September Miss. Jury Verdict Reporter Breaks Down 10 Verdicts
The September edition of the Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter hit news stands this week and once again does an excellent job of reporting on Mississippi verdicts.
The verdicts reported in the issue include:
- the October 2010 $103 million legal malpractice verdict against Baker & McKenzie discussed in these posts;
- the $578,000 employment discrimination case discussed in this post;
- an August defense verdict in a federal court case involving a train-truck collision; (winning lawyer: George Ritter of Wise Carter)
- a July Hinds County verdict of $500,000 in a FELA case; (losing lawyer: George Ritter of Wise Carter)
- a May $175,000 verdict in a Jones County electrical negligence case;
- a July defense verdict in a Jackson County medical malpractice case;
- an August defense verdict in a Northern District Federal Court race discrimination case;
- a June $180,000 Hancock County verdict for negligence related to a mobile home;
- a plaintiff verdict awarding $0 in damages in a Harrison County negligence case; and
- a $13,680 verdict in a Monroe County eminent domain case.
My Take:
Aside from the anomaly of the Baker McKenzie verdict, it was another mediocre verdict report for plaintiffs.
How can you have a plaintiff verdict with no damages? If there are no damages, shouldn't it be a defense verdict? I don't get that one.
What a Summer for George Ritter of Wise Carter in Jackson. Let that be a lesson for all trial lawyers. You win some. You lose some.
Ritter has never been afraid to tee one up, which is a characteristic of all good trial lawyers.
The Harrison County case Plaintiffs' verdict of $0 was a bad case. First the case was OLD 2003 I think. Second it was against a church. Third, church van backed into a pole in parking lot (1-2 mph), minor collision very little if any damage. Hugh dispute whether any injuries at all. Fourth, liability i. e. backing in pole was admitted negligence so tried on damages only, if any. Jury simply found NO DAMAGES. Bobby Atkinson defended. Good lawyer!
I had a case in federal court in Hattiesburg in which Judge Pickering directed the jury to find our client/defendant negligent in an auto accident, (a peremptory instruction)but the jury found that none of the plaintiff's claimed injuries were causally related to the wreck. You can get a zero verdict that way.
Anyone have any information about the Hancock County verdict for $180k re: mobile home??