Back too soon? The Greater Kansas City Area's Decrease in Jury Verdicts in 2024

Jury Trials Fall Back to Pandemic Era Levels

According to the data obtained from the Greater Kansas City Jury Verdict Service, the total number of jury trials in the Kansas City metropolitan area has broken the three-year rebound streak since the COVID-19 pandemic, with jury trials totaling less than in 2022.

2024 saw a total of 74 trials, compared to 101 trials in 2023 and 86 trials in 2022. This represents a decline of 27% from 2023.

While Jury Verdicts Are Steadily Declining, Defense Verdicts Are On The Rise

Like jury trials, jury verdicts are also down compared to the last two years. In 2024, the Kansas City area saw a total of 134 verdicts compared to 217 in 2023 and 161 in 2022. This is a decline of 38% compared to 2023 and a decline of 16.8% compared to 2022.

Of these 134 verdicts, only 54 (40%) were for the Plaintiff, compared to 48% in 2023 and 47% in 2022, putting a stop to the rise in plaintiff-friendly verdicts we have seen.

In contrast to prior years, 2024 saw a decrease in automobile related claims. Specifically, only 60% of automobile related claims saw some sort of verdict for the plaintiff(s). This is a noticeable decline compared to the 78% of plaintiff recovery on automobile related claims in 2023. Contrary to 2023, there were no automobile related wrongful death claims brought to verdict in 2024. Excluding one large outlier verdict ($33.4 million), the average plaintiff award for automobile related claims was $665,971.14.

Average Monetary Award for Plaintiffs Increased Again, Despite Fewer Trials

As was the case in 2023, the overall average of plaintiff friendly verdicts, without outliers, increased again in 2024. When compared to prior years, 2024 saw an increase in the average verdict award to $5,120,258, compared to $1,113,929 ($20,117,952 with the inclusion of outlier verdicts) in 2023 and $564,213 ($1,877,762 with the inclusion of outlier verdicts) in 2022.

When outlier verdicts are removed from the animus, the average Plaintiff’s award drops to $1,897,596. When including outlier verdicts, the total awards to Plaintiffs in 2024 were $276,493,945 compared to $2,092,266,978 in 2023 and $142,709,912 in 2022. Compared to prior years, 2024 also saw a reduction in overall verdicts above $1,000,000, with only fourteen verdicts reaching that threshold compared to the 31 verdicts in 2023 and 18 in 2022. Overall, 2024 saw fewer large verdicts compared to prior years with $34,000,000 being the largest verdict in 2024, compared to the $1.785 billion dollar verdict and $70,000,000 verdicts in 2023.

Jackson County, Missouri Saw A Decline In Plaintiff Friendly Verdicts

Historically, Jackson County, Missouri has seen more Plaintiff friendly verdicts than any of the other venues in the Greater Kansas City area. However, this changed in 2024 as Jackson County experienced a 10% drop in Plaintiff friendly verdicts, from 55% in 2023 to 45% in 2024. Of the 69 claims tried in Jackson County (combining the Kansas City and Independence locations), only 31 of those claims were for the Plaintiff. While 45% is significantly lower than the 55% we saw in 2023, 51% of the claims filed in the Greater Kansas City Area were filed in Jackson County. Of all plaintiff friendly verdicts reached in 2024, 51% of those were reached in Jackson County. While the percentage of plaintiff verdicts in 2024 may be down in Jackson County, it is still the most Plaintiff friendly venue in the Greater Kansas City Area.