Legal Memorandum: Verdicts and Settlements for Brain Damage

Issue: What are recent jury verdicts and settlements for brain damage resulting in coma in children between seven and ten years of age?

An online search through jury verdict and settlement files in several databases and review of published materials for cases involving children age seven to ten who suffered brain damage resulting in a permanent or semi-permanent comatose condition yielded fourteen verdicts and settlements reports.  Four of the reports showed defense verdicts.  The ten settlements and plaintiffs’ verdicts ranged from $25,000 to $44,679,350, with an average of $9,113,924.  Dropping the highest verdict and lowest figure, a settlement, the average becomes $5,804,362.  The research revealed only two cases in which the plaintiff in the same age group suffered similar injuries as a result of a near drowning.  The reports of Hemmingway v. United States and Sampson v. Moeini and the other twelve reports are described below.

Case valuation information in the Personal Injury Valuation Handbooks coincides with these results.  The Valuation Handbooks indicate that nationwide in 1998 verdicts in personal injury cases resulting in a permanent semi-permanent comatose state for plaintiffs of all age groups ranged from $5000 to $35,000,000.  The median verdict was $2,600,000 and the average verdict was $6,128,031.  The settlement range was from $30,000 to $9,250,000, with a median settlement of $1,350,000 and an average of $2,374,190.

Verdicts and Settlements–Brain Damage Resulting in Comatose State of Child Age Seven to Ten

·         A seven-year-old boy suffered brain damage that caused a coma and learning disabilities when he was struck by a vehicle while allegedly walking his bicycle.  The defendant argued the child was riding the […]