Victoria G. Chaney

The nurse-turned-lawyer oversees some of the most complex litigation in Los Angeles County, in class actions against Merck & Co, Dole Foods and Dow Chemical. This year, she issued a bellwether decision that reduces the risk American companies face overseas when she dismissed a $2.5 million punitive damages award to Nicaraguan farmworkers. The six plantation workers had sued produce giant Dole Foods, alleging that exposure to the pesticide DBCP in the mid-1970s on Nicaraguan banana farms left them sterile. Chaney ruled the award would violate the constitutional ban on extraterritorial punishment. Dole's attorneys estimate that similar claims valued at $35 billion are pending around the country. The case is on appeal.