U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report Contract Cases in Large Counties (Civil Justice of State Courts, 1992) NCJ-156664 A 1996 update of these data are available in Contract Trials and Verdicts in Large Counties, 1996 at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ctvlc96.htm ---------- Highlights ----------- Plaintiffs trying to recover payment for goods or services made up half the contract cases in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992 ---------------------------------------------- *State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 most populous counties disposed of approximately 366,000 contract cases in 1992. *Cases involving contract disputes comprised about half of all the tort, contract, and real property cases disposed in these jurisdictions. *The most frequent type of contract dispute involved the plaintiff as a seller seeking compensation from a buyer or borrower. *In contract cases, businesses made up about two-thirds of the plaintiffs, and individuals about a quarter. *Defendants in contract cases were most frequently businesses, followed by individuals .*Almost two-thirds of the contract cases were disposed within 1 year of filing the complaint. *About half the contract cases were resolved through an agreed judgment by the litigating parties. Less than 3% were concluded by a jury or bench trial. In an additional quarter of the cases, the court issued a default judgment because the defendant(s) failed to respond to the complaint or make a court appearance. ----------------------------------------------- Contract Cases in Large Counties (Civil Justice of State Courts, 1992) ---------------------------------------------- By Carol J. DeFrances Steven K. Smith BJS Statisticians During a 1-year period ending in June 1992, State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest counties disposed of an estimated 366,000 civil contract disputes involving 1.3 million plaintiffs and defendants. Contract cases include allegations of unfulfilled written or oral agreements made between such parties as buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, or landlords and tenants. A representative sample of 11,000 contract cases was drawn from files of general jurisdiction courts in 45 of the Nation's 75 largest counties. The sample excluded contract cases disposed of in Federal courts and in State courts outside the 75 largest counties. Also excluded were contract cases disposed of in States' limited jurisdiction courts. Between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992, State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest counties disposed of an estimated 764,000 tort, contract, and real property rights cases. Contract cases accounted for approximately half (48%) of all the disposed cases. -------------------------- Types of contract cases -------------------------- About half (51.7%) of the contract cases in this study were complaints filed by a seller charging a defendant with failure to comply with an agreement). The next most frequent kinds of contract cases involved mortgage foreclosures (18.8%) and cases in which the buyer of goods or services was the plaintiff seeking return of money, rescission of the contract, or delivery of the goods ordered (12.2%). Additional types of cases included rental or lease agreements (5.6%) and employment-related cases (2.2%). For an overview of contract and tort cases disposed in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties. ---------------------------------- Type of litigants: Plaintiffs ---------------------------------- In 68% of the contract cases, the plaintiff was a business.(Plaintiff type for each case is whichever type appears first in this list: (1) hospital/medical company, (2) business, (3) government agency, and (4) individual. For example, any case involving a hospital plaintiff is categorized as a case with a "hospital plaintiff" even if there were also business, individual, or government plaintiffs in the case). Individuals were plaintiffs in 26% of the cases; the remainder were hospitals and government agencies. Businesses made up a majority of plaintiffs in seller, mortgage foreclosure, and rental/lease agreement cases. By contrast, indi-viduals were the most common type of plaintiff in employment and fraud cases and in those cases in which a buyer was seeking a remedy. ---------------------------------- Type of litigants: Defendants ---------------------------------- In most categories of contract cases, businesses predominated as defendants.(Defendant type for each case is whichever type appears first in this list: (1) hospital/medical company, (2) business,(3) government agency, and (4) individual). Businesses made up three-quarters or more of the defendants in buyer plaintiff and employment cases. In fraud, rental or lease agreements, and other contract cases, businesses made up at least half of the defendants. A government agency was the defendant in 13% of the employment cases. ---------------- Who sues whom? ---------------- Relatively few contract cases (8%) involved an individual suing another individual. Contract cases most frequently (37%) involved a business or other organization such as a hospital or government agency suing a business. An additional 31% of all the contract cases involved a nondividual (business, hospital, or government agency) suing an individual. Over 40% of seller plaintiff, mortgage foreclosure, and rental/lease cases involved a business, a government agency, or a hospital suing a business. By contrast, in 58% of the buyer plaintiff cases, an individual sued a business. ------------------------------------------ Contract cases in Federal district courts ------------------------------------------ Contract cases in Federal district court consist of those involving private parties and those in which the U.S. Government is a party to the suit as either plaintiff or defendant. In fiscal year 1992 (October 1991-September 30, 1992) a total of 49,434 contract cases were commenced in U.S. district courts. This dropped to 31,254 in fiscal year 1994. In fiscal year 1992 litigants filed 28,467 private civil cases without the U.S. Government as a party to the complaint. In fiscal year 1994 the number was 26,439 cases. Contract cases in which the Federal Government was either a plaintiff or defendant have ranged from over 65,600 in fiscal year 1985 to 4,800 in fiscal year 1994. The fluctuation in the number of Federal Government contract cases is primarily the result of changes in the number of cases involving student loan defaults and recovery of overpayments to veterans. Student loan filings decreased in 1993 and were expected to decline further as the collection of delinquent student loans through wage garnishment was authorized in 1991. Likewise, the Department of Veterans Affairs has instituted administrative remedies to settle overpayment of veteran benefits to reduce claims filed in U.S. district courts. Source: Judicial Business of the United States Courts: Annual Reports of the Director 1985-93. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. ------------------------------------ Multiple plaintiffs and defendants ------------------------------------ The estimated 366,000 contract cases disposed in the State general jurisdiction courts of the 75 largest counties involved a total of approximately 1.3 million litigants. The median number of litigants per case was 3.0; the average was 3.6. Cases with multiple defendants were more prevalent than multiple plaintiffs. The average number of defendants in contract cases was 2.4. The average number of plaintiffs for all contract cases was 1.2 per case. On average, mortgage foreclosure cases had 3.9 defendants per case, followed by fraud cases with 3.1 defendants per case. ----------------------------------------------- Insurance companies and contract cases Insurance companies as plaintiff ---------------------------------------------- An insurance company was the plaintiff in 13,290 contract cases. In about 12,000, or 90% of these cases, an insurance company was the only plaintiff. In the remainder an insurance company was one of at least two plaintiffs.(In cases with insurance companies as one of multiple plaintiffs or defendants, a variety of plaintiff and defendant combinations occurred. Consequently, it is not possible to determine the specific role of the insurance company relative to the other plaintiffs or defendants in these cases. Therefore, where possible, data are presented for those cases in which an insurance company is the sole plaintiff or defendant). --------------------------------------------- Who do insurance companies sue in contract cases? --------------------------------------------- Insurance companies as a single plaintiff issue Number of cases --------------- Individual only 47% 5,642 Business only 24 2,910 Insurance company only 4 515 Other single defendants 2 222 Business and individual only 15 1,762 Other multiple defendants 8 964 -------------- Total 100% 12,015 -------------------------------------------- What types of contract cases were insurance company plaintiffs involved in? -------------------------------------------- Three-fourths of the 12,000 contract cases in which an insurance company was the single plaintiff involved contract seller cases. Generally, these were cases in which the insurance company was seeking payment for damages. --------------------------------------------- How were contract cases brought by insurance company plaintiffs disposed? --------------------------------------------- Among the contract suits brought by an insurance company acting alone-- 46% were disposed by agreed judgment 28% by default judgment 10% by dismissal 9% by summary judgment7% by other means such as arbitration, jury or bench trial, or transfer to another court. -------------------------------- Insurance companies as defendant -------------------------------- An insurance company was named as a defendant in about 25,400 contract cases. In about half of these lawsuits, the insurance company was the sole defendant. Another 16% involved an insurance company and a business as co-defendants, and 12% involved an insurance company and a bank. ------------------------------ Who sues insurance companies? ------------------------------ In the 13,000 contract cases in which an insurance company was named as the sole defendant, 84% were initiated by an individual, 7% by a business, 4% by another insurance company, 3% by multiple plaintiffs, and 2% by a bank, other organization, or hospital. ---------------------------------------------- What types of suits were insurance company defendants involved in? ---------------------------------------------- As defendants, insurance companies were primarily involved in buyer plaintiff cases. Generally, these were cases in which an insurance company was sued for refusal to pay a claim. Insurance companies were also defendants in seller plaintiff cases which may have involved matters such as real estate or finance. Overall, insurance companies named as the only defendant were involved in the following types of cases: Number of cases --------------- Buyer plaintiff 71% 9,275 Seller plaintiff 20 2,570 Fraud 4 461 Mortgage foreclosure -- -- Employment -- -- Rental/lease agreements -- -- Other contract 4 467 -------------------- Total 100% 12,996 --Less than 1%. ---------------------------------------------- How were cases filed against insurance company defendants disposed? ---------------------------------------------- In contract cases with an insurance company as the only defendant, 72% were resolved by agreed judgment, 9% by transfer to another court, 6% by summary judgment, 6% by dismissal, and 7% by other means such as arbitration,jury or bench trial, or default judgment. ----------- Jury cases ----------- ---------------------------------------------- How did insurance companies fare as plaintiffs in jury trial cases? ---------------------------------------------- An insurance company was the sole plaintiff in an estimated 61 contract cases resolved by jury trial in the Nation's 75 largest counties during the year ending June 30, 1992. As the only plaintiff, insurance companies won 74% of the jury trial verdicts in contract cases. Juries awarded altogether $9 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The average final amount awarded was $192,000, and the median recovery was $22,000. ---------------------------------------------- How did insurance companies fare as defendants in jury trial cases? ---------------------------------------------- In an estimated 155 contract cases disposed by jury trial in the top 75 counties, an insurance company was named as the sole defendant. In 59% of these cases, the jury found the insurance company liable for damages and awarded a total of $45 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiff winners. The average final amount awarded was $492,000, and the median recovery was $26,000. Punitive damages Punitive damages are reserved for claims in which the defendant's conduct was grossly negligent or intentional. Under the laws in almost all States, only tort claims qualify for punitive damages. If a contract case involved punitive damages, it involved a related tort claim. In 5 of the 155 contract cases disposed by jury trial in which an insurance company was the sole defendant, plaintiffs were awarded punitive damages. The total amount of punitive damages awarded in these 5 cases was $15 million. The average punitive damage award was $3 million, and the median award was $200,000. --------------------------------------------- Banks and financial companies and contract cases --------------------------------------------- -------------------- Banks as plaintiff -------------------- In approximately 97,000 contract cases, a bank or financial company was a plaintiff. In 91% of these cases, the bank or financial company was the sole plaintiff.(In cases with a bank or a financial company as one of multiple plaintiffs or defendants, a variety of plaintiff and defendant combinations occurred. Consequently, it is not possible to determine the specific role of the bank or the financial company relative to other plaintiffs or defendants in these cases. Therefore, where possible, data are presented for those cases in which a bank or financial company was the sole plaintiff or defendant). --------------------------------------------- Who do banks and financial companies sue in contract cases? --------------------------------------------- A bank or financial company as a single plaintiff sued: Number of cases --------------- Individual only 61% 54,091 Business only 5 4,112 Other single defendants 1 924 Business and individual only 14 12,290 Government and individual only 5 3,979 Other multiple defendants 14 12,779 ----------------- Total 100% 88,175 ----------------------------------------------- What types of contract cases were bank or financial company plaintiffs involved in? ----------------------------------------------- Half of the 88,200 cases in which a bank or financial company was the only plaintiff involved contract seller cases, 42% involved contract mortgage foreclosure cases, 4% rental/lease cases, and 3% other types of contract cases. ----------------------------------------------- How were contract cases brought by a bank or financial company disposed? ----------------------------------------------- Of the 88,200 contract lawsuits in which a bank or financial company was the sole plaintiff-- 39% were disposed by agreed judgment 38% by default judgment 11% by dismissal 8% by summary judgment 4% by other means such as jury or bench trial,arbitration, or transfer to another court. ------------------ Banks as defendant ------------------ About 36,000 contract cases involved a bank or financial company as a defendant. In 13% of these cases, the bank or financial company was named as the only defendant. Banks as defendants in contract cases were most frequently involved in cases with multiple defendants. ----------------------------------------------- What types of cases were bank or financial company defendants involved in? ----------------------------------------------- A bank or financial company named as a single or one of multiple defendants were involved in the following types of contract cases: Number of cases --------------- Mortgage foreclosure 55% 19,686 Seller plaintiff 19 6,695 Buyer plaintiff 12 4,314 Fraud 5 1,913 Employment 1 499 Rental/lease agreements 5 1,688 Other contract 3 1,147 -------------------- Total 100% 35,941 --------------------------------------------- How were cases filed against a bank or financial company disposed? --------------------------------------------- Fifty-eight percent of the 36,000 cases with a bank or financial company named as at least one of the defendants were disposed of by agreed judgment, 20% by default judgment, 9% by dismissal, 8% by summary judgment, and 6% by other means such as jury or bench trial, arbitration, or transfer to another court. ----------- Jury cases ----------- --------------------------------------------- How did banks or financial companies fare as plaintiffs in jury trial cases? --------------------------------------------- In an estimated 54 contract cases disposed by jury trial in the Nation's 75 largest counties, a bank was the only type of plaintiff who brought the suit. In two-thirds of these cases, the bank won the jury trial verdict. Juries awarded a total of $12 million in compensatory and punitive damages to bank plaintiff winners. The average amount awarded was $333,000, and the median amount was $63,000. -------------------------------------------- How did banks or financial companies fare as defendants in jury trial cases? -------------------------------------------- A bank was the only defendant in an estimated 26 contract cases concluded by jury trial. In 48% of these cases, the jury found in favor of the plaintiff. Juries awarded $1.6 million in damages to these plaintiff winners. The average award was $130,000, and the median recovery was $145,000. --------------- Trial verdicts ---------------- About 3% of the contract cases were resolved by trial (jury or bench) in the Nation's 75 most populous counties during the 1-year period. Of the 9,500 cases that did go to trial, about a quarter were disposed of by a jury verdict. -------------------- Bench trial verdicts --------------------- About 2% of contract cases were disposed by bench trial (trial by a judge rather than a jury). In the contract cases that did receive a bench verdict, the plaintiff was the winner in 73% of the cases). Among types of contract cases with sufficient data to permit estimation, plaintiffs won in 90% of rental/lease cases, 85% of seller plaintiff cases, and 66% of buyer plaintiff cases. -------------------- Jury trial verdicts -------------------- Of the contract cases disposed by a jury trial in State general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties during the 1-year period ending June 30, 1992, the plaintiff won 63% of the cases. The median final amount (compensatory and punitive damages reduced for contributory negligence, if applicable) awarded to these plaintiff winners was $56,000, and the mean amount awarded was $620,000. The likelihood of plaintiff success varied by type of contract case, as did the final amounts awarded. ------------------------------------- Types of contract case dispositions ------------------------------------- The majority of contract cases were resolved either through an agreed judgment (49%) or by default judgment (26%). Courts dismissed 12% of the cases. Less than 3% of the cases were disposed by a trial (bench or jury). Approximately a third of seller plaintiff and mortgage foreclosure cases received a default judgment because the defendant failed to respond to the complaint or appear at a scheduled hearing. ---------------------- Legal representation ---------------------- In the vast majority of contract cases, plaintiffs and defendants had professional legal representation. About 6% of contract cases had at least one pro se litigant who represented himself or herself. Rental or lease agreement cases had a pro se litigant in about 8% of cases. ---------------------------- Uncontested contract cases ----------------------------- In half (51%) of all the contract cases, the defendant failed to file an answer to the complaint. Failure to answer in a timely manner (usually within 30 to 45 days) gives the plaintiff the right to file a motion for default judgment. About 45% of the uncontested cases were disposed of by default judgment, 37% by agreed judgment, 16% by dismissal, and 2% by transfer to another State or Federal court. The median case processing time for uncontested cases was 5 months. ---------------------- Case processing time ---------------------- The average processing time from filing of the complaint to disposition for contract cases was 13 months. The median time was 8.3 months. Among the different kinds of contract cases, employment and fraud cases had a mean case processing time of about 20 months, and mortgage foreclosure cases had a mean time of 10 months from filing to disposition. Contract cases disposed by jury trial had a mean processing time of over 2.5 years. Agreed judgment cases took on average just over 1 year to dispose. Cases disposed of by default judgment took approximately 7 months from the filing of the complaint to the disposition. ------------------- County-level data -------------------- The volume and composition of contract cases disposed, their average case processing time, and the types of litigants involved differed across the individual State courts sampled in this study. A variety of factors may contribute to these differences, including State contract law, court operations, and the type and level of commercial activity in the jurisdiction. The 1992 data revealed that: *In DuPage County, Illinois, primarily a residential county, 88% of the contract cases involved mortgage foreclosures. *(In Fresno County, California, the effect of a backlog relief program was reflected in longer overall case processing times as the court disposed of numerous older cases during the study period. *In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 48% of contract cases involved mortgage foreclosure, a sizable proportion of which were property tax delinquency cases in which the county was the plaintiff. *In Wayne County, Michigan, 55% of the contract cases were buyer plaintiff. A substantial part of these cases were individuals suing an insurance company, possibly related to no-fault insurance claims. ------------ Methodology ------------ Sample ------ The sample is a 2-stage stratified sample with 45 of the 75 most populous counties selected at the first stage. The 75 counties were divided into 4 strata based on civil disposition data for 1990 obtained through telephone interviews with court staff in the general jurisdiction trial courts. Stratum 1 consisted of the 14 counties with the largest number of civil case dispositions. Every county in stratum 1 was selected for the sample. Stratum 2 consisted of 15 counties, with 12 chosen for the sample. From stratum 3, 10 of the 20 counties were selected. Nine of the twenty-six counties in stratum 4 were included in the sample. At the second stage, either a systematic or random sample of 400-450 tort, contract, and real property rights cases disposed between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992, was selected within the State general jurisdiction trial court of each county. Data on 11,000 contract cases were collected in the 45 courts. Sampling error --------------- Since the data in this report came from a sample, a sampling error (standard error) is associated with each reported number. In general, if the difference between two numbers is greater than twice the standard error for that difference, there is 95 percent confidence of a real difference and that the apparent difference is not simply the result of using a sample rather than the entire population. All the differences discussed in this report were statistically significant at or above the 95 percent confidence level. The 75 counties' estimate of 366,000 contract cases had a coefficient of variation of 7%. Standard error estimation took into account the survey's sample design features. -------------------------------------------- Data recording and unobtainable information -------------------------------------------- For each sampled case, a standard coding form was manually completed by court staff on-site to record information about the litigants, case type, disposition type, and processing time. Information for which data were not available included the cost of litigation for the parties involved, as well as for others, and the results of settlement. ------------------------------- Contract case type definitions ------------------------------- Contracts--Cases which include all allegations of breach of contract. Specific case types include seller plaintiff (seller of goods or services, including lenders, seek payment of money owed to them by a buyer, including borrowers); buyer plaintiff (purchasers of goods or services seek return of their money, rescission of the contract, or delivery of the specified goods ordered); mortgage contract/foreclosure (foreclosures on real property, commercial, or residential--because the title to real property is transferred to the lender if the claim is successful, it could be included under real property cases--and property tax delinquency cases); fraud (financial damages incurred because of intentional or negligent misrepresentation regarding a product or company; also considered a type of tort claim, but because it arises out of commercial transactions, it was included under contracts); employment claim (claim involving employment or hiring process, including claims of employment discrimination; worker's compensation claims, handled primarily through an administrative process, were not included); rental/lease agreement; and other contract claims (including partnership claims, stockholder claims, and subrogation issues). --------------------------------------- Contract case disposition definitions --------------------------------------- Default judgment--Occurs when a litigant has failed to file an answer to a complaint or failed to appear at a scheduled hearing. Dismissal for lack of service or prosecution-- Failure to obtain legal service of the complaint can lead to a dismissal after a stated period; most courts can also dismiss a case for the plaintiff's failure to prosecute after a case has been inactive for 18 to 24 months. Summary judgment--Entered by a judge after considering evidence submitted by both parties and determining that no controversy exists about the facts in the case; the only issue is application of the law to the facts. Other dispositions--Includes cases settled after a jury or bench trial started, settled after a jury or bench trial verdict was entered, or concluded with a directed verdict (a verdict that the jury returned at the direction of the court or that the court entered on the record after dismissal of the jury because the court found the evidence to be insufficient to support the jury's decision). Arbitration award--Typically entered without appeal in jurisdictions with arbitration programs associated with the court. Agreed judgment/voluntary dismissal--Primarily cases settled and dismissed and some cases voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs without a settlement. Types of dismissals were not identified by many courts. This category could also include dismissals for lack of jurisdiction. Trial verdict--Rendered by jury or bench (judge) trial. ---------------------------------------------- This report is the third in a series based on data collected from the BJS Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992. The first report, Tort Cases in Large Counties, NCJ-153177, and the second report, Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties, NCJ-154346, are available from the BJS Clearinghouse at 1-800-732-3277. Data presented in this report can be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The name of the dataset is Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992 (ICPSR 6587). A CD-ROM with the three reports, the datasets, questionnaire, and codebooks can be ordered by calling 1-800-732-3277 (NCJ-157771). *********************************************** The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is director. BJS Special Reports address a specific topic in depth from one or more datasets that cover many topics. Carol J. DeFrances and Steven K. Smith of BJS wrote this report. John Scalia, Jr., provided statistical review. Carma Hogue of the Bureau of the Census designed the sample. Data collection was supervised by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC); John Goerdt, NCSC Senior Research Associate, was the project director. The Bureau of the Census and the National Association of Criminal Justice Planners assisted the NCSC in the data collection. Tom Hester and Tina Dorsey edited the report. Marilyn Marbrook, assisted by Jayne Robinson and Yvonne Boston, administered production. February 1996, NCJ-156664 *********************************************** END of FILE Type of disposition for civil cases in the 75 largest counties, 1992 Disposition type Number Percent All civil cases 764,102 100% Trial 25,653 3.3 Jury* 13,898 1.8 Bench 11,755 1.5 By Steven K. Smith, Carol J. DeFrances, Patrick A. Langan BJS Statisticians and John Goerdt National Center for State Courts During a 1-year period ending in 1992, State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest counties disposed of an estimated 378,000 tort cases involving altogether 1.4 million plaintiffs and defendants. Individuals suing businesses accounted for a third of all cases. The average time courts took to dispose of a tort case was just over 1« years. Trial verdicts accounted for 3% of all tort cases disposed. In terms of scope, the study is the closest that exists to a national study of tort cases. These survey data establish a bench mark against which furture tort reforms can be evaluated. Moreover, survey results provide a baseline to which individual courts can compare themselves. The sample The 378,000 tort cases were disposed from July 1, 1991 to June 30, 1992 in State general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties. A representative sample of 18,000 cases was drawn from court files in 45 of the 75 counties. (See appendix table 1.) Tort case in the largest 75 counties represent about half of the cases dis- posed nationwide (See Methodolgy). The sample excluded Federal courts, which account for about 4% of all tort cases and State courts outside the 75 largest counties.1 Also excluded were tort cases disposed in States' limited jurisdiction courts.2 Type of tort cases Plaintiffs sue in tort cases alleging injury, loss, or damage from the negligent or intentional acts of the defendants. Types of cases vary. Over the 1-year period, the two most frequent kinds of general tort cases disposed were automobile accident (60%) and premises liability, an alleged harm that results from inadequately maintained or dangerous property (17%) (table 1). Other types of cases included those that had been a primary focus of tort reform such as product liability (3%) and medical malpractice (5%). In 92% of tort cases, the plaintiff cited personal injury as the type of harm involved. Property damage was cited in 5% and financial loss or injury to reputation in 3% of tort cases. The majority of tort cases involving personal injury (64%) and property damage (60%) were auto torts. Type of tort case disposition The most common method of tort case disposition was an agreed settlement or voluntary dismissal (73%) (table 2). Approximately 10% of the cases were dismissed for a lack of prosecution or failure to serve a complaint on the defendant. A jury (2%) or bench (1%) trial verdict disposed of relatively few cases. Medical malpractice claims were the most likely to be disposed by a bench or jury trial (7%). Relatively few tort cases had litigants without representation of an attorney (pro se). Three percent of the cases involved at least one pro se litigant. Uncontested tort cases In 28% of tort cases the defendant failed to file an answer to the com- plaint. Failure to answer in a timely manner (usually within 30 to 45 days) gives the plaintiff the right to file a motion for a default judgment. Such uncontested tort cases comprised 81% of all cases disposed by default judgments. Case processing time The mean tort case processing time from the filing of the case to disposition was 19.3 months and the median was 13.7 months (table 3). Within 1 year 44% of all tort cases were disposed, and by 2 years, 74% were disposed. Case processing was fastest for auto torts (median of 1 year). One reason for the relatively fast processing time was that auto tort cases were among the types with the fewest number of litigants (median of 3). Also, compared to all other types, auto torts had the largest percentage with an individual (rather than institutions) as the defendant. Case processing time was slowest for toxic substance cases (median time of nearly 2« years). Contributing to this relatively slow time was the number of litigants per case: toxic substance cases had the most litigants of any type of case _ an average of 14 per case, compared to 3 for all tort cases (table 3). Toxic tort cases also involve complex issues regarding causation of harm. On average, tort cases disposed by a jury or bench trial verdict had the long- est case processing time, exceeding 20 months. The longest processing time for a sampled case was 14 years and 5 months. This case of negligence involved 3 individuals who named 14 defendants in the complaint, including individuals, businesses, and a government agen-cy. It was disposed by an agreed settlement. Types of litigants: plaintiffs Each case, regardless of number or types of plaintiffs, was given one plaintiff designation: hospital, business, government, or individual.3 Similarly, each was also given a single defendant designation. A case with multiple types of plaintiffs or defendants was assigned the designation of whichever type appears first in the above listing. Because tort litigation primarily involves claims or damages related to personal injury, the vast majority (94%) of cases had an individual as the primary plaintiff. Businesses were plaintiffs in 6% of all tort cases, and hospitals and government agencies each were less than 1% (table 5). Businesses were the primary plaintiff in 20% of nonmedical professional malpractice cases, 15% of slander, and 12% of product liability. Types of litigants: defendants The composition of defendants in tort cases differed from that of the plaintiffs. While in more than 9 in 10 tort cases the primary plaintiff was an individual, half the cases had an individual as the primary defendant. Approximately 40% of the tort cases had a business as the primary defendant. A majority (70%) of auto cases named an individual as the defendant. In three-quarters or more of premises liability cases (75%), product liability (93%), and toxic substance (96%) cases, a business was the defendant. Among medical malpractice cases, hospitals comprised 72% of the defendants. Who sues whom? The most common type of tort case involved individual(s) suing individual(s) (47% of all torts) (table 6). Next most common type was individual(s) suing business(es) (37%). The cases in which individual(s) sued a government agency or hospital were 5%. Auto torts were primarily individual versus individual; medical malpractice cases individual versus hospital; and toxic substance and product liability cases, individual versus business. County specific data The volume and composition of tort cases disposed, their average case processing time, and the types of litigants varied across the individual state courts sampled in this project. (see Appendix tables 1-3). Numerous factors can contribute to these differ- ences. These include the types of commercial enterprises located in the jurisdiction and the demographic characteristics of the residents. The presence of no-fault auto insurance, and laws addressing the plaintiff's role in contributory negligence can also impact tort case load. States vary in the minimum amount of money that must be involved for a civil case to be filed in the general jurisdiction court. The minimum threshold can range from $25,000 in California to $2,000 in Connecticut. Methodology Sample The Civil Trial Court Network Project sample is a 2-stage stratified sample with 45 of the 75 most populous counties selected at the first stage. The 75 counties were divided into 4 strata based on civil disposition data for 1990 obtained through telephone interviews with court staffs in the general jurisdiction trial courts. For stratum 1 _14 counties with the largest number of civil case dispositions _ every county was selected. Stratum 2 consisted of 15 counties with 12 chosen. From stratum 3, 10 of the 20 counties were selected. Nine of the twenty-six counties in stratum four were included. At the second stage, either an interval or random sample of 400-450 tort cases disposed between July 1, 1991, and June 30, 1992, was selected within the State general jurisdiction trial court of each county. Data on 18,178 general civil cases were collected. The estimate that the Nation's 75 largest comprised a half of the Nation's tort case load is based on statewide tort filings available for 16 States. Tort case type definitions: Torts _ Claims arising from personal injury or property damage caused by negligent or intentional act of another person or business. Specific tort case types include: automobile accident; premises liability (injury caused by the dangerous condition of residential or commercial property); medical malpractice (by doctor, dentist, or medical professional); other professional malpractice (as by engineers or architects); product liability (injury or damage caused by defective products); toxic substance (injury caused by toxic substances, primarily asbestos in this study); libel/slander (injury to reputation); intentional tort (such as vandalism and intentional personal injury); and other negligent acts. Tort case disposition definitions: Default judgment _ Occurs upon motion of the opposing party when a litigant has failed to file an answer to a complaint or failed to appear at a scheduled hearing. Dismissal for lack of service or prosecution _ Failure to obtain legal service of the complaint can lead to a dismissal after a stated period; most courts can also dismiss a case for the plaintiff's failure to prosecute after a case has been inactive for 18 to 24 months. Summary judgment _ Entered by a judge after considering evidence submitted by both parties and determining that no controversy exists about the facts in the case; the only issue is application of the law to the facts. Other dispositions _ Includes cases settled after a jury or bench trial started, settled after a jury or bench trial verdict was entered, or concluded with a directed verdict (a verdict that the jury returned at the direction of the court or that the court entered on the record after dismissal of the jury because the court found the evidence to be insufficient to support the jury's decision). Arbitration award _ Typically entered without appeal in jurisdictions with arbitration programs associated with the court. Agreed settlement/voluntary dimissal _ Primarily cases settled and dismissed and some cases voluntarily dismissed by plaintiffs without a settlement. Types of dismissals were not identified by many courts; it could also include dismissals for lack of jurisdiction. Trial verdict _ Rendered by jury or bench (judge) trial. Judgment 136,280 17.8 Summary 27,669 3.6 Default 108,611 14.2 Arbitration award 19,340 2.5 Settlement 471,542 61.7 Dismissal 81,817 10.8 Lack of prosecution 73,785 9.7 Failure ot serve complaint on defendant 8,032 1.1 Transfer 29,470 3.9 Note: Data on disposition type were missing for 2206 cases. *Includes cases that settled after the trial started or after the verdict was entered. Jury trials also include direct verdict. Number of civil cases for the 75 largest counties, 1992 Primary civil case type Number Percent All civil cases 764,011 100% Tort 378,314 49.5% Auto tort 227,515 29.8 Dangerous property 65,492 8.6 Product liability 12,857 1.7 Intentional 10,879 1.4 Malpractice Medical 18,452 2.4 Nonmedical 6,860 0.9 Slander/libel/defamation 3,159 0.4 Toxic substance/chemical 6,045 0.8 Unknown tort 4,708 0.6 Other negligence 22,347 2.9 Contract 366,338 48.0% Fraud 15,927 2.1 Seller plaintiff 189,246 24.8 Buyer plaintiff 44,744 5.9 Mortgage forclosure 68,919 9.0 Employment 8,159 1.1 Rental/lease 20,687 2.7 Other contract 18,656 2.4 Real property 19,359 2.5% Eminent domain 4,631 0.6 Title dispute 8,021 1.0 Other real property 6,707 0.9 Note: Categories represent primary type of cases. For 36,469 cases (4.8%), multiple cases types were filed. Civil cases of plaintiff or defendant won by trial verdict Plaintiff 12,162 62.7% Defendant 7,232 37.3 Note: For all cases 743,830 were not applicable. Percent of civil cases that are won through trail verdicts All cases Auto tort Medical malpractive Contract Seller Buyer Plaintiff 61.8 30.8 85.8 64.2 Defendant 38.2 69.2 14.2 35.8