Ad Damnum Amount in Complaint: Different Rules in Maryland and Virginia
Sandy Waterman's Virginia Injury Attorney Blog points out that under Virginia law, Virginia injury lawyers can mention the ad damnum amount - the amount sought by Plaintiff's lawyer in the complaint.
The problem with this rule is that it uses accident lawyers' form requests which usually seek as much as the law would allow to be used to create the appearance of a greedy plaintiff. Maryland accident lawyers who play it smart do not face this problem. Maryland courts have routinely granted our accident lawyers' motion in limine to exclude the amount sought in the ad damnum clause by citing Merzbacher v. State, 346 Md. 391, 396 (Md. 1997):
...I think it could unfairly mislead the jury because we all know that she can sue for ten billion dollars too if you want to do that. There is no limit to the ad damnum clause in a civil suit and if I’m willing to admit that, to let them come in and say yes, it’s in the hundred and forty million dollar range or so forth I would feel obligated to have testimony brought before the jury as to the way the ad damnum cause is handled by lawyers now in the State of Maryland, that there is no limit to what you can sue for and that the numbers for all intents and purposes mean nothing and I think it would allow–I think it would be unfairly prejudicial for the jury to feel that this is what she is really seeking, she is really, really trying to get a hundred and forty million dollars. I think it would be unfair and prejudicial.
Some states, like West Virginia, have banned - at least in some contexts - ad damnum clauses in lawsuits because they are used unfairly by both lawyers and the media reporting on accident lawsuits.
Here is a sample motion in limine to keep out this evidence out in Maryland.
