Issue: What are the jury verdicts and settlements involving wrongful death actions in Mississippi and jury verdicts and settlements, on a national basis, involving an award of hedonic damages?
| Area of Law: | Personal Injury & Negligence |
| Keywords: | Wrongful death action; Award of hedonic damages; Jury verdicts and settlements |
| Jurisdiction: | Mississippi |
| Cited Cases: | None |
| Cited Statutes: | None |
| Date: | 03/01/2001 |
An online search through jury verdict and settlement files in several databases and review of published materials for cases involving wrongful death actions yielded six verdicts and settlements reports with one of those reports containing awards or settlements of $1,000,000 or more. Verdicts and settlements ranged from $1,990 to $1,675,000, with an average of $682,680. Dropping the highest verdict and lowest figure the average becomes $403,181.
A similarly extensive search for cases involving an award of hedonic damages resulted in six verdicts and settlements reports with two of those reports containing awards or settlements of $1,000,000 or more. Verdicts and settlements ranged from $150,000 to $1,773,204, with an average of $900,483. Dropping the highest verdict and lowest figure the average becomes $542,150.
Case valuation information in the Personal Injury Valuation Handbooks is often a constructive resource in attempting to determine the value of a case. The Valuation Handbooks indicate that nationwide in 1998 verdicts in wrongful death claims for single, childless, females ranged from $150,000 to $1,003,043. The median verdict was $396,542 and the average verdict, or mean, was $780,110.[1] Approximately 30% of all awards were above $1,000,000.[2] The settlement range for wrongful death for female decedents between the ages of 18 and 24 was from $7,000 to $10,500,000, with a median settlement of $303,000 and an average of $823,800.
The Valuation Handbooks also indicate that the median verdict for all wrongful death cases involving medical malpractice was $698,000 […]