Day on Torts
Information is now available on the number of tort trials and jury verdicts in Sumner County, Tennessee (county seat: Gallatin) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.
There were 236 personal injury and wrongful death cases closed in Sumner County (not including health care liability act cases) and 5 trials. Here is how that compares with prior years:
Of the five cases that were tried, two were jury trials and three were nonjury trials. . The plaintiff made a financial recovery in two of the five trials cases. Note: the fact that the plaintiff recovered in about 60% of the cases does not mean the plaintiff “won” about 40% of the cases. Why? Because we do not know whether the plaintiff’s recovery exceeded the pretrial offer. We can say that in Shelby County last year defendants received a defense judgment in about 60% of the cases that were tried. Here is the data in a graph:
What monies were recovered by the plaintiff in the 2 cases where a recovery occurred? We have the answer only in three broad bands of recoveries — less than $100K, $100K – $999K and $1,000,000 and over. Here are the numbers:
So, as experienced court watchers would expect, one of the cases resulted in a plaintiff’s award of less than $100,000 and the other an award of somewhere between $475,000 and $575,000. Note that in the last six years there have only two awards of $100,000 or more and not a single $1,000,000 judgment.
You can find information about trials and verdicts in tort cases for every county in Tennessee by visiting the Free Resources at www.birddoglaw.com. Click on this link to find a list of every county in the state, click on the relevant county, and go to “Case Statistics.” (Note: we are still inputting the 2021-22 data so some counties will have data only through June 30, 2021. All information will be complete before May 1.