Circuit and Chancery Court trial verdict data is made available each fiscal year for public review by the state Supreme Court's Administrative Office.  The following links analyze that verdict data for selected fiscal reporting years.

The compilers urge caution when reviewing the underlying data.  Some counties’ court clerks have displayed confusion over the nature of cases to include.  Only cases involving injury or death are to be reported.  Workers’ compensation cases are not to be reported.  Property damage components of verdicts should not (in theory) be reflected.  Medical negligence cases are included.  Punitive damages awarded in personal injury cases are typically included.

Some sizable judgments obtained by default are included in the verdict totals, skewing the average award upward, with a prime example being the state’s largest award one year when a Davidson County judge awarded ten million dollars in connection with an auto accident caused by an impaired driver who caused the plaintiff to suffer paraplegia.  The claim was uninsured and uncontested.  Another year's top verdict awarded in excess of $100 million dollars in connection with a high profile murder claim.  In current data, only 29 verdicts totaled over 80% of all money awarded statewide.

Tennessee continues to be a conservative state with respect to injury litigation.  Over half of all trials result in verdicts for the defendants.  In each year over the past decade, near 1,000 injury trial have proceeded to judgment.  Over 90 % of suits filed each year settle before trial.  Defendant's' verdicts occur roughly 50% of the time.  Fewer than 10% of all trial verdicts (even including default judgments) exceed $100,000.  Particularly in soft tissue cases, defense verdicts occur despite stipulated liability as a common occurrence.

White & Rhodes, P.C.lawyers maintain active trial dockets.  Although not among the state’s largest law offices, White & Rhodes, P.C. lawyers participate in approximately 10% of the state’s injury trials each year, appearing as counsel of record in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties.

2001-2002 verdict data (under construction)

2002 - 2003 Verdict Data.pdf
Click on the above link to download 2002 - 2003 Verdict Data
Note: Verdict data begins on page 142.
 

2003 - 2004 Verdict Data.pdf
Click on the above link to download the 2003 - 2004 Verdict Data
Note: Verdict data begins on page 147.
 

2004 - 2005 Verdict Data.pdf
Click on the above link to download the 2004 - 2005 Verdict Data
Note: Verdict data begins on page 119.