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The most
recent Tennessee judiciary annual report provided many interesting statistics
on personal injury cases in Tennessee. The most recent report covered the 2014 –
2015 fiscal year (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015). Incredibly, there were only 367 total personal
injury or death cases that proceeded to trial in the 2014 – 2015 fiscal
year. Of those cases, only 116 of them resulted
in damages. The total monetary award for
these 116 cases that resulted in damages was $46,901,449.00. This constitutes an average award of $404,323.00
per case where damages were awarded.
However, like in most years, these statistics are very deceiving. Specifically, this statistic was
significantly warped by one single award in Shelby County totaling $30,000,000.00. When this one award is removed, the total
damages awarded in personal injury or death trials in Tennessee for the 2014 –
2015 fiscal year totals $16,901,449.00.
This results in average award of $146,969.12.
Interestingly, out of the 116 cases where
damages were awarded, only 14 cases resulted in awards of $100,000.00 to
$1,000,000.00. There were only 7 cases
that were awarded over $1,000,000.00 in the State of Tennessee for 2014 – 2015. This is actually a large number of million
dollar verdicts when compared to recent prior years. The remaining 95 cases were all awarded damages
somewhere between $1 and $99,999.99. Obviously,
I am sure there are very significant cases that never go to trial and are
instead are settled due to apparent risks to both parties. However these statistics show how few large
jury verdicts there are in Tennessee each year.
Further, like I have discussed before, cases simply do not go to trial
like they used to do. This is
unfortunate because it inhibits the ability of young litigation attorneys to
gain valuable trial experience. Fewer
and fewer attorneys are obtaining real jury trial experience. This makes is even more important to make sure
you hire attorneys with real jury trail experience whether you are on the
defense or plaintiff side of the case.
Also, these numbers show, once again, how favorable things are for the
defense in Tennessee as Tennessee has become a more and more conservative state
from a legal and political perspective.
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