Civil Lawsuit Jury Verdicts in Lancaster County

Judge Brown commissioned a study of jury verdicts in Lancaster County. His study focused on civil court cases over the last 10 years (2010-2019). To us, it’s interesting. Additionally, there is some useful information here we want to share.

Downward Trend

Over the past 10 years, there is a downward trend in verdicts that favor the plaintiff. This means Lancaster juries aren’t siding with the injured person as much as they used to.

Upward Trend

Although juries side with plaintiffs less than they did 10 years ago, there is an upward trend. When Lancaster County juries side with the plaintiff, verdicts award more money to the injured. But, million-dollar jury verdicts are still rare here.

Verdicts For Injured Plaintiffs

People may believe injury lawsuits are common. But, the data shows the truth. In Lancaster County, injury lawsuits are rare. The study didn’t reveal exactly how many cases there were. In the last 10 years, only 49 cases sided with the plaintiff. That’s an average of 5 successful court cases each year.

Million Dollar Verdicts

Of the 49 successful injury lawsuits, only seven awarded $1 million or more to the injured party. Here’s a breakdown of verdicts over the years.

Lancaster County Injury Verdicts

In 2010, the lowest injury verdict was $1. That’s right, someone went to court and received $1 verdict from a local jury. The high verdict in 2010 was $2,700,000.

In 2017, the lowest verdict was $175,000. The highest verdict was one of our cases. A $240,000 jury verdict for a man injured by a drunk dump truck driver.

High Verdicts Are Rare

In Lancaster County, a high jury verdict is still rare. Surrounding counties offer similar verdict results. That doesn’t mean high verdicts are impossible. We had a $3.78 million jury verdict in Dauphin County for a foot injury.

Juries understand more about the costs of medical treatment. Additionally, when juries are well informed, they can return better verdicts. In truth, a lot depends on the severity of the injuries.

Medical Malpractice Cases In Lancaster

Four out of the five most recent verdicts above $1 million were medical malpractice cases. Only one car accident case resulted in more than a million dollars for the injured person.

Injury Settlements In Lancaster County

This report does not cover injury settlements in Lancaster County. A “settlement” happens before a case goes to court. Cases that settled outside of the courtroom were not included. Our firm has handled multiple million-dollar settlements in the past 10 years. But, they never had to go in front of a jury.

Lancaster Injury Lawyers

Because injury lawsuits are rare, it’s rare to find a lawyer in Lancaster County that practices only injury law. Many local lawyers aren’t successful at working strictly within injury law. But, the team at Haggerty & Silverman works exclusively with injured people. Why? Because we’re the best injury law firm in Lancaster County!