interact with standard tort remedies and the distinctions between compensatory and punitive components.

This session analyzes the civil RICO provision under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) and its ‘business or property’ injury requirement. Participants will examine the pre-Horn circuit split, with some circuits rejecting and others allowing recovery for economic losses flowing from personal injuries, and critique the ‘antecedent personal injury bar’ doctrine.

This session details the Horn case background: a truck driver’s use of CBD products marketed as THC-free, his subsequent positive drug test, and resulting job loss. Participants will trace the procedural history from district court through the Second Circuit reversal and examine the specific question presented to the Supreme Court.

This session dissects Justice Barrett’s majority opinion rejecting the categorical antecedent-injury bar and its textual analysis of ‘injured in business or property.’ Participants will examine what the Court left unresolved, Justice Jackson’s concurrence, and the dissents from Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh warning of federalized tort expansion.

A brief intermission allowing participants to refresh before diving into the practical implications and strategic applications of the Horn decision. Use this time to review notes and prepare questions for the remaining sessions.

This session explores how Horn expands RICO’s reach into personal injury litigation, including scenarios involving misrepresentation, defective products, and toxic torts. Participants will identify which harms remain outside RICO’s scope and learn how to navigate interactions with parallel tort claims while avoiding double recovery.

This session provides plaintiffs’ attorneys with practical guidance on when to plead RICO claims alongside traditional torts and how to structure arguments for maximum causal linkage. Participants will learn strategies for selecting predicates, proving pattern requirements, conducting enterprise-focused discovery, and leveraging treble exposure in settlement negotiations.

This session equips defense counsel with tools to attack proximate cause, challenge ‘business or property’ characterizations, and pursue early dismissal through Rule 12 or summary judgment motions. Participants will explore strategies for limiting damages exposure through bifurcation and addressing insurance and indemnity allocation issues.

This interactive session presents three borderline fact patterns—supplement injuries, prescription drug misprescription, and industrial accidents with misleading disclosures—for group analysis. Participants will debate which hypotheticals should support treble claims under Horn and practice drafting and defending such claims.