How Does Personal Injury Law Work? An Explanation of the Civil Justice System [Part 5]
Posted by Stephen G. Schwarz, Managing Partner, Faraci LangeAppeals
The losing side has the right to appeal an adverse verdict to the Appellate Division. Appeals can be based upon a particular ruling that went against the losing party during the case, or upon the evidence as a whole if the verdict was against the weight of that evidence. An appeal can also be based upon the amount awarded being too high or too low. Appellate courts try not to reverse jury verdicts, so to have a jury verdict reversed requires a strong showing that something went wrong at the trial. If the plaintiff succeeds in convincing the jury and receives a verdict in a personal injury case and the defendant does take an appeal, one saving grace is that the defendant must pay statutory interest dating back to the date of the judgment if the appeal is unsuccessful. Because the statutory interest rate is 9% straight interest (not compounded) this can provide a deterrent to frivolous appeals by the losing defendant. The law, however, does not permit the plaintiff to receive interest on the amount awarded back to the date of the injury. Thus, the defendant does not have the same incentive to avoid delay during discovery as it has to avoid unnecessary delay during the appeal.
