Articles Posted in Minnesota

In October, a birth injury malpractice verdict was awarded against a Minnesota midwife which demonstrates the very real dangers of failing to accurately estimate the fetal size and weight before delivery. The plaintiff, a mother from a small town in Eastern Minnesota, sued the certified nurse midwife from Allina Health negligently mishandling the delivery of her son in January 2016.

This was the plaintiff’s second child and throughout her pregnancy, she repeatedly told her midwife at Allina Health that the baby felt considerably larger with this pregnancy. The midwife reassured her that the baby was normal sized and estimated that he would be around 6 pounds at birth. Unfortunately for the midwife, this weight estimate turned out to be disastrously wrong.

Fetal Macrosomia

 The average verdict in a personal injury case in Minnesota is $271,577. The national average is $885,600.

Does this mean Minnesota juries are not sympathetic to personal injury victims? I think it might, actually. In fact, I think the statistics might actually underestimate how stingy Minnesota juries can be.

Why? The biggest driving force in personal injury verdicts is car accidents because is the most common type of personal injury case. So the state’s law in dealing with car accident claims is going to make a more meaningful impact on personal injury statistics.

At the conclusion of a week-long wrongful death trial in Minnesota, the family members of a twenty-two year old college student, killed on a bicycle, have said that while they are grateful for the jury award of $591,000; although, they would have preferred that the two men that they blame for their son’s death to have been forced to spend time in prison. Felony murder and battery charges were dismissed against both defendants.

Sad details here. Apparently, the deceased had a disagreement with a member of a college hockey team. That member, along with several other players and recruits, were said to have consumed 100 shots of alcohol that night. After the disagreement, the deceased apparently fled the bar on a bicycle, fleeing for his life while being chased by the boys. There were differing accounts of whether the boy was pushed, and by whom, or whether his high level of intoxication caused him to crash. Regardless of fault, it is clear that the night was riddled with poor judgment and misconduct, and that the death of this young man was absolutely senseless.

This kind of garbage happens in college and it usually does not end in death.  Kids drink too much and do stupid things and, usually, no real harm is done.  But sometimes things go really wrong like they did in this case and this tragedy will impact this boy’s family for the rest of their lives.

I wrote earlier today about a wrongful death case in Kentucky in the heat exhaustion death of a high school football player. In another wrongful death heat exhaustion case, ESPN reports that the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of former Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Korey Stringer against the NFL has been settled.

The Maryland Lawyer Blog has a post on a tragic case involving Minnesota child seat belt law.

A Jury Verdict Research study found that the median award in Minnesota in personal injury cases is an even $30,000. Minnesota personal injury plaintiffs receive an award in 67 percent of cases that go to trial.

The median compensation in Minnesota is somewhat below the national median of $38,179 and I suspect Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester verdicts inflate that average a bit. But because Minnesota has no fault coverage (or PIP) in motor vehicle wreck claims up to $40,000 ($20,000 for medical bills and $20,000 for economic loss) that is subject to the collateral source rule, Minnesota personal injury lawyers tend to few small cases in Minnesota. In other words, Minnesota law provides that awards are offset by collateral source payments (if the source of reimbursement does not have a subrogation right). So the gap between the Minnesota’s median and the national median verdict is probably wider than the numbers reflect. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found Minnesota juries to be the “15th best” which means the 15th worst for personal injury victims.

Interestingly, recovery probability in Minnesota tort suits is 67% compared to the national average of 53%. I would think that the fewer amount of smaller claims would lead to a lower recovery probability because there are less smaller cases which typically do not involve a liability dispute (which you would think would actually lower the recovery probability). Accordingly, it is fair to infer from the data that Minnesota juries are inclined to believe Minnesota plaintiff’s claims as to how/why the crash/malpractice/injury occurred.