In the personal injury case of Powell v. Sears Roebuck, the jury returned with a verdict of $180,000. However, since the plaintiff sued for $100,000, the judgment was entered for that lower amount.
This “ceiling on damages” based upon the amount sued for in the Complaint rule should be changed, since it requires the plaintiff to have a “crystal ball” and predict their damages when they first file the lawsuit, and before any pre-trial discovery is undertaken. This causes many lawyers to sue for large amounts so as not to be caught short later on, and these numbers are then seized upon by the press which usually does not report the actual, much lower jury verdicts. At the Landau Law Shop, we will amend or change the amount sued for during the litigation, when circumstances change. In a recent trial, ABRAMS LANDAU injury lawyer Doug Landau reduced the amount sought, and told the jury that they could not return with a verdict in excess of that figure ! How many lawyers have the courage and confidence to do that in open court ?!!?