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Your Day in Court
Posted by: Nicholas Mayle
March 24, 2010
Topic: Civic Duty
"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."
- Thomas Jefferson.
If you're like most Americans, when you find out that you have to report to court, you cringe because you've just been summoned for jury duty. However, some Americans find themselves in court under very different circumstances. Some day, you may find yourself in court because you've been seriously injured by the actions of someone else. Instead of sitting on a jury, you may find yourself relying on a jury to fairly decide your case. If you've been seriously injured and find yourself in court, you will need representation from an effective attorney. A capable attorney will be able to clearly present the information necessary for the jury to accurately decide your case, while avoiding the pitfalls of the courtroom. For instance, did you know that court rules actually prohibit you from presenting all of the evidence to the jury?
•1. There is Insurance
Did you know that in nearly every injury case that goes to trial, the defendant has insurance which will cover the amount the jury awards? Unfortunately, court rules prohibit your attorney from even mentioning the word "insurance." You cannot mention insurance, nor can your witnesses including the doctors, police or anyone else who may testify for you. If you do, the judge will grant a "mistrial" and the case will have to be tried all over again.
The reason for this is that the insurance industry has lobbied the legislature and within the legal system so diligently that it has created a set of court rules that absolutely prohibits you or your attorney from telling the jury the truth: An insurance company is responsible for paying the judgment. In speaking with juries after the conclusion of a trial, one of the most common statements is that the jury felt that a larger judgment was fair, but that they were afraid if they awarded the fair value that the defendant would lose his home or other belongings. The jury has no idea that its award likely has nothing to do with the defendant keeping his assets, but rather the insurance industry keeping a little more of the billions of dollars of its annual profits.
2. Doctors on the Payroll
In any injury case, the insurance company will trot out at least one doctor, or even several doctors, to give the opinion that you are not injured. What the jury will not know is that these doctors are likely part of a handful of defense-employed doctors making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year providing testimony that injured people are not actually injured. It may be difficult to tell these insurance doctors apart from normal physicians. They will likely look like a doctor and have the credentials of a doctor, but they do not practice medicine like other doctors. They are paid by the insurance company to offer testimony that you were not injured or that some minor injury you had long ago is the real cause of your current condition.
•3. The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule requires that we, as attorneys, cannot ask jurors to put themselves in the position of the injured person when valuing the case. This Rule emotionally insulates jurors, who should be able to interject personal perspectives on how your injuries would affect their own lives. If the jurors do not feel the loss personally, they won't find as much value in the human harms and physical losses you sustained. In every case, we make every effort to select a jury of intelligent and caring people who will fully appreciate the significance of the human losses you have sustained.
•4. One Bite of the Apple
Frequently, jurors mistakenly believe that you have already received money from some other source and are just looking for more. Other jurors think that if the trial does not go well, you can just come back again for more money latter. What most jurors do not realize is that the trial is your only chance to collect the money for the past and future medical bills you will have. If the jury provides you nothing, you get nothing. You only get one bite of the apple - your day in court.
