Group Versus Individual Damage Amounts

Group v Individual Damage Amounts: How case types affect individual and group decisions

One of the advantages of a mock trial is you are able to see both individual and group final verdicts. But how do these group and individual verdicts compare with each other? And what factors can make a group verdict higher than an individual's - or vice versa? After analyzing over 50 cases that had robust data on group and individual damage amounts, we found some striking results.

Group versus Individual Damage Amounts

We conducted this research by looking at the average of all individual responses and comparing them to the average group response. After analyzing all of the percent differences between groups, the group damages were, on average, 19% higher than the average individual damages. This was not surprising, since oftentimes jurors who want to give lower amounts can feel pressured into giving into the empathy of awarding plaintiffs a higher amount. Additionally, since jurors have not sat through a multi-day trial in a courthouse, and hearing the judge’s strict instructions on awarding damages, in a mock trial jurors can be more likely to suggest higher numbers, without the pressure of a judge’s orders.  When looking at the median of all differential percentages, groups actually awarded 9% less than the average individual damages. This is due to extraordinarily large damages awarded individually, which can skew results. 

These cases were all different, though, with different characteristics. So we looked at how case types affected the differential percentage.

Higher Group Awards

For cases involving death, vehicle accidents, non-work accidents, and miscellaneous case types (one medical malpractice and one mechanical failure), juries awarded, on average, more than the average individual group. This was the highest for death cases, where group deliberations had 40% higher damages than individual verdicts. This is a striking number and is likely due to a strong conformity bias. Jurors find it difficult to dissuade their fellow jurors from awarding high amounts due to the innate sympathy for a grieving or seriously injured plaintiff. Additionally, if defense counsel does not give reasons for their alternative damage amount, jurors are not equipped to respond to the natural sympathy. 

Higher Individual Awards

Interestingly, while cases that elicit strong emotional responses like death cases had the highest difference between group and individual damages, sexual assaults, another sensitive topic, had a different result. On average, groups awarded 19% less than the individual average damages. For several of these cases, groups awarded no damages, suggesting that there is a difference in the way defense jurors can assuage others to lead with sympathy. The final case type was non-work injuries, where, on average, groups awarded 36% less than the average individual damage amount. In several of these cases, defense counsel was able to convince jurors that this was a frivolous lawsuit, and damages and liability are low. Additionally, as many of these cases include medical liens and plaintiff attorneys getting a share of damages, plaintiff damage awards can be extremely high, leading to lower group amounts in deliberations. 

Conclusion

In general, this meta-analysis of individual and group verdicts shows that attorneys need to not only affect individuals, but that they must equip defense-leaning jurors with evidence and reasons for why a plaintiff’s damage awards are superfluously high. The group’s deliberations are the final jury amount, so it is paramount for defense counsel to make arguments that defense-friendly jurors can bring into final deliberations.

References:

“Conformity Bias.” Ethics Unwrapped, University of Texas, 27 Mar. 2024, ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/conformity-bias. 

Lezon, Todd G. “Nuclear Verdicts: Causes and Countermeasures.” Walsworth LLP, 21 Aug. 2025, walsworthlaw.com/news-and-insights/nuclear-verdicts-causes-and-countermeasures/. 

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, 2024, Nuclear Verdicts: An Update on Trends, Causes, and Solutions, https://instituteforlegalreform.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ILR-May-2024-Nuclear-Verdicts-Study.pdf. 

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