Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties, 2001

• NCJ Number: 202803
• Author(s): Thomas H. Cohen, J.D., Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics; Steven K. Smith, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics
• Date Published: April 2004
• Publication Series: Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties
• Publication Type: Publication

Annotation

Presents findings on tort, contract, and real property cases disposed by jury or bench trial in 2001 in the nation's 75 largest counties.

Abstract

Examines general civil cases (torts, contracts, and real property) disposed of by bench or jury trial in the Nation's 75 most populous counties in 2001. Information reported includes the type of case, types of plaintiffs and defendants, trial winners, amount of total damages awarded, amount of punitive damages awarded, and case processing time. This is a third in a series of data collections begun in 1992.

Highlights

• During 2001 a jury decided almost 75% of the 12,000 tort, contract, and real property trials in the Nation's 75 largest counties.
• In jury trials, the median award decreased from $65,000 in 1992 to $37,000 in 2001 in these counties.
• Two-thirds of disposed trials in 2001 involved tort claims, and about a third involved contractual issues.