Is there information a Tennessee jury is not told about during trial?
In all cases tried before a jury there are certain things that the jury cannot be told. Some of these things differ based on the type of case being tried, and some apply to most cases. In personal injury cases such as auto and truck accidents, medical malpractice, and premises liability, there are several basic categories of information that is excluded from the jury:
The Defendant Has Insurance Coverage – If a personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuit comes to trial, there is almost always insurance coverage available to the defendant, otherwise the plaintiff would not waste his or her time and money pursuing the case. However, as a general rule, a jury in a civil action will not be told whether or not a defendant has liability insurance coverage that may be available to pay any, or part, of a potential judgment against the defendant.
Prior Conduct of the Defendant – A jury is usually not told if the defendant has acted negligently in the past. For instance, even if a doctor has committed malpractice many times in the past, the jury will not be provided this important information.
Subsequent Remedial Measures – A jury cannot generally be told whether a defendant took certain measures after an injury causing event that, if taken before the accident, would have made the accident less likely to occur. For example, if a person slips and falls on a dangerous staircase, the jury will generally not be told that the landlord repaired the stairs after the fall.
Settlement Offers and Negotiations – The parties are not permitted to tell the jury information about any settlement offers made by the defendant or settlement negotiations that took place between the parties prior to trial. The defendant may have offered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars before trial. However, the jury will not be told about this and the defendant will be allowed to argue that the plaintiff should not receive any money at trial.
Where the Money Goes – If the jury provides a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, the plaintiff will first have to pay attorney’s fees and expenses. In personal injury and wrongful death trials, the attorney will have worked hundreds, if not thousands of hours, with no guarantee of ever being paid. The attorney has also risked money by advancing expenses, with no guarentee of repayment. Based on the risk taken by the attorney, the attorney’s fee can range from 1/3 to 40% of the recovery in most cases. The injured party will often times have to pay back health insurance liens and medical bills as well. Therefore, if a jury provides a verdict for only the plaintiff’s medical bills, the verdict will not cover the plaintiff’s bills.
These are just a few of the specific things that the parties in a lawsuit are not generally allowed to tell a jury during trial. As with most areas of the law, these general rules have certain exceptions which depend largely on the specific facts of the case being tried. As Memphis Tennessee personal injury attorneys, we are here to answer any questions you may have about the civil justice system.