Personal Injury Law

Average Premises Liability Verdicts

The average premises liability verdict is $643,099, according to Jury Verdict Research's review of premises lawsuits around the country. The median verdict in premises liability cases is $98,160. Premises liability claims against recreational facilities were higher. The average verdict is $1,007,704 and the median verdict is $125,000. JVR defines these cases, as any premises liability lawyer would suspect, as a lawsuit which is brought against an individual, business, or organization responsible for the maintenance and safety of a property or structure.

When possible, I try to include average and median data. Average verdict data includes large often uncollectable verdicts that tend to distort the reality. While both the silly case that never should have been filed and the $58,000,000 verdict don't really apply to the valuation of your case, the former distorts the result more than the latter. Then again, all verdict data undifferentiated by specifics of the case ultimately should be filed away under "very interesting but ultimately useless."

It is also worth noting that this is a study of successful premise liability verdicts where the plaintiff prevails. Factoring in the losses, the average award is much lower. Most premise liability lawyers who handle premises cases regularly handle only serious injury or death cases. Clearly, the bar in terms of the severity of injury required for a good lawyer to accept the case is higher in premises liability cases than in auto accident cases where, generally speaking, the path to proving liability is more clear and certain.

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on October 27, 2010 (boomark / email).