States

February 24, 2011

Average Jury Verdict in Florida

Florida Personal Injury Settlement Statistics

According to a not-so-recently published Jury Verdict Research study, the average verdict in a personal injury lawsuit in Florida is $1,732,150. Huge and almost invariably uncollectable verdicts, because of caps on a defendant’s ability to pay, and overturned verdicts inflate the average to a number that is really no longer meaningful. The better measure, the median verdict, was $149,411.

The breakdown of the injuries relative to the verdicts in the study was interesting:

February 21, 2011

Tennessee Verdicts

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

tennessee verdicts As reported in the Tennessean today, Tennessee juries last year awarded a grand total of $92 million, according to the 2009-10 Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary. The average jury verdict was $400,359 last year.

Apparently, this is in civil jury cases altogether. It would have been helpful to breakup Tennessee personal injury cases so we don’t lump injury cases in with contract disputes. Jury Verdict Research would suggest that the median personal injury verdict in Tennessee is under $18,000. The median is a lot less sexy number but it is far more telling of the actual picture.

Get examples of jury verdicts in Tennessee from 2010-2014

February 14, 2011

Certificate of Merit Requirements in Malpractice Cases

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals decided an interesting medical malpractice case addressing the bar plaintiffs’ malpractice lawyers must clear when presenting a certificate of merit that will survive summary judgment.

September 9, 2010

Average New York Car Accident Verdicts

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A recent Jury Verdict Research (JVR) study found that the average verdict in a New York motor vehicle accident case is $837,020. The median verdict is $150,000. This data does not include defense verdicts which, if considered in the data, would obviously reduce the average award.

To be sure, $837,020 is a lot of money for the average car accident case. But you have to keep in mind that in New York because of the threshold level of injury requirement, juries are more likely to hear a serious injury case than a jury would in, say, for example, Maryland.

Rear-end accidents accounted for 21% of the successful verdicts in the study. Pedestrian lawsuits were 17% of the verdicts and intersection accidents made up 15%.

August 11, 2010

Average Jury Verdict in Pennsylvania

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The average verdict in a Pennsylvania personal injury lawsuit where the jury awards damages is $749,973, according to a recent Jury Verdict Research study. The median jury verdict Pennsylvania paints a little different picture: $36,400.

July 18, 2010

Pennsylvania Malpractice Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

James A. Goodyear, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, says that because Pennsylvania doctors win a defense verdict in 85 percent of malpractice lawsuits that go to trial, it may be that “too many claims are advancing that shouldn’t.”

Alternative view: good malpractice lawsuits settle before trial.

July 15, 2010

Average Jury Verdict in Tennessee

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

According to Jury Verdict Research, the average personal injury jury verdict in Tennessee is $273,821. Using the median verdict, which deflates the impact of large verdicts, the number falls to $17,536.

John Day provides some additional data about Tennessee car accident verdicts. The Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter, he reports, looked at 130 car accident lawsuits that went to trial in Tennessee. The average plaintiff’s verdict was $60,552 in the 93 (71%) lawsuits in which the plaintiff prevailed. Factoring in the losses, the average verdict was $43,318.

Average verdict statistics are interesting but, in the end, the axiom that every case is different really does ring true. Average statistics are just that, averages. If you want more information on the value of your case, call 800-553-8082 or get a free online case evaluation.

July 6, 2010

Lawsuit Against Phillies’ Mascot

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Philadelphia Phillies mascot is the defendant in a lawsuit stemming from a fan’s injuries at a minor league baseball game. Plaintiff’s lawsuit alleges that the “Phillie Phanatic” climbed on top of her during a game in 2008 which causing Plaintiff arthritis to get worse which, Plaintiff believes, caused her to need a knee replacement.

Exacerbation of prior arthritis claims are incredibly tough because it so hard for the doctors to really state strong opinions as to whether a trauma accident caused her injuries to worsen. I also imagine there are liability problems. In these kinds of cases, I always fear the lawsuit is filed in part because it is a case against the Philly Phanatic and that sounds a little interesting, so let’s bring a case we otherwise would not. Again, I have no facts to support this, but it makes you wonder when you hear cases with these kinds of facts.

Lawsuits Against the Philadelphia Phillies

December 1, 2009

Pennsylvania Personal Injury Verdicts

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A recent Jury Verdict Research study found that the median (midpoint of data, not average) jury award for personal injury trials in Pennsylvania is $40,974. Personal injury plaintiffs in Pennsylvania receive damages in 48% of tort cases that go to trial.

October 7, 2009

Georgia’s Cap in Medical Malpractice Cases

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Maryland and Georgia both have rulings on tap from their high courts on caps on economic damages. Georgia got the ball rolling yesterday when the Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on whether its cap on damages for medical malpractice claims is constitutional. A Georgia medical malpractice lawyer argued for the Plaintiff that the tort reform law in 2005 is unconstitutional because it grants unfair preferences and exemptions to hospital emergency departments.

Plaintiffs have a real shot in this case. The Georgia high court has previously stuck down laws that gave special exemptions to asbestos manufacturers facing property claims. Stay tuned…. (UPDATE: NOPE.)

Georgia Malpractice Cap