In this video, Homampour Law Firm Attorney Arash Homampour discusses the effects COVID-19 will have on how a jury views damages or liability once jury trials resume.
Video Transcript
Arash Homampour:
There’s a lot of speculation and actual concern about how is COVID and the pandemic and the effect on our economy and the death and destruction to families and individuals going to affect how a jury views damages or liability when jury trials resume. And some people have thought to themselves that, well, it’s going to cause a reduction in value and jurors are going to be less sympathetic. And I think that that’s actually not the case. There have been some cases that have continued and gone through. And what we’re seeing is that the verdicts are either the same or if not higher than they would have been before COVID. And why is that? Well, because now people understand what it’s like to be at home, forced to be at home, not able to do the things that you love, not to be able to socialize, be with other humans.
And so they’re kind of getting a taste of what it’s like to suffer a serious or catastrophic injury. The only difference is that those of us who have been forced to work from home because of COVID who are healthy and otherwise able to work and able to live our life and able to do the things we love, there’s going to be a time when we can resume those activities. But for those individuals who have serious injuries and who are catastrophically injured, it’s a double, triple, quadruple whammy in the sense that not only are they restricted at home, but this is not something that’s going to be lifted. It’s something that they’re left with for the rest of their life. And so I think jurors or your average juror really does now appreciate the value of health and the ability to socialize and do the things you love. And I think that now what you’re going to see is similar, if not larger verdicts, as you see jurors really do appreciate what it’s like to be harmed.
