Jury Verdicts & Jury Instructions Research Guide

Introduction

This Research Guide will provide information on sources which are available in the Georgetown University Law Library that may be useful to locate jury verdicts and jury instructions. It will include information on both print and electronic resources.

Jury Verdicts/Settlements

Verdict, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary, is "a jury's finding or decisions on the factual issue of a case. Loosely, in a nonjury trial, a judge and resolution of the issue of a case." (8th edition)

As trial decisions are not officially reported, a legal researcher cannot rely on the regular case reporters to find verdicts and settlements. This guide lists the major sources of verdicts and settlements.

1. Major Print Publications

• National Jury Verdict Review & Analysis [KF1247.8 .N36]- a monthly nationwide review of state and federal civil jury verdicts with professional commentary and trial analysis
• Law Reporter [KF294.A8 A3 ](Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
• What's it Worth? A Guide to Personal Injury Awards and Settlements [KF1257 .H3]
• Stein on Personal Injury Damages [KF446 .S7 1991 ] - also available on Westlaw
• Dollar Verdicts: Personal Injury [ KF8913 .D64 1998]
• Professional Negligence Law Reporter (ATLA) [KF1281.3 .P76]
• Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts [KF2905.3.A59 M45]
• Employment Discrimination Verdicts and Settlements (BNA online resource)

2. Lexis and Westlaw Databases

• Westlaw (ALMVS-JV) - combines all available jury verdicts since 1996 to present, can also search individual states by checking Westlaw Directory> Litigation > Verdicts
• Lexis (Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Litigation > Jury Verdicts) - you can search a combined file for all available states or choose individual states to research

3. On the Web

• MoreLaw.com - free public access litigation digest and directory service
• National Law Journal's Largest Verdicts - published annually in February, now available by VerdictSearch (see below)
• JuryVerdict Settlements - from the National Association of State Jury Verdict Publishers, this links to all the jury verdict publishers by state, it's a subscription based service
• VerdictSearch - subscription database with online verdicts
• Rand Institute for Civil Justice - this "think tank" prepares reports on the trends in jury verdicts, summaries of which are available on their web site.

Jury Instructions

To find books on jury instructions, search on Gulliver for subjects: "Instructions to Juries (State)" or Instructions to Juries United States" for federal ones.

Both Lexis and Westlaw have a folder of databases on jury instructions. There is a lot of overlap, but check each service to see what's covered.

• Lexis (Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Litigation > Jury Instructions)
• Westlaw (Directory > Litigation > Jury Instructions)

1. Model Civil Jury Instructions

• Third Circuit
• Fifth Circuit
• Eighth Circuit (pdf)
• Ninth Circuit
• Eleventh Circuit (pdf)

2. Model Criminal Jury Instructions

• Fifth Circuit
• Sixth Circuit
• Seventh Circuit (pdf)
• Eighth Circuit (pdf)
• Ninth Circuit
• Eleventh Circuit

3. For a list of State jury instructions available on the web, consult:

• Revisiting Jury Instructions (Part I): Alabama through Mississippi (Jan Bissett of LLRX)
• Revisiting Jury Instructions (Pary II): Missouri through Wyoming (Jan Bissett of LLRX)

Research Guides

• Putting a Price on it: Researching Jury Verdicts and Settlements (Jan Bissett for LLRX)
• Jury Verdicts & Settlements (Los Angeles County Law Library)
• Jury Verdicts, Settlements, Judgments and Liens (Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington School of Law)
• Expert Witnesses, Verdicts & Settlements (The Cleveland Law Library Association)