Tennessee Injury Law Center
The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released information about Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death cases filed in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012.
Here is the data;
- Total personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in court: – 1,382
- Total personal injury and wrongful death cases resolved in court – 1,455
- Total number of cases going to trial – 69
- Total number of jury trials – 47
- Total number of non-jury trials – 22
- Total number of cases in which damages were awarded 35 (50.7%)
- Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $1 and $99,999 – 26
- Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $100,000 and $999,999 – 6
- Total number of cases where damages awarded exceeded $1,000,000 – 3
- Total damages awarded in all cases – $9,031,623
- Average damages awarded – $258,046
There a couple things of note about these numbers. First, you are probably surprised that there are so few cases actually going to trial – only 69 in a year or less than 6 per month. This is not only true in Nashville but across the state – the number of jury trials (and the number of lawsuits filed) has continued to decline.
Second, the "average damages awarded" figure shows how statistics can be misleading. The average number used is the "mean" – that is, the dollar amount of all awards divided by the number of trials in which there were awards. Note that "0" verdicts are not included – if they were, the "average" would be 50% smaller.
Use of the "mean" also means that any number of small or large numbers can skew the result. Here, only 25% of all cases resulted in awards of over $100,000, but the "mean" is $258,046. This means that a few large verdicts pulled the number up higher than it would have otherwise been.
That being said, "average" jury verdicts tell you very little about what a jury or judge will do in your case. Every case is different and the value of that case depends on a host of factors. This is why you need an experienced Nashville personal injury attorney to help you with your case – an attorney who can look beyond averages or other data and prepare your case to help you receive a result you deserve.
Third, you were probably a little surprised at how few "million dollar" verdicts there were in the year ending June 30, 2012. Many people think $1,000,000 verdicts are common, and this data shows that they are not. In fact, there were only 17 $1,000,000+ awards in the entire State of Tennessee in the one year period covered by this report.
Do you need help with a Tennessee automobile accident or other Tennessee personal injury case? Call me toll free at 866-812-8787 for a free consultation, or fill out our Contact Form and we will call you.