The torts litigator frequently finds jury verdicts (the dollar
amounts awarded plaintiffs in civil suits) in similar cases to
be valuable guides in negotiating settlements or evaluating
damage claims.  It is often difficult, however, to find
information about verdicts.  The verdicts themselves, at
the trial court level, are not formally reported; newspapers
(legal and otherwise) only rarely report verdicts; and
reported appellate court opinions  infrequently touch on
the adequacy or propriety of verdict amounts. Nevertheless,
a number of publications collect information on verdicts. 
Some are newsletters, others sections of treatises devoted
to substantive or procedural law.  A few describe verdicts
recently awarded in trial courts; most note verdicts
considered in reported appellate court opinions. 
These publications are generally arranged by type of
action (such as "wrongful death"), by area of body
injured (such as "neck"), or by instrumentality causing
the injury (such as "lawn mower").  Below are listed, in
alphabetical order by title, some of the more useful
published sources of information on jury verdicts, as
well as jury information available on WESTLAW and LEXIS. 
Remember also that many other substantive law treatises
touch on verdict issues.
For law review articles discussing jury verdicts,
check the Current Law Index or LegalTrac under "Damages"
or "Verdicts"; use the same subject headings to search the
library's online catalog.
Some vendors offer fee-based computerized jury
verdicts search services.  Two of the better know of
these are Verdict-Trak, offered by Jury Verdict Review
(publisher of the National Jury Verdict Review and
Analysis newsletter), and VerdictSearch, offered by
New York Jury Verdict (publisher of the New York Jury
Verdict Reporter newsletter).
(Finally, perhaps to state the obvious, you
aren't going to find publications reporting contract
verdicts: here the instrument at issue controls the
result.)

PUBLICATIONS

American law of products liability 3d (monthly, 1987-)
(KF1296/A6/A547)
     Discusses otherwise reported verdicts arranged
by instrumentality causing injury. Access provided by
index in last volume.

Causes of action (1983-) (KF8863/S53)
Articles on various types of actions often
list "illustrative awards" (usually otherwise
reported cases).  Check cumulative index at end of set.
   
Courtroom medicine (1962-) (KF8964/C66)
     Divided into multivolume subsets by type (e.g.
"Psychic Injury") or area (e.g. "The Neck") of injury,
with most sets containing sections setting forth,
in tabular format or by discussion of individual
cases, representative jury awards.   
Cyclopedia of trial practice : dollar
verdicts (KF8913/S32)
     See vols. 5-5A. Summarizes otherwise reported
verdicts, arranged by are of injury.
     
Damages for personal injury and death in Canada
(1985-) (KE1237/A4/G65)
     Updated by annual paperback supplements. Arranged
by area and type of injury, notes otherwise reported
verdicts. 

Damages in tort actions (1982-) (KF1248/D18)
     Vol. 6A summarizes otherwise reported verdicts,
divided by area of injury.  Decisions summaries are
arranged in tabular format, alphabetically by jurisdiction.

Drugs in litigation (annual) (KF1297/D7/D77)
Notes verdicts (some unreported), arranged
by drug at issue.

Lane Medical litigation guide (RA1051/L241)
     Gives "specimen awards" related to injuries to
various parts of the body.

Law Reporter (Assn. of Trial Lawyers of America)
(monthly, 1985-) (KF8913/As78)
Notes larger verdicts and leading cases. 
Monthly table of contents and annual index provide access.
   
National jury verdict review and analysis (monthly, 1985-)
(KF1247.8/N36)
   Notes mostly otherwise reported cases; provides
some commentary.

New York damages awards (annual) (KFN5100/D2/C439)
Indexes mostly otherwise reported cases; provides
some textual discussion of damages principles.

New York jury verdict reporter (weekly, 1981-)
(KFN5051.1/N44)
     Previously published in separate New York City and
upstate editions.  Most comprehensive reporter of
otherwise unreported federal and state trial court
verdicts, with noncumulating (issue-by-issue) indexes
by attorneys, parties, experts, injuries, judges, and
types of case.
Medical malpractice compendium (1987-)
(KFN5051.1 .N421) cumulates case digests.

New York state jury verdict review and analysis
(monthly, 1987-) (KFN5311/A59/N48)
Newsletter summarizes selected state supreme
court and federal district court civil jury verdicts.

Personal injury : actions, defenses, damages
(1957-) (KF8925/P4/P38/1957) 
     Vol. 3, Damages, summarizes otherwise
reported verdicts, arranged by area of injury.

Personal injury defense reporter (Monthly, 1985-)
(KF8925/P4/A136)
     Occasionally notes substantial or unusual damage
awards.

Personal injury valuation handbooks (Jury Verdict
Research) (KF1256/A8/P432)
     Confusingly arranged and slowly updated by
pamphlet supplements; attempts not only to summarize
representative verdicts, but also, particularly in
its "New York edition," to analyze verdict trends
and provide "verdict expectancy" tables arranged
by general area of body injured.

Preparing for settlement and trial (1985-)
(KF8900/P919)
Articles on various actions sometimes provide
"illustrative settlements" (usually otherwise reported
cases).  Check cumulative index at end of set.
    
Products liability reporter (CCH, 1963-) 
(KF1296/A6/C736)   
Provides summaries (in vol. 1) of cases printed
by the Reporter, arranged by product, by injury, and
dealing with wrongful death by jurisdiction.
     
The Trial lawyer's guide (annual) (Per.K24/R56)
     Often discusses large or important verdicts.

West's personal injury news (1983-) (KF1256/A53/W47)
     Biweekly pamphlets index cases printed by the
various West reporters. General topic "Damages"
(subdivided alphabetically by subtopic)
summarizes cases dealing with damage awards.

What's it worth? : a guide to current personal injury
awards and settlements (annual) (KF1257/H3)
Indexes by injury mostly otherwise
reported cases.     

LEXIS

Verdicts Library (VERDCT):
ALLVER: all files in library combined
ATLA: Assn. of Trial Lawyers of America
              jury verdicts and settlements
SHEPJV: Shepard's/McGraw Hill Verdicts,
                Settlements and Tactics (1988-)
JVR: Jury Verdict Research (1987-)


NLJVER: National Law Journal Annual Verdict
                Review (1990-)

(The VERDCT library also includes files covering
verdicts from various states, not including New York.)

WESTLAW

Databases:
LRP-JV: Jury Verdict and Settlement
                Summaries (1987-)
VST: Verdicts, Settlements and Tactics (1988-)

(Westlaw also includes databases covering verdicts
from various states, not including New York; see the
current Westlaw Database List.)