Trial statistics overstate jury awards since appellate review cuts large verdicts

Evidence

Yet one should be cautious in drawing conclusions from these data. For one thing, they report only cases that went to trial, not the majority of tort cases settled or dropped prior to trial. In addition, the figures on jury awards may be inflated, because trial judges or appellate courts may subsequently reduce them. A study of verdicts in Cook County (Illinois) and San Francisco County, for example, found that reductions for jury awards of more than $1 million were close to 40 percent. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3512

Categorization

• XREF: Chains with the earlier chapters on appellate review remedies (ch. 19 trial de novo appeals, ch. 62 appealable errors) as mechanisms shaping final case outcomes. — connects to: Trial court fact-finding errors cannot be remedied on appeal — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 801; Large jury verdicts are routinely reduced or overturned on appeal — Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 2735

Broader Connections

• Large jury verdicts are routinely reduced or overturned on appeal #corroborates (0.92) — Jonathan Harr, A Civil Action, 2735