A verdict is the formal decision or judgment rendered by a court at the conclusion of a trial or legal proceeding. It represents the culmination of the entire legal process. Verdicts are reached by a judge or a jury, depending on the type of trial and jurisdiction.
In a criminal trial, the verdict may include findings such as guilty or not guilty, reflecting whether it has been successfully proven the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil trial, the verdict can entail various outcomes, such as liable or not liable and may also specify the amount of damages to be awarded to the prevailing party.
Summaries of verdicts are often reported in verdict reports. A verdict report usually contains the case name, case number, date of decision, "topic" (e.g. medical malpractice, employment discrimination, etc.), result (i.e. did the plaintiff(s) or defendant(s) win), the amount of the judgment (if any), the alleged injury, jurisdictional information (i.e. state and county where the lawsuit was tried), name of judge, name of attorneys, a brief summary of the facts, a listing of the expert witnesses who were used by the parties, and other miscellaneous information about the lawsuit.
[Last updated in August 2023 by Jim Robinson, Esq., JurisPro Expert Witness Directory]
See also:
- Compromise verdict
- Defective verdict
- Directed verdict
- General verdict
- Judgment notwithstanding the verdict
- Quotient verdict
- Special verdict