After collating a sample of 100 different slip-and-fall cases that happened in grocery stores across the State of Florida (Fig. 1), we calculated a sample average case value of $32,029.18. In this sample we saw a range of case values ranging from $0, or a defense verdict, to $600,000.
During the statistical analysis of this sample, the case with the $600,000 value significantly stuck out from the normal trend of values we were seeing. This case value, referred to as an outlier, is irregular in the trend of the values in the sample, and consequently is important to analyze because it can affect the averages of a data set. If we remove these outliers, as well as defense verdicts which have a value of $0, we found a sample average case value of $59,157.22. Normally, high-value outliers like this one would lower the average case value; however, because this sample had more defense verdicts than any other kind of verdict or settlement, the amount of defense verdicts removed raises the average. This value is more representative of a given case in the sample than the originally-calculated average case value.
Figure 1 presents you with a pie graph of the geographic regions the cases in the sample originated from. The Orlando region is made of the cases from Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties. The Tallahassee region is made of the cases from Leon County; and the Rest-of-State region is made of the cases originating from the rest of the counties in the state, excluding the counties from the Orlando and Tallahassee regions. Most of the counties making up the Rest-of-State region were from southern Florida, specifically Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The eleven cases in the Orlando region showed a sample average case value of $16,952.24 including defense verdicts as this region did not have any outliers. We calculated an average case value of $31,709.12 after excluding the defense verdicts. 45.45% of the cases from the Orlando region were defense verdicts, so a jump like this isn’t uncommon. Out of the three Tallahassee region cases, we saw an average case value of $68,333.33 including defense verdicts. Defense verdicts were the outcome of two of the three cases in the Tallahassee region, with the one plaintiff’s verdict resulting in an award of $205,000. Lastly, the Rest-of-State region offered an average case value including defense verdicts and outliers of $32,691.20 and $59,768.73 excluding these values.
The average case value for a certain type of injury reveals little about the value of any case. For more complete information about how to place a value on any case, please visit our “What is my case worth?” blogs.
To find out more about the outliers in this sample, please click here.
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.
