Showing Damages to the Jury - Why are they Awarding Money?
A standard defense tactic is to complain that the injured party is greedy. "A terrible accident happened and they got injured. Now what do they do?? Come here and ask for money. Money."
Ummm.... The last time I checked, that was the only relief available to us for our client (other than declaratory judgment actions). The defense works hard to de-personalize the damages and make it a monetary issue.
Our task is to show what the jury verdict is really going for, and the answer isn't money, it's to make the injured person whole. To return the injured person to as near a position as they were before the injury.
Even though that's the law, those words ring hollow to a juror. To make a person whole. They don't resonate. David Ball tells us that we should teach the jurors their verdict will fix, help and make up for. Fix what can be fixed, help what can be helped and make up for what can't be fixed or helped.
Our client has doctor's bills. In fact, quite a few doctor's bills. The jury can fix that situation and award the doctors bills.
Our client is going to need a lot of medical treatment in the future. The jury can help with that, by providing enough funds for those doctor bills.
Our client will be permanently disabled (or whatever injury they have), and with her herniated disks will be unable to go boating anymore. As we have shown, her life revolved around boating and the water. All of their activities and friends were around the water. She won't be able to go boating anymore and that's something the jury can't fix or help with, but they can make up for this situation, by awarding enough money for her to buy a cabin on the lake. While she won't be able to go boating anymore, she will be able to sit on the porch and see the water.
Our job is to personalize the damages and show the jury how our client was harmed and what good the verdict will do. The better we do at personalizing the damages, the higher the verdict will be.
One of the things that I do in my closing is to first explain the damages and ask the jury for a verdict which fairly compensates my client. Then I wait for the defense attorney to predictably tell the jury that my client is there looking for money. When I get back up, I walk over to the jury box and pick up the ambulance bill. I tell the jury that a few days after the accident, while my client was at home recuperating, his wife (or another family member) brought in the mail from the mailbox. As my client is there perusing the mail, he sees a letter from York County EMS. He recalls that they are the ones who initially treated him at the scene and transported him to the hospital from the accident which was caused by the defendant. He open the envelope and unfolds the paper inside. And what do you think that the EMS folks are seeking from my client as a result of his accident?...........MONEY! I repeat this with the ER bill and the subsequent bills. Then I explain to the jury that they must award my client the amount of these bills because he legally owes them and will be left holding the bag for the defendant's actions if the jury doesn't award this money. I go on to explain that this money is owed to and will be paid to the medical providers. I tell the jury that if they only award an amount equal to the medical bills (the defendant many times concedes that the Plaintiff should get the ER bill), then they have given my client NOTHING.
I re-explain the issues of non-economic damages and again ask the jury for a fair verdict (with a suggestion of what would be fair).
I have had a great deal of success with this approach.
