Day on Torts
Information is now available on the number of tort trials and jury verdicts in Knox County, Tennessee for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.
There were 2164 tort cases closed in Knox County (not including health care liability act cases) and 40 tort trials. Here is how that compares with prior years:
The number of trials – 40 – tells only part of the story, however. Some 29 of those trials were jury trials – the other 11 were tried to the court. The plaintiff made a financial recovery in 9 of those cases that were tried to a judge or jury. Note: the fact that the plaintiff recovered in about 25% of the cases does not mean the plaintiff “won” about 25% of the cases. Why? Because we do not know whether the plaintiff’s recovery exceeded the pretrial offer. We can say that in Knox County last year defendants received a defense judgment in about 75% of the cases that were tried. Here is the data in a graph:
What monies were recovered by the plaintiff in the 35 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:
You can see that of the 9 times a plaintiff was awarded money damages in Knox County in fiscal 2021-22 the award was less than $99,999 six times. Only three times was the award more than $100,000, and not a single judgment hit $1,000,000.
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.