Introduction
What is it worth ? Where to find jury verdicts in tort
law:
The purpose of this guide is to provide access points to information
regarding jury verdicts in tort law. It is often difficult, however, to find
information about jury verdicts. For the tort law practitioner evaluating damage
claims can be helpful information. The commonly called 'jury verdict' which is
the dollar amount awarded plaintiffs in civil suits can be a valuable guide to
negotiating settlements or evaluating a damage claim. The verdicts themselves,
at the trial court level, are not formally reported; reported appellate court
opinions infrequently touch on the adequacy of propriety of verdict amounts.
Listed below are a number of publications which collect information on
verdicts. Some are newsletters, others sections of treatises devoted to
substantive or procedural law. A few describe verdicts recently awarded in trial
courts; most note verdicts considered in reported appellate court opinions.
These publications are generally arranged by type of action (such as 'wrongful
death'), by area of body injured (such as 'neck') or by instrumentality causing
the injury (such as 'lawn mower'). Some of the more useful published sources on
jury verdicts as well as jury information are available on WESTLAW and LEXIS.
Remember also that many other substantive law treatises touch on verdict issues.
For law review articles discussing jury verdicts, check
the Index
to Legal Periodicals & Books or LegalTrac under
'Damages' or 'Verdicts'; use the key word headings to search the library's
online catalog.
Finding Jury Verdict Settlement Information
Most useful is the JVR Personal Injury Valuation Handbooks
(available on Westlaw - database identifer LRP-JV) published by Jury Verdict
Research, Inc. which summarizes and analyzes verdict trends by type of injury.
The Products Liability Reporter (Looseleaf Service KF1296.A6C65)
summarizes cases by verdict, product and injury. See also, What's it
worth? (KF1256 .A53 W5).
For titles specific to Minnesota verdicts, see Minnesota Case
Reports (KFM5447.A2), a monthly newsletter from the Minnesota Trial Lawyers
Association. It reports verdicts in Minnesota medical negligence, products
liability, wrongful death, and other tort cases and includes an annual
index. See also Minnesota Damages Awards for the years 1993-1998
(KFM5939.P4.M6).
Books
Books, published since 1990, including actual jury verdicts:
Daniels, Stephen & Joanne Martin, Civil Juries and the Politics of Reform
(1995). Law Library KF1450.D36 1995.
DeFrances, Carol J.
Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties: Civil Justice Survey of State
Courts, 1992 (1995). Wilson Library J29.13: C49/3. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS74986
Dollar Verdicts: Personal Injury. Law Library Reserve
KF1257.Z95 D651x.
Moller, Erik. Explaining Variation in Personal
Injury Jury Awards (1997). Wilson Library Quarto KF1250.Z9 .M72 1997.
Moller, Erik. Trends in Civil Jury Verdicts since 1985
(1996). Law Library KF1251.M65 1996.
Vidmar, Neil. Medical
Malpractice and the American Jury: Confronting the Myths about Jury
Incompetence, Deep Pockets, and Outrageous Damage Awards (1995). Law
Library KF2905.3.V53 1995.
Books evaluating factors to consider when requesting compensation
from a jury:
Abraham, Kenneth S. The Liability Century: Insurance and Tort Law from
the Progressive Era to 9/11 (2008). Law Library KF1250.A714 2008.
Alexander, Janet Cooper. Do the Merits Matter?: A Study of
Settlements in Securities Class Actions (1991). Law Library KF9084.A93x
1991.
Ball, David. David Ball on Damages: the Essential Update: A
Plaintiff’s Attorney’s Guide to Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases
(2005). Law Library KF1250.B355 2005.
Easton, Stephen
D. How to Win Jury Trials: Building Credibility with Judges and Jurors
(1998). Law Library KF8915.E27 1998.
Greene, Edie.
Determining Damages: the Psychology of Jury Awards (2003). Law Library
KF8972.Z9 G74 2003.
A Handbook of Jury Research (Walter F. Abbott
& John Batts, eds., 1999). Law Library KF8972.H263 1999.
Jonakait, Randolph N. The American Jury System (2003).
Law Library KF8972.J66 2003.
Minnesota Continuing Legal
Education. Case Evaluation, Settlement Methods, Documentation and Other Aids to
Resolution (1990). Law Library KF209.M54x 1990 no.755.
Minnesota Continuing Legal Education. The Jury Gap: What the Jury
Thinks vs. What You Think They Think (2004). Law Library KF209.M54x 2004
no.93.
Minnesota Continuing Legal Education. Personal Injury
Damages (1999). Law Library KF209.M54x 2001 no.104.
Minnesota Institute of Legal Education. Complex Settlements
(1992). Law Library KF209.M55 1992 no.36.
Minnesota
Institute of Legal Education. Million Dollar Verdicts (1992). Law Library
KF209.M55 1992 no.50.
Sunstein, Cass, et al. Punitive
Damages: How Juries Decide (2002). Law Library KF1249.P86 2002.
LexisNexis & Westlaw
LexisNexis
For a list of the available databases, choose
Legal > Area of Law – By Topic > Litigation Practice and Procedure
> Jury Verdicts.
Westlaw
There are numerous Westlaw databases on jury
verdicts. To see a list select Directory > Litigation
> Jury Verdicts, Settlements & Judgments.
Web Resources
Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties, 2001, U.S. Bureau of
Justice Statistics, accessed May 2, 2008. http://purl.access.gpo.gov.GPO/LPS53443
Juries & Verdicts, RAND Institute for Civil Justice, accessed
May 2, 2008. http://www.rand.org/icj/pubs/juries.html
Jury Verdict Review & Analysis, accessed May 2, 2008. http://www.jvra.com
Jury verdict
summaries from the National Association of State Jury Verdict Publishers,
accessed May 2, 2008. http://www.juryverdicts.com
Jury Verdicts & Jury Instructions, Georgetown Law Library
pathfinder, accessed May 2, 2008. http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/guides/jury.cfm
Jury Verdict Review & Analysis, accessed May 2, 2008. http://www.jvra.com
Jury Verdicts,
Settlements, Judgments, and Liens, University of Washington School of Law
pathfinder, June 29, 2007, accessed May 2, 2008. http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/verdicts.html
National Law Journal Verdict search, accessed May 2, 2008.
http://www.verdictsearch.com/index.jsp
Personal
Injury Verdict Reviews, published by LRP Publications. Available
electronically through MnCAT
via LexisNexis Academic.
Punitive Damage Awards in
Large Counties, 2001, U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, accessed May 2,
2008. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS77571
Putting A Price on It: Researching Jury Verdicts and Settlements,
June 16, 2000 LLRX column, accessed May 2, 2008. http://www.llrx.com/columns/reference18.htm
Researching Jury Verdicts, New England School of Law pathfinder,
May 2000, accessed May, 2008. http://www.nesl.edu/research/RSGUIDES/jury.htm
Trials Digest is the comprehensive source for California civil
trial results, providing information on jury verdicts, bench trials, expert
witnesses, injuy valuations, judges, and any other research need, accessed May
2, 2008. http://www.west.thomason.com/trialsdigest/
Verdicts & Settlements, Zimmerman’s Research Guide, accessed
May 2, 2008. http://www.lexisnexis.com/infopro/zimmerman/disp.aspx?z=2093
Links verified 5/13/2008
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