Lawsuit Information CenterA 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.
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Georgia’s Cap in Medical Malpractice Cases
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
Average Personal Injury Verdict in Florida: Settlements and Jury Awards in Florida
The average personal injury verdict in Florida is $1,819,751, according to Jury Verdict Research, a company that tracks jury verdicts. In Florida personal injury cases, plaintiffs win approximately 61 percent of cases that go to trial.
Florida’s threshold requiring a more serious injury in motor tort cases is one reason why the average jury verdict in Florida much higher than the national average. These Florida jury statistic verdicts also underscore that large cases inflate average jury verdicts and settlements. The median—as opposed to the average—money damages in Florida personal injury trials in Florida is $122,674.
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Florida Back Injury Settlements in Florida | Accident and Comp
Very dated but still interesting data on Florida workers’ compensation cases: the average back injury settlement was $ 38,000 with medical care continuing (called “keeping your case open”). The average workers’ compensation back injury settlement is $ 9,800 with no continuing opportunity for further medical care.
- Average Back Injury Settlements (what can you expect as compensation for a back injury from a car accident)
- Average Value of Florida Personal Injury Cases (statistics on Florida jury verdicts)
State Farm: Another Multiple of the Offer Verdict
Interesting car accident case reported in South Carolina Lawyers Weekly. Plaintiff was a passenger in a car driven by his grandmother, and a hit-and-run driver T-boned them at an intersection. It was a small accident case: medical bills totaling $3,230 and lost wages totaling $4,352.
State Farm, standing by its insured as always because, you know, you are in good hands, offered $6,500. Typical. At trial, State Farm’s lawyer argued during opening statements that the jury could determine whether what the Plaintiff had already been paid was sufficient. Plaintiff’s accident lawyer objected, and the trial judge sustained the objection and later instructed the jury to disregard the setoff argument in its deliberations because any setoff would be handled by the judge.
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Pennsylvania Informed Consent Law: New High Court Ruling
Pennsylvania’s highest court last week in Fitzpatrick v. Natter that circumstantial evidence provided by a plaintiff’s spouse in a medical malpractice lawsuit is sufficient to get past summary judgment in an informed consent malpractice claim. The court found that a Pennsylvania Superior Courty had erred in concluding that Pennsylvania’s informed consent law required the Plaintiff to testify herself about information that was not provided by her doctor.
Breast Cancer Statute of Limitations Case in Iowa
The Iowa Supreme Court reversed a Scott County District Court summary judgment ruling in an important discovery rule medical malpractice ruling. This case,Rock v. Warhank, is a failure to diagnose breast cancer case, rejecting malpractice defense lawyer claims that Plaintiff should have known of her injury, for purposes of the statute of limitations, just because a doctor made her aware that her breast was not normal.
- Sample Iowa malpractice settlements and malpractice law
- Breast cancer malpractice stories and case outcomes
Phantom Vehicle Uninsured Motorist Claims in Maryland
Mr. Miller:
Hi, I am a Maryland attorney and would like to get little mentoring on any differences between an unidentified motorist claim and an uninsured motorist claim. Please call or send me an email and I promise I’ll be brief. Thanks so much for any help!
Dear Maryland Attorney:
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Paramedics to Proceed, Court Rules
What is the capital of France?
Paris is the capital of France.
How many continents are there?
Medical Malpractice Informed Consent Lawsuit in Kentucky: Are Punitive Damages Warranted?
Medical malpractice lawyers filed an informed consent lawsuit last week accusing a doctor of amputating a man’s penis without his consent. In the lawsuit, a Kentucky man alleges that the doctor was only authorized to perform a circumcision. What happened—right or wrong – was the doctor did what he thought he should, to save the patient’s life when he found cancer during the operation.
I won’t prejudge this lawsuit without hearing the evidence. I can certainly imagine a scenario where a doctor finds cancer during a routine operation and does what the doctor believes he must do to save the patient. The Plaintiff affirmed the doctor’s prerogative in this regard by signing a consent form acknowledging that unforeseen conditions discovered during the circumcision “may necessitate additional or different procedures.” But I would reserve judgment on the merits of the case because it really depends on whether reasonable minds could differ as to what was the appropriate course.
But I find disturbing that the lawsuit seeks punitive damages. Unless facts in the case exist that were not included in the Courier-Journal article I read, there is no malice or even recklessness in a doctor – right or wrong – deciding to save a patient’s life.