The Verdict holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[6] In a poll of 500 films held by Empire magazine, it was voted 254th Greatest Movie of all time.[7] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #91 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.[8] Richard D. Pepperman praised the scene in which Judge Hoyle eats breakfast and offers Galvin coffee as "a terrific use of objects, making for a believable judge in his personal, comfortable and suitable place, as well as a Physical Action (motion) that demonstrates the subtext of the Judge's objective (in support of the insurance company, the doctor and their attorney) without an abundance of expository dialogue."[9]


Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer tries to redeem his reputation by taking on a difficult medical malpractice case. He accepts the case after he's approached by the the family of a woman who has been left in a coma following an operation at a large Catholic hospital. At first he's hoping for a quick cash settlement, but when he see's the victim in the hospital he decides that he must take the case to trial, despite the powerful opposition.