In a 100-case sample of finger amputation cases chosen from jury verdict research across the State of Florida (Fig. 1), we calculated an average case value of $480,364.57. However, the sample yielded a range of values between $0, or a defense-favored verdict, and $11,153,857.
When we look at the range of case values to determine an average case value, it’s important to look at cases that show a value far greater (or lower) than the average trend of case values in the sample. This value, called the outlier, is a high value (or low value) that is out of line with most of the data in the sample. Commonly, outliers draw attention to themselves, which allows a researcher to determine the basics behind why a case was given such a high value. In this sample, we saw one outlier, the high value of $11,153,857. Almost all the cases in this sample showed case values between $0 and $3 million dollars, but the outlier of the sample was the only case value to deviate from that norm.
Outliers are extremely important in determining the average case value of a given sample. Because their value is so out of line with the rest of the data, outliers can often skew the averages to be too high (or too low), which can render them unrepresentative of the true average of most of the case values. When analyzing this sample and removing the outlier and defense verdicts ($0 value), we saw an average case value of $485,297.37, about $5,000 more than the original value.
The pie graph in Figure 1 shows the different regions that we broke the sample into for closer analyses. The Orlando region is made of cases from Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties; the Rest-of-State region is made of cases from all other counties, specifically excluding the Orlando-area counties and the United States District Court cases. The United States District Court (USDC) category involves cases that took place in a county and were not litigated in that county’s court, but in a different court called the “District Court” of whichever region the case took place in. These districts are broken up into the Southern District, Middle District, and Northern District correlating to if the case took place in southern Florida, central Florida, or northern Florida.
In the 5 cases seen in the Orlando region, we saw an average case value of $737,868.60 when we included just the defense verdicts, as the outlier was not seen in the Orlando counties. Excluding defense verdicts, the average case value rose to $1,229,781. Of the 3 cases in the USDC region, we saw an average case value of $65,833.33; however, two cases resulted in a defense verdict and the other awarded $197,500. In the Rest-of-State region, we saw an average case value of $479,887.11 including defense verdicts and the outlier and an average case value of $458,274.41 excluding these values. In total, the 100 finger amputation cases produced a sum of $48,036,457.16.
If you’re a potential client or an attorney seeking a second opinion and would like to discuss the value of your case, please feel free to call me anytime at (850) 224-3310.
