Memphis Injury Lawyer Blog

Trial lawyers represent a wide variety of clients. We prosecute claims on behalf of persons who think that they are entitled to compensation for wrongful conduct and we defend those who deny that they have caused any harm to another. In Memphis, our court's handle all manner of cases involving personal injuries or death. Included in this category are medical errors that may have caused harm to a person. These cases are referred to by Tennessee and Memphis injury lawyers as medical negligence or malpractice cases.

There is an idea among Tennesseans that there is a crisis in our state in this area of the law. A very recent newspaper article in a Murfreesboro newspaper indicates that this crisis is high on the agenda for the legislature this term. The reason for this concern has been said to be based upon the high costs of medical negligence insurance brought about by a huge increase in the number of claims of this type that have been filed when coupled with an increase in the amount of jury verdicts.

In both Memphis and Tennessee, the facts do not support this thought.

Beginning in 2004, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts began tracking medical malpractice case filings and the results. As a Memphis trial lawyer I am not surprised by the results. The report for 2006 through 2007 is very revealing:

For fiscal year 2006-07, there were 584 medical malpractice cases filed and 416 cases disposed of under the medical malpractice reporting category. Fifteen of the 416 cases disposed of proceeded to trial. Monetary damages reported for these cases was $55,167.

Simple math and logic tells us that the average jury verdict in these matter is $3677.80 for the fifteen cases that were tried to a conclusion. This sum will hardly cause a financial ripple for doctors or their insurance companies. So where does the crisis come from? The American Medical Association has put Tennessee on its hit list for "tort reform" in order to subconsciously lobby our potential jurors for still lower awards. As a trial lawyer who has represented both the plaintiff and the defendant in cases of this type, I firmly believe that a fair jury does the fair thing. Far less than this can apparently be said about the AMA's position when it is viewed in light of the evidence.