PREDICTABLE AND UNPREDICTABLE ERROR IN TORT AWARDS - THE EFFECT OF PLAINTIFF SELF-SELECTION AND SIGNALING

If a potential tort plaintiff can predict that the court will overesti mate damages, he is more likely to bring suit, but if the court is awa re of this, it will adjust its awards accordingly. In general, court e rror implies that the court should moderate extreme awards whether the y are high or low, because of regression towards the mean. Predictable error, however, tends to push the optimal adjustment downwards, and u npredictable error pushes it upwards, because of plaintiff selection a nd signaling, respectively. Errors of either kind can lead plaintiffs to bring meritless suits.