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Jury
Verdicts After September 11
September, 2002
There has been considerable speculation as to what effect,
if any, the tragic events of September 11 and their
aftermath have had on jury verdicts. Many have thought
this national tragedy might cause jurors to view minor
injury claims with even less concern than they did before
September 11. Others have thought that jurors would
respond by treating plaintiffs with more generosity.
Rather than speculating, we have reviewed jury verdicts in
all injury cases tried in the Tri-County (Portland,
Oregon) area, from before and after September 11 (as
contained in our database located at
www.lerlaw.com). The
results of this review are interesting (for example, there
was a June 2002 verdict for $829,813 in Clackamas County,
a usually conservative venue), although the reason for any
changes in verdict patterns are far from clear. There are
some trends, slightly different in each county, but it is
unclear if these trends are related to changed juror
feelings following September 11.
Multnomah County
Of the three counties in the Tri-County area, Multnomah
County sees the most cases tried, by far and away. This
has always been true. Multnomah County has also generally
been thought to be the most liberal of the three counties,
although conservative verdicts do show up in Multnomah
County in a significant percentage of the cases, just as
they do in the other counties.
One way of looking at possible effects of September 11
on verdicts is to examine the percentage of high and low
verdicts, and total verdicts returned, before and after
September 11. During calendar years 2000 and 2001, 129 and
118 cases were tried to verdict respectively. In the three
quarters following September 11, tried cases dropped to
82, from 88 exactly one year prior. During the first half
of 2002, 59 cases were tried (down from 82 and 66 in the
first halves of 2000 and 2001). Whether the modest drop in
cases tried in 2002 is related to September 11, reflecting
perhaps a desire for parties to get along in the face of
adversity beyond our borders, or is explained by other
factors, is difficult to know for sure. There does seem to
be a trend that began even before September 11, however,
of fewer cases being tried in Multnomah County.
Comparing high and low verdicts following September 11
shows a significant percentage of conservative verdicts,
both before and after, with a slight increase in high
verdicts (defined here as more than $50,000) in the fourth
quarter of 2001 and second quarter of 2002, but not in the
first quarter of 2002. In the first three quarters of
2001, low verdicts (defined here as $10,000 or less) had
been returned in 60%, 67.7% and 65.5% of the cases. Low
verdicts then dropped to 56.5% in the fourth quarter of
2001 and went back up to 67.7% in the first quarter of
2002, followed by another drop, to 46.4%, in the second
quarter of 2002. High verdicts in the same quarters
fluctuated considerably, although high verdicts have
always been more variable from month to month. There has
not been a definite increase in the percentage of high
verdicts after September 11 (at least in Multnomah
County—but read on), although Multnomah County continues
to experience the highest verdicts of the three counties.
The first half of 2002 has seen a $1 million slip and fall
verdict, a $1.4 million pedestrian/auto verdict, a $3.8
million forklift verdict, and a $100 million tobacco
verdict!
Washington County
Washington County has historically tried far fewer
cases to verdict than Multnomah County. For example, in
all of 2001, only 17 cases were tried to verdict in
Washington County. This was down from 21 in 2000. In the
first half of 2002, 10 cases have been tried to verdict, a
slight increase over 2001.
Conservative verdicts still tend to be the rule in
Washington County, but this is not always true. In the
fourth quarter of 2001, 100% (8 cases) were either
outright defense verdicts (zero dollars awarded) or for
$10,000 or less. 62.5% of the total were outright defense
verdicts. In the second quarter of 2002, outright defense
verdicts accounted for 55.5% of total verdicts.
Despite these conservative verdicts, Washington County
also sees occasional high verdicts. For example, in the
first quarter of 2002, only 1 case was tried to verdict,
with a verdict of $106,180 (plaintiff claimed economic
damages of $53,112.25). In the second quarter of 2002,
nine cases were tried to verdict. As noted, five of these
(55.5%) resulted in full defense verdicts. Three of the
other four were for less than $10,000; the fourth was for
$22,910 (plaintiff claimed economic damages of $12,910).
Washington County verdicts since the first quarter of
2001 have been, with the exception of the $106,180 verdict
in the first quarter of 2002 and a $55,063 verdict in the
first quarter of 2001, quite conservative, relative to
Multnomah County. Clackamas County has historically been
conservative as well, but that may be changing.
Clackamas County
Clackamas County has traditionally tried the fewest
cases to verdict of any of the three counties, at least in
recent years, owing probably to its strong settlement
conference program. In 2001, there were only 3 injury
cases tried to verdict. In the first half of 2002, there
were 8 cases tried.
In 2001, the 3 verdicts were for $30,000, $40,000 and
$48,300, all auto cases. Economic damages claimed in these
cases were, respectively, $6,492.11, $7,183.01, and
$33,522.23. The $40,000 verdict involved a closed head
injury claim, including amnesia and loss of the sense of
smell. The $48,300 verdict (plaintiff claimed economic
damages of $33,522.23), involved chipped teeth, tinnitus,
and injuries to thoracic and lumbar discs. This case was
tried one week after September 11. It was the only case
tried in the last half of 2001.
In 2002, Clackamas County has seen some changes. As noted,
the number of verdicts is on the rise. In the first
quarter, there was only 1 verdict, for $15,000 (plaintiff
claimed economic damages of $955,701.65). In the second
quarter of 2002, however, there were 7 more verdicts, more
than twice the number of verdicts in all of 2001. Two were
outright defense verdicts and two were less than $10,000.
One was for $20,000. The remaining two were for more than
$50,000. One was for $64,500 (plaintiff claimed economic
damages of $26,000). The last, and latest, Clackamas
County verdict was for $829,813 (plaintiff claimed
economic damages of $78,000). Of note, the plaintiff
attorney in that case was the same one who had the $15,000
verdict in the first quarter.
It is impossible to know whether the tragic events of
September 11 have had anything to do with either the
increase in the number of Clackamas County cases being
tried in 2002 or the two relatively large second quarter
verdicts. It should be kept in mind that a case tried in
Clackamas County just one week after September 11 resulted
in a verdict for noneconomic damages of only about
$15,000, in a case where the claimed economic damages were
$33,522.23.
Summary
Has September 11 produced any permanent changes in our
local jury verdicts? The jury is still out on that
question. What is clear, however, is that so far there
seems to have been no sea-change, one way or the other.
While there have been fewer cases tried in Multnomah
County in 2002, that may be part of a trend which
pre-dates September 11. In contrast, the number of cases
being tried is on the rise in at least Clackamas County,
and to a lesser extent in Washington County. Although
there have been a few unusually high verdicts throughout
the Tri-County area since September 11, conservative
verdicts still prevail much of the time. There was a
particularly high, and unusual for the venue, verdict in
Clackamas County, but not until late June 2002, following
nine months of basically conservative verdicts.
One lesson to be learned from this analysis is that
high verdicts are not limited to Multnomah County. Also,
conservative verdicts, in all three counties, are still
being returned in a high percentage of cases tried. If you
have any questions, please feel free to contact the
author, Jay Enloe, by phone at (503) 768-9600, or by email
at jay@lerlaw.com.
©
1999 - 2004 Lachenmeier Enloe Rall & Heinson
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