Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter Publishes January 2012 and 2011 Year in Review Editions
The Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter recently published its January 2012 edition and a sperate publication: the 2011 Year in Review. The Year in Review is an unbelievable resource. It is 185 pages long and includes details on all 220 verdicts reported in 2011. It also sorts the verdicts based on attorney, type of case, judge, county and region of the state. Here is a link to a MJVR sample from the edition. It is a fabulous resource and is something that all litigators will want to own.
The January 2012 edition continues the trend of plaintiffs having difficulty in simple negligence cases. The Reporter covered three six figure plaintiff wins. But all three involved an element of intentional conduct. One was a police brutality case that I covered in this post. Another was an assault case involving a fight outside a bar in Oxford. The third involved a negligence claim by a roofer against a homeowner who knocked the roofer off the house by hitting him with a thrown shingle.
Three car wreck cases resulted in a zero verdict and two small plaintiff verdicts that sound like defense wins. An example is the Harrison County verdict of $32,500 where the plaintiff had $40,000 in medical bills.
There was a defense verdict in a Lauderdale County medical malpractice verdict and the insurance company win in the Jackson federal court dec.-action case that I covered in this post.
It looks like when economic times are tough, most Mississippi juries take it out on plaintiffs in negligence cases. This is consistent with what my focus groups tell me, although I do not see an obvious correlation.
"It looks like when economic times are tough, most Mississippi juries take it out on plaintiffs in negligence cases."
Brad DeLong's theory of the Tea Party types is that they're driven by resentment. For ex, they see public-sector unions protecting their workers in the recession, their thought isn't "hey, I need to join a union too"; it's "we need to break those unions."
Depending on the jury, the same attitude might have an influence: I'm not getting mine, why should he get his?
... Of course, it's also possible that each jury is deciding each case on its unique merits, a possibility I do not disparage.
Or it could be that Mississippi juries tend to be conservative, and less likely to either find for the Plaintiff or award them substantial amounts. Just a thought.
Or it could be that Mississippi juries tend to be conservative, and less likely to either find for the Plaintiff or award them substantial amounts.
With some notable exceptions, like the 3 appeals PT described earlier on this blog.