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.