There’s no place like the American south. The pace is slower, the people are hospitable, and the barbecue is so good that you forget about the humidity and heat. Even personal injury lawsuits operate a little differently. Sure, there may be a lawyer with a humble southern drawl, but what really stands out is how southern states legally function in the pursuit of a personal injury lawsuit. What you’ll find is that these states are less forgiving than their northern and western neighbors.
Statute of Limitations
The south wants you to get your lawsuit in as soon as possible, though they do vary slightly. For example, if you ask a Dallas personal injury lawyer, they will tell you that Texas only has a two year statute of limitations. Whereas, if you ask a Fayetteville personal injury lawyer in Arkansas, they’ll tell you that it’s three years. Louisiana, on the other hand, has a very short period with a statute of limitations of just one year. Statutes of limitations exist to prevent lawsuits from popping up far too long after the incident occurred. The south really prefers plaintiffs to bring their lawsuits as quickly as possible.
Comparative vs. Contributory Negligence
Comparative negligence and contributory negligence are two of the main doctrines in regards to how a plaintiff is able to recover damages. Most southern states follow comparative negligence, which is that a plaintiff is able to recover damages as long as they are less than 50% at fault. If that percentage gets any higher, the plaintiff will not be able to recover any damages.
Contributory negligence is far stricter than comparative negligence. Alabama is one of the few states that still follows this rule where if a plaintiff is found even 1% at fault for their injury, they are barred from recovering any damages at all. It’s a very harsh rule that makes it extremely challenging for plaintiffs to succeed in a personal injury case.
Damage Caps
When filing a personal injury lawsuit, there are limits to what you can receive. These are known as damage caps and they are particularly relevant in cases involving non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Damage caps are put in place to prevent outrageously high punitive awards. Often cited is the McDonald’s hot coffee case, where it was reported that a woman was awarded millions of dollars for spilling coffee on herself. While this is often misreported and misrepresented, the sentiment is what drives the desire to have damage caps in place for personal injury lawsuits.
In Florida, non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are capped at $500K per practitioners and $750K for non-practitioners. In Texas, the cap is $250K per defendant. In Arkansas, however, there are no caps on damages that can be sought. A jury can award as much as they feel is fair.
Fault v. No-Fault Systems
Anyone with any passing familiarity with personal injury lawsuits is aware of fault systems versus no-fault systems. Fault systems require an injured party to sue in order to receive compensation for their injuries. Southern states like Texas and Georgia use an at-fault system, whereas Florida uses a no-fault system.
No-fault systems streamline the process and help avoid lawsuits but may reduce the amount of damages a plaintiff can receive.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
If you don’t have auto insurance, you are making a humongous error in judgment. Although insurance is usually required by law in order to operate a vehicle. But since there are drivers out there without insurance, there needs to be something in place to help compensate the injured or aggrieved party. In these cases, there are uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage requirements (UM/UIM).
Georgia is one southern state that requires insurance companies to offer UM/UIM coverage for drivers, although policyholders have the ability to reject it in writing. Whereas, in Florida, drivers are not required to carry UM/UIM coverage, instead it must be offered by insurance companies and, like Georgia, drivers can reject it in writing.
Court Procedures and Local Practices
There are certain “flavors” of southern courtroom experience. Texas courts, for example, are known for having a fairly fast-paced litigation process. Texas loves to process defendants like an assembly line – in and out. Louisiana, with its proud French roots, employs French Civil Law, a derivative of Napoleonic Code. It is the only state in the union that doesn’t use a legal system derived from English Common Law.
Conclusion
Most of us, if we’re of a certain age, will think of Matlock or the southern chicken lawyer from Futurama when we picture a southern courtroom. There’s something uncomfortably charming about a humble attorney with a southern drawl pontificating about their simple roots caught up in the ever-so-complicated justice system. But that’s just a caricature of a southern lawyer, not exactly representative of the kind of experience you will find in a southern courtroom.
The United States is interesting in that each state is sort of like its own country that runs things its own way. The southern United States are culturally unique in the world, and their legal systems follow that uniqueness.
