The jury system provides that you are able to present your case to "your peers" who then pass judgment on the issue(s) presented to them.  One thing is certain with the jury system and that is you never know what a jury is going to decide in  CT Personal Injury and Accident Cases.  As one senior judge once remarked, the jury system is the largest floating crap game on the planet.

Therefore when it comes to CT Personal Injury and Accident Cases, plaintiffs need to be careful regarding how much money they request from a jury and which requests yield higher awards.

In one study, a plaintiffs' attorney made a request from different groups of jurors of $750,000, $1,500,000 or $5,000,000 for a case that was evaluated, absent a request, as being worth $250,000.00.  In all cases, the jurors awarded less than the plaintiffs' attorney requested, but the larger the request for damages was made, the larger the award from the jury was given.

Another study attempted to determine if the plaintiffs' request could be perceived to be so high that it would reduce the award when compared to the lesser extreme.

In this second study, the plaintiffs' attorney requested, from a different jury, the sum of $1,500,000, $15,000,000 and $25,000,000 for the case that had been evaluated at $250,000.

Interestingly, these jurors awarded almost three times more in damages in response to the $15,000,000 request. However, the $25,000,000 request provided an award of only two thirds of the award for the $15,000,000 request but that was still two and a half times larger than the $1,500,000 request.

The two lines of thought that come out of this research are:  the more you request from the jury the more you will get; and be careful what you ask the jury to award you. Although a imperfect system, it still provides one of the best time tested ways of seeking redress for your injuries absent a negotiated settlement.

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