Damage Anchors on Real Juries

Shari Diamond*, Mary R. Rose, Beth Murphy, John Meixner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experiments reveal anchoring as a powerful force, even when participants see the anchor as irrelevant. Here, we examine the reactions of real deliberating jurors to attorney damage requests and concessions in 31 cases involving 33 plaintiffs in which the jury awarded damages. Jurors were critical consumers of attorney suggestions. They reacted more negatively to, and were less influenced by, plaintiff ad damnums for pain and suffering than to damage requests in categories grounded in more objective evidence. Deliberations revealed that jurors often perceive plaintiff ad damnums not only as irrelevant, but also as outrageous, impressions reflected in their verdicts. These findings suggest that extreme plaintiff ad damnums, including those without grounding in quantitative evidence from trial, may not exert substantial undue influence.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)148-178
Number of pages31
JournalJournal of Empirical Legal Studies
Volume8
Issue numberSUPPL.1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Law

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Damage Anchors on Real Juries'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this