Day on Torts
Information is now available on the number of personal injury and wrongful death trials and jury verdicts in Montgomery County, Tennessee (county seat: Clarksville) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.
There were 315 personal injury and wrongful death cases closed in Montgomery County (not including health care liability act cases) and 2 tort trials (which was materially down from prior years). This graph illustrates the relevant data:
Note that historically about 3% of all closed cases in Montgomery County are tried to judgment, a number which is generally consistent with past years. When your client asks you “what are the odds my Madison County case will go to trial” you can say that, on average 97% of filed cases are resolved (through voluntary dismissal, dismissal on motion, or settlement) before a jury verdict or judgment is announced.
Of the two personal injury and wrongful death trials in the fiscal year, one was a jury trial and other one was a nonjury trial. The plaintiff made a financial recovery in 1 of the 2 of the trials.
The graph reveals that there has not been a verdict or judgment for the plaintiff in excess of $99.999 in a personal injury or wrongful death trial in Montgomery County for at least six years. There were seventeen trials between 2019-2021 and the plaintiff lost every one, as did every plaintiff in the twenty-five trials between 2016-2018 (fiscal years).
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.