Abstract
Juror decision-making is inherently influenced by psychological biases, which pose a significant challenge to the fairness and accuracy of proximate cause determinations in tort cases. This Article explores the cognitive and social biases—such as hindsight bias, primacy, anchoring, belief in a just world, and moral outrage—that affect jurors as they engage in the complex reasoning required to assess foreseeability and causation. Given that jurors must disregard their knowledge of actual harm and set aside emotional responses to tragic injuries, the risk of bias is substantial. Traditional jury instructions have proven insufficient in mitigating these effects. As a solution, this Article advocates for structural reforms to jury deliberations, including the use of special verdicts to constrain juror discretion and reinforce legal standards, as well as bifurcation of trials to separate causation determinations from considerations of fault and damages. Implementing these procedural safeguards offers a promising avenue for minimizing bias and enhancing the fairness and reliability of civil trials.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Dr. Molly Wilson & Helen Webster,
Predicting the Future Past: Human Cognitive Limits and Proximate Cause Determinations in Civil Actions,
56
N.M. L. Rev.
85
(2026).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmlr/vol56/iss1/4
