By Carol J. DeFrances

Steven K. Smith

Patrick A. Langan

BJS Statisticians

Brian J. Ostrom 

David B. Rottman

John A. Goerdt

National Center for State Courts

Over a year-long period ending June

30, 1992, juries in State general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest

counties decided an estimated 12,000

tort, contract, and real property rights

cases. Thirty-three percent of these

cases were automobile accident suits,

11% were medical malpractice, and

5% were product liability and toxic substance cases. 

Plaintiffs won 52% of the cases and juries awarded these plaintiffs $2.7 

billion in damages, of which 10% were

punitive damages. The average time

from the filing of the complaint to the

jury verdict was 2.5 years.

These are some of the main findings

from a study of civil jury trial cases 

in State courts involving tort, contract,

and real property rights claims  the

three types that together comprise the

vast majority of civil jury trial cases.

The sample of civil jury trial cases 

excluded civil cases outside the three

types, Federal trials, trials in State

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts 

in Large Counties

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Special Report

July 1995, NCJ-154346

 Juries in the 75 largest counties

disposed of 12,000 tort, contract, 

and real property cases during the

12-month period ending June 30,

1992. Jury cases were 2% of the

762,000 tort, contract, and real property cases disposed by State courts

of general jurisdiction in the Nation's

most populous counties.

 Most of the cases decided by a jury

were tort cases (79%). 

 The vast majority of plaintiffs (88%) 

in jury cases were individuals and

half the defendants were businesses.

 Among jury tort cases, plaintiffs

won in 74% of toxic substance cases,

60% of auto tort cases, 41% of product liability cases, and 30% of medical malpractice cases. 

 In about half of all the jury cases,

the jury found in favor of the plaintiff

and awarded in the 12-month period

an estimated $2.7 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. The

median total award for a plaintiff was

$52,000. 

 Punitive damages were awarded 

in 6% of the jury cases with a plaintiff

winner.

 During the 12 months, juries disposed of 360 product liability cases.

Plaintiffs won 142 cases, and punitive

damages were awarded in 3 of the

cases. 

 Of the 403 medical malpractice

cases with a plaintiff winner, punitive

damages were awarded in 13 cases.

In 4 of these 13 cases, the punitive

damage award was over $250,000. 

Tracking tort, contract, and real property rights cases to jury verdict:

State general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Jury trial cases

 12,000

Plaintiff 

did not win

5,800

Plaintiff won 

6,200

Punitive

damages

awarded

364

Dismissed

82,000 Summary

judgment

28,000

Transfers

29,000

Agreed

settlement

470,000

Default

judgment

108,000

Tort, contract, and real property cases

 762,000

Non-jury cases

 750,000

Other

(bench trial, 

arbitration award,

and directed

verdicts)

33,000

Highlights
general jurisdiction courts outside the

75 largest counties, jury trials in State

limited jurisdiction courts, and bench

trials (trials by a judge rather than

a jury).

Over the year long period ending June

30, 1992, State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest counties disposed of an estimated 762,000

tort, contract, and real property rights

cases. Jury trials accounted for 2%, 

or about 12,000, of these cases 

(table 1).1

Jury size and decision rules are determined by State law and vary across

the States. For example, 28 States

and the District of Columbia permit civil

juries smaller than 12. Thirty-three 

States do not require a unanimous civil

jury verdict. (See appendix table 1.)

Cases that reach jury trial

An estimated 79% of civil jury trials 

in the Nation's 75 largest counties

involved a tort action, 18% were contract cases, and 2% real property

rights cases (table 2). 

Automobile torts accounted for 33% 

of all jury trial cases; premises liability,

17%, and medical malpractice, 11%. 

Product liability and toxic substance

cases were 5%.

Type of litigants: Plaintiffs

The vast majority (88%) of all jury

cases involved individuals exclusively

as plaintiffs (table 3).2

 Businesses

were plaintiffs in 11% of all cases; government agencies in 2%, and hospitals

in 0.1%. Businesses were more likely 

to be the plaintiff in a contract (36%)

than a tort (5%) case. 

 2 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

Table 1. Types of civil cases that 

go to jury trial in State courts in the

Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

All tort,

contract, Percent

and real of cases

property disposed

cases by jury

Case type disposed trial

All civil cases 761,919 1.5% 

Tort cases 377,421 2.3% 

Automobile 277,087 1.6

Premises liability 65,372 3.3

Medical malpractice 18,396 6.4

Intentional tort 10,879 2.7

Product liability 12,763 2.6

Toxic substance 6,045 2.8

Professional malpractice 6,827 3.2

Slander/libel 3,159 1.9

Other tort 26,891 2.6

Contract cases 365,263 .7% 

Seller plaintiff 188,761 .5

Buyer plaintiff 44,592 1.1

Fraud 15,917 2.0

Employment 8,064 4.0

Rental/lease 20,587 .4

Mortgage foreclosure 68,811 .1

Other contract 18,531 1.3

Real property cases 19,235 2.1% 

Eminent domain 4,595 4.3

Other real property 14,640 1.4

Note: Data on type of case and type of disposition were available for 99.4% of all cases.

Source: Data were collected by the BJS Civil

Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992.

Table 2. Civil jury trial case types 

in State courts in the Nation's 75 

largest counties, 1992

Number

of jury 

Case type cases Percent

All jury casesa 12,026 100.0% 

Tort cases 9,532 79.3%

Automobile 3,915 32.6

Premises liability 1,991 16.6

Medical malpractice 1,370 11.4

Intentional tort 448 3.7

Product liability 360 3.0

Toxic substanceb 287 2.4

Professional malpractice 187 1.6

Slander/libel 66 .5

Other tort 909 7.6

Contract cases 2,217 18.4%

Seller plaintiff 610 5.1

Buyer plaintiff 593 4.9

Fraud 317 2.6

Employment 311 2.6

Rental/lease 133 1.1

Mortgage foreclosure 6 .1

Other contract 246 2.0

Real property cases 277 2.3%

Eminent domain 204 1.7

Other real property 74 .6

Note: Data for jury trial case types were available for 99.5% of all cases. Detail may not sum

to total because of rounding. Data presented in

tables 1 and 2 are drawn from different samples;

therefore, exact case totals do not match.

See footnote number 1 on this page.

a

About 4% of the jury cases were settled after 

the jury trial verdict, and (1%) had a directed

verdict.

b

Data for toxic substance cases, a specific type

of product liability case, were collected and 

reported as a separate category.

1

Estimates for the total number of tort, contract,

and real property cases disposed of were derived

from data collected by the BJS Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992. This survey consists

of two datasets. The first dataset contains a representative sample of the 762,000 tort, contract,

and real property cases disposed by State courts

of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest

counties during the 12-month period ending June

30, 1992. Table 1 and the BJS Special Report 

Tort Cases in Large Counties (NCJ-153177) are

based on this dataset. The second dataset consists of a representative sample of the approximately 12,000 civil cases which were disposed 

by a jury trial during the same period. All remaining tables in this report are based on this dataset

of jury cases. 

2

Each civil jury trial case, regardless of the number of plaintiff types involved, was given one

of four plaintiff designations: hospital, business,

government, or individual.
Type of litigants: Defendants

The composition of defendants in jury

trials differed from that of plaintiffs.3

 

Half the cases had a business as the

defendant. Specifically, a business

was the defendant in all or nearly all 

of the following case types: toxic substance (100%), product liability (99%),

buyer plaintiff (88%), and employment

(80%) cases.

Overall, less than a third of all cases

had an individual as the defendant. 

Individuals were about half (53%) the

defendants in auto tort cases.

Among medical malpractice cases, 

hospitals comprised 64% of defendants. A government agency was the

defendant in nearly 29% of intentional

tort cases.

 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 3

3

Each case, regardless of the number of defendant types, was given a single defendant designation among the four possible. 

Table 3. Type of plaintiffs or defendants, by selected types of civil jury trial cases

in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Plaintiffs Defendants

 Govern- GovernCase type Total Individual ment Businessa Hospitalb Total Individual ment Businessa Hospitalb

All jury cases 100% 87.5% 1.8% 10.6% .1% 100% 30.2% 7.9% 52.9% 9.0%

Tort cases 100% 95.0% .4% 4.5% .1% 100% 32.2% 9.1% 47.8% 10.9%

Auto 100 96.1 .4 3.4 .1 100 52.9 7.6 39.2 .3

Premises liability 100 95.6 .4 4.1 0 100 11.1 12.2 73.1 3.7

Product liability 100 85.5 .3 14.2 0 100 0 0 98.8 1.2

Intentional tort 100 97.3 0 2.7 0 100 29.2 28.9 39.3 2.6

Medical malpractice 100 98.3 .2 1.4 .1 100 30.9 1.1 3.6 64.4

Professional malpractice 100 77.0 1.5 21.4 0 100 28.2 5.5 65.8 .5

Slander/libel 100 85.6 0 14.4 0 100 28.5 1.5 62.8 7.3

Toxic substance 100 97.0 2.0 1.0 0 100 0 0 100.0 0 

Contract cases 100% 62.8% .7% 36.2% .3% 100% 21.2% 2.7% 74.3% 1.9%

Fraud 100 71.1 0 28.5 .4 100 25.7 .3 72.0 2.0

Seller plaintiff 100 34.4 1.3 63.6 .6 100 33.7 1.5 62.8 2.0

Buyer plaintiff 100 74.8 .9 24.4 0 100 10.4 1.0 88.4 .2

Employment 100 94.1 0 5.5 .4 100 2.4 13.0 80.0 4.6

Rental/lease 100 52.4 0 47.6 0 100 33.9 2.3 61.1 2.8

Real property cases 100% 27.9% 57.2% 14.9% 0 100% 32.7% 9.3% 56.9% 1.0%

Eminent domain 100 8.6 77.9 13.5 0 100 24.3 12.7 61.5 1.4

Other real property 100 81.3 0 18.7 0 100 55.9 0 44.1 0 

Note: Plaintiff or 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. For example, any case involving a hospital defendant

is categorized as a case with a "hospital defendant" even if there were also

business, individual, or government defendants in the case. 

Data on type of plaintiff, defendant, and case were

available for 99.4% of all cases. Detail may not sum to

100% because of rounding.

Zero indicates no cases in the sample.

a

Includes insurance companies, banks, other businesses,

and other organizations.

b

Includes medical companies. 
Who sues whom?

The most common type of civil jury

case involved an individual suing a

business (44% of all cases, 44% of 

tort cases, and 47% of contract cases) 

(table 4). 

Thirty-two percent of tort cases involved an individual suing an individual, compared to 12% of contract

cases. In nearly half (46%) of real

property cases, a business, government agency, or a hospital sued 

a business. 

 4 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

Table 4. Pairings of primary litigants in civil jury trial cases, by selected case

types in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

All jury cases Tort

 

 Contract Real property

Plaintiff versus defendanta Number

of cases

Number 

of cases

Number

of cases

Number

 Percent Percent Percent Percent of cases

All jury cases 12,017 100.0% 9,525 100.0% 2,215 100.0% 277 100.0%

Individual versus:

Individual 3,298 27.4 2,996 31.5 265 12.0 37 13.2

Government 907 7.5 844 8.9 49 2.2 15 5.2

Businessb 5,255 43.7 4,183 43.9 1,046 47.2 26 9.5

Hospital 1,053 8.8 1,023 10.7 30 1.3 0 0 

Individual and nonindividual versus:

Individual 80 .7 51 .5 29 1.3 0 0 

Government 12 .1 10 .1 2 .1 0 0 

Businessb 320 2.7 206 2.2 110 5.0 3 1.1

Hospital 21 .2 18 .2 3 .1 0 0 

Nonindividual versus:

Individual 247 2.1 19 .2 173 7.8 54 19.5

Government 28 .2 8 .1 9 .4 11 4.1

Businessb 782 6.5 164 1.7 490 22.1 128 46.3

Hospital 14 .1 2 0 9 .4 3 1.0

Note: Data on litigant pairings and type of case were 

available for 99.5% of all cases. Zero indicates no cases

in the sample. Detail may not sum to 100% because 

of rounding.

a

Plaintiff or 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. 

For example, any case involving a hospital defendant is 

categorized as a case with a "hospital defendant" even

if there were also business, individual, or government 

defendants in the case.

b

Business litigants include insurance companies, banks,

other businesses, and other organizations.

Table 5. Jury award winners and losers in State courts

in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Percent of cases

Number of Plaintiff Plaintiff

Case type jury cases Total won did not win*

All jury cases 11,953 100% 51.8% 48.2%

Tort cases 9,472 100% 49.9% 50.1%

Toxic substance 287 100 74.0 26.0

Automobile 3,889 100 60.2 39.8

Professional malpractice 187 100 50.3 49.7

Intentional tort 444 100 46.4 53.6

Other tort 892 100 46.5 53.5

Premises liability 1,986 100 43.7 56.3

Slander/libel 66 100 41.6 58.4

Product liability 358 100 40.5 59.5

Medical malpractice 1,362 100 30.3 69.7

Contract cases 2,205 100% 62.9% 37.1%

Rental/lease 132 100 73.3 26.7

Seller plaintiff 610 100 70.9 29.1

Buyer plaintiff 593 100 64.0 36.0

Employment 308 100 56.1 43.9

Fraud 317 100 57.1 42.9

Other contract 239 100 51.3 48.7

Mortgage foreclosure 6 100 20.0 80.0

Real property cases 277 100% 30.7% 69.3%

Eminent domain 204 100 20.7 79.3

Other real property 73 100 58.9 41.1

Note: Data on case type and jury award winners were available for 98.9% of all cases. 

Detail may not sum to 100% because of rounding. 

Zero indicates no cases in the sample.

*Includes cases in which both plaintiff and defendant won damages, cases in which 

plaintiff won liability trial, and cases in which the defendant won liability trial.
Jury verdicts

Overall, juries found the defendant 

liable 52% of the time (table 5).4 The

likelihood of plaintiff success varied by

the type of civil case. Plaintiffs won in

63% of contract cases, 50% of tort

cases, and 31% of real property cases.

In greater detail, plaintiffs were most

successful in toxic substance (74%),

rental/lease agreement (73%), and

contract cases with seller plaintiff 

(71%); and least successful in mortgage foreclosure (20%), eminent 

domain (21%), and medical malpractice (30%). (See Methodology on page

11 for definitions of case types.)

Jury awards

Both tort and contract cases typically

involve a compensatory award for 

economic (sometimes called "special")

damages, which include all financial

losses that are the result of the defendant's conduct. Tort cases also can

include a compensatory award for noneconomic (sometimes called general)

damages, which include awards for 

pain and suffering and emotional distress. Distinct from compensatory

damages are punitive damages, which

are almost exclusively reserved for 

tort claims in which the defendant's

conduct was grossly negligent or

intentional.

Juries in large counties awarded 

altogether $2.7 billion in compensatory

and punitive damages to plaintiff winners in 1992 (table 6). The median 

recovery for all cases was $52,000. 

 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 5

Table 6. Final award amounts for civil jury cases with plaintiff winners 

in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Number of Percent of plaintiff

cases with winner cases (column A)

a plaintiff with final awards

winner Final amount awarded to plaintiff winners Over $1 million

Case type (A) Total Median Mean $250,000 or more

All jury cases 5,949 $2,703,683,000 $52,000 $455,000 21.5% 7.5%

Tort cases 4,584 $1,869,699,000 $51,000 $408,000 21.2% 7.8%

Toxic substance 202 106,306,000 101,000 526,000 30.4 13.3

Automobile 2,280 502,602,000 29,000 220,000 12.7 4.0

Professional malpractice 92 97,308,000 156,000 1,057,000 38.4 13.6

Intentional tort 199 105,466,000 54,000 530,000 21.5 6.5

Other tort 393 154,032,000 65,000 391,000 23.5 10.8

Premises liability 845 196,207,000 57,000 232,000 22.0 5.2

Slander/libel 27 6,284,000 25,000 229,000 18.4 13.9

Product liability 142 103,346,000 260,000 727,000 50.5 15.4

Medical malpractice 403 598,148,000 201,000 1,484,000 47.1 24.8

Contract cases 1,322 $820,098,000 $56,000 $620,000 22.6% 6.5%

Rental/lease 85 159,734,000 71,000 1,881,000 17.7 2.4

Seller plaintiff 417 88,368,000 35,000 212,000 17.9 3.0

Buyer plaintiff 363 173,965,000 45,000 479,000 20.8 7.1

Employment 170 249,206,000 141,000 1,462,000 39.8 13.8

Fraud 173 117,209,000 70,000 678,000 26.5 9.2

Other contract 113 31,616,000 49,000 280,000 17.9 5.3

Real property cases* 43 $13,886,000 $55,000 $325,000 16.1% 4.7%

Note: Data for case type and final awards in jury trial

cases were available for 95.8% of all plaintiff winners.

Award data were rounded to the nearest $1,000.

Final amount awarded includes both compensatory

awards (reduced for contributory negligence, if applicable) and punitive damage awards. 

*Eminent domain cases are not calculated among final

awards because they always entail an award; the issue

is how much the defendant (whose property is being

condemned) will receive for the property. 

4

In civil cases, the plaintiff must prove the key 

elements of the case by a "preponderance of the

evidence." This standard is less stringent than

"beyond a reasonable doubt," the standard used

in criminal cases.

Tort, contract, and real property cases

disposed by a jury trial in the Nation's 75

largest counties during a 1-year period 

resulted in a total final award of $1 million

or more in each of 459 cases, or 3.8% of

all 12,000 jury cases. In the vast majority

of these $1 million or more cases (97%), 

a plaintiff, rather than a defendant in a

counterclaim, received the award. 

Medical malpractice (23%) and automobile tort (21%) cases were the most

prevalent types among cases with a jury

award of $1 million or more to plaintiff

winners. 

The types of defendants in these large

award cases differed from those in torts

with smaller awards.

Medical malpractice 

A hospital was the defendant in 72% 

of the $1 million-plus cases, compared 

to 56% of the cases in which the plaintiff

was awarded less than $1 million.

Automobile tort 

Businesses (53%) and government

agencies (29%) together comprised over

three-fourths of the defendants in $1

million-plus cases. 

An individual was the defendant in 53%

of the cases with an award under $1 million, compared to 18% of the cases in

which the plaintiff was awarded $1 million

or more.

Jury cases with total final awards of $1 million or more
About a quarter (22%) of the final

awards to plaintiff winners were in 

excess of $250,000. Half of the plaintiff winners in product liability cases

were awarded total damages over

$250,000. 

About 8% of plaintiff winners received

final awards of $1 million or more. The

largest proportion of these $1 millionplus awards was in medical malpractice cases (25%), followed by product

liability cases (15%). 

In tort cases, individual plaintiffs were

just as successful whether they sued

an individual (53%) or a business

(54%) (table 7). In contract cases, 

individual plaintiffs won more often

when they sued an individual (69%)

rather than a business (58%). 

Individual plaintiff winners received

larger final award amounts when the

defendant was a business rather than

an individual. When a business was

the defendant, the award amount exceeded $250,000 in 25% of the cases.

When an individual was the defendant,

the award amount exceeded $250,000

in 8% of the cases.

Punitive damages

Juries included punitive damages 

as part of the overall award in 6% 

of the cases in which the plaintiff won 

(table 8).5 

Punitive damages accounted for

about 10% of all money awarded to

plaintiffs.6

 The median punitive award

was $50,000. Twenty-four percent 

of punitive damage awards were over

$250,000, and 12% were $1 million 

or more.

Punitive damages were awarded to

plaintiff winners in 30% of slander/libel

cases, 27% of employment cases,

21% of fraud cases, and 19% of intentional tort cases. Six percent of plaintiff winners in toxic substance cases

and 2% in product liability cases were

awarded punitive damages.

 6 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

5

In 25 States, before punitive damages can be

awarded, the jury must find "clear and convincing

evidence" and in 1 State "beyond a reasonable

doubt" that the defendant's conduct was wanton,

malicious, extremely or grossly negligent, or oppressive in character. Eight States require plaintiffs to remit a portion of their punitive damage

award to the public treasury. Twelve States 

require bifurcation; that is, separate trials for 

compensatory and punitive damages. In nine

States that require bifurcation, the award is determined by a jury and in the remaining three States,

the amount is determined by a judge. Source:

Thomas Koenig and Michael Rustad, "The Quiet

Revolution Revisited: An Empirical Study of the

Impact of State Tort Reform of Punitive Damages

in Product Liability," in The Justice System Journal 16 (2): 21-44, 1993.

In 13% of civil cases in which a jury

awarded compensatory damages to the

plaintiff, the damages were reduced because the plaintiff had contributed to the

negligence that led to loss or injury. The

reduction totaled approximately $84 million. (This total does not include reductions in the three sites for which data 

on reduced awards were unavailable: 

Fairfax Co., Virginia, Alameda Co., 

California, and Marion Co., Indiana).

States differ in the role played by a 

plaintiff's own negligence in determining

whether, or the extent to which, the defendant is liable for a plaintiff's damages.

Based on these differences, States 

are classified below into one of four

categories.* 

Modified comparative negligence 

Nine States have a modified comparative

negligence rule (the "50% bar to recovery" rule) which stipulates that the plaintiff

can recover damages only if he or she is

less negligent than the defendant.

Eighteen States use a modified comparative negligence rule (the "51% bar to 

recovery" rule) under which the plaintiff

can recover damages only if he or she 

is not more negligent than the defendant.

Pure comparative negligence

Thirteen States use a pure comparative

negligence rule under which a plaintiff

can recover damages to the extent that

the defendant is responsible for the plaintiff's injuries.

Pure contributory negligence

Six States use a pure contributory negligence rule that bars recovering damages

from the defendant if the plaintiff's own

negligent conduct contributed in any way

to his or her own injuries. 

Mixed rules

Four States have a blend of rules and do

not fit into any single general category.

The role of contributory negligence

Alaska Mississippi

Arizona Missouri

California New Mexico

Florida New York

Kentucky Rhode Island

Louisiana Washington

Michigan

Arkansas North Dakota

Colorado Utah

Idaho West Virginia

Kansas Wyoming

Maine

Connecticut New Hampshire

Hawaii New Jersey

Illinois Ohio

Indiana Oklahoma

Iowa Oregon

Massachusetts Pennsylvania

Montana Texas

Minnesota Vermont

Nevada Wisconsin

Alabama North Carolina

Delaware South Carolina

Maryland Virginia

Georgia South Dakota

Nebraska Tennessee

*Whether a State was classified as modified

comparative negligence, pure comparative 

negligence, pure contributory negligence, 

or mixed rule depended on general characteristics of its civil laws. If the focus were on 

specific types of civil cases, the classification 

might differ from what is shown here. States

do not always use the same decision rules 

for each type of civil case.

Source: American Jurisprudence, 2nd edition (1989, supp. 1995), 57B:1131-49.

6

Four States (New Hampshire, Louisiana, 

Nebraska, and Washington) do not permit punitive

damages to be awarded, and one State (Massachusetts) permits punitive damages to be awarded

only when authorized by statute. In States that do

allow punitive damages to be awarded, many have

enacted legislation to cap punitive damages at a

specific dollar amount, such as $350,000. Other

States have capped punitive damages to a certain

proportion of the compensatory damages. Source:

Koenig and Rustad, 1993.
Nearly 55% of the punitive damage

awards in the 13 toxic substance

cases were over $1 million. Employment-related contract cases involving

punitive damages always included an

associated tort claim (for example, 

discrimination or harassment). 

Approximately $133 million in punitive

damages were awarded in connection

with employment-related cases. 

The $133 million damages awarded

accounted for 50% of the total $268

million awarded for punitive damages. 

 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 7

Table 7. Plaintiff winner cases and final award amounts, by selected litigant pairings 

and selected case types in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Percent of plaintiff

winner cases (column B)

Number Plaintiff winner cases Final amount awarded with final awards

Selected case type and of cases Number Percent to plaintiff winnersa Over $1 million

litigant pairings (A) (B) (C=B/A) Median Mean $250,000 or more

Individual versus Individual

All jury casesb 3,289 1,792 54.5% $24,000 $130,000 8.4% 2.6% 

Tort casesc 2,979 1,580 53.0% $22,000 $130,000 8.6% 2.8% 

Auto torts 2,021 1,196 59.2 17,000 79,000 4.6 1.4

Premises liability 208 68 32.6 34,000 132,000 6.9 5.0

Product liability 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Medical malpractice 412 142 34.5 111,000 522,000 29.5 15.5

Toxic substance 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Contract casesd 265 183 69.0% $38,000 $146,000 7.9% .7% 

Fraud 67 39 58.4 70,000 104,000 7.7 0 

Seller plaintiff 67 54 79.9 20,000 272,000 10.0 2.3

Buyer plaintiff 47 39 83.6 31,000 138,000 15.6 0 

Employment 3 2 69.2 29,000 26,000 0 0 

Rental/lease 29 22 74.8 12,000 47,000 0 0 

Individual versus Businesse

All jury cases 5,240 2,855 54.5% $65,000 $460,000 24.5% 7.8% 

Tort cases 4,148 2,227 53.7% $69,000 $379,000 25.1% 8.0% 

Auto torts 1,416 894 63.1 60,000 315,000 21.3 5.3

Premises liability 1,381 639 46.3 60,000 259,000 24.2 6.0

Product liability 302 115 38.0 260,000 753,000 51.2 16.1

Medical malpractice 45 16 34.7 200,000 857,000 31.5 18.6

Toxic substance 279 209 74.9 100,000 532,000 29.5 13.6

Contract cases 1,042 603 57.9% $55,000 $757,000 22.1% 7.0% 

Fraud 152 80 52.6 57,000 722,000 24.2 8.0

Seller plaintiff 134 89 66.6 51,000 125,000 14.3 0 

Buyer plaintiff 393 243 61.7 31,000 505,000 13.8 6.0

Employment 233 131 56.1 159,000 1,845,000 45.5 14.2

Rental/lease 37 24 65.5 72,000 69,000 0 0 

Note: Data on litigant pairings, jury award winners, and type

of cases were available for 98.9% of all cases. Data on 

final award amounts were available for plaintiff winners in

96.8% of individual versus individual cases and 96% of individual 

versus business cases. Award data were rounded to the nearest

$1,000. Zero indicates no cases in the sample. Final amount

awarded includes both compensatory damage (reduced for

contributory negligence, if applicable) and punitive damage

awards. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding.

a

Plaintiff winners with missing final award amounts are excluded.

 b

All jury cases include real property cases

 which are not shown separately in the table.

 c

Tort cases include intentional torts, professional 

 malpractice, slander/libel, and other tort cases

 which are not shown separately in the table.

 d

Contract cases include mortgage foreclosure

 and other contract cases which are not shown

 separately in the table.

 eBusiness litigants include insurance companies,

 banks, other businesses, and other organizations. 
 8 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

Table 8. Punitive damage awards for plaintiff winners in civil jury cases 

in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

Plaintiff winner cases

Number Percent of plaintiff

awarded Percent winner cases (column A)

punitive receiving Amount of punitive damages with punitive damages

damages punitive awarded to plaintiff winners Over $1 million

Case type (A) damages Total Median Mean $250,000 or more

All jury cases 364 5.9% $267,879,000 $50,000 $735,000 23.7% 11.6%

Tort cases 190 4.0% $91,477,000 $36,000 $481,000 22.7% 10.1%

Automobile 55 2.4 35,535,000 25,000 641,000 19.9 7.5

Premises liability 15 1.7 1,272,000 40,000 87,000 0 0 

Product liability 3 2.2 40,000 9,000 12,000 0 0 

Intentional tort 38 18.5 10,926,000 25,000 286,000 13.8 8.5

Medical malpractice 13 3.1 3,120,000 199,000 245,000 31.8 0 

Professional malpractice 15 15.7 6,077,000 250,000 412,000 44.0 8.5

Slander/libel 8 29.8 1,341,000 47,000 164,000 34.2 0 

Toxic substance 13 6.2 26,420,000 1,692,000 1,994,000 54.7 54.7

Other tort 30 7.2 6,746,000 100,000 226,000 20.9 10.9

Contract cases 169 12.2% $169,528,000 $52,000 $1,003,000 24.4% 12.6%

Fraud 38 21.2 7,339,000 45,000 191,000 18.9 10.4

Seller plaintiff 24 5.6 1,221,000 22,000 51,000 0 0 

Buyer plaintiff 47 12.4 27,446,000 27,000 581,000 28.6 11.1

Employment 46 26.8 132,759,000 179,000 2,874,000 42.1 26.1

Rental/lease 11 11.3 399,000 50,000 37,000 0 0 

Other contract 2 1.8 365,000 145,000 162,000 44.4 0 

Real property cases* 5 11.7% $6,873,000 $85,000 $1,375,000 40.0% 40.0%

Note: Award data were rounded to the nearest $1,000. Zero 

indicates no cases in the sample. In this study, cases are

classified into a single case type, though cases may involve multiple

claims (such as contract and tort). Under laws in almost all

States, only tort claims qualify for punitive damages. If a contract

or real property case involved punitive damages, it involved a related

tort claim. Punitive damage awards may be incomplete for 4 counties: Palm Beach Co., FL, Wayne Co., MI, Allegheny Co., PA, and

Philadelphia Co., PA. 

*Excludes eminent domain cases.

 

Compensatory and punitive damage awards for "defendants"

In cases with claims and counterclaims, the distinction between plaintiff and defendant becomes less

clear. Therefore, it is possible that

one party originally named as a defendant countersues the plaintiff and

actually wins damages. In 1.2% of

all tort, contract, and real property

cases concluded by jury trial in State

general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties during a 

1-year period ending June 30, 1992,

the defendant won in a countersuit.

Defendants in tort, contract, and real

property jury cases won $162 million

in compensatory and punitive damages on counterclaims. 

Of these counterclaim cases won by

defendants, 19% were seller plaintiff, 16% auto torts, 14% buyer plaintiff, and 12% fraud.

Defendants who won on counterclaims and were awarded punitive

damages comprised 4% of all cases

in which punitive damages were

awarded. These defendants were

awarded $55 million in punitive damages in jury trial cases. Two-thirds

of these cases involved fraud. The

largest punitive amount awarded in

a counterclaim was $18 million to 11

defendants in a case involving negligence and a contract dispute.
 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 9

In State courts of general jurisdiction

in the Nation's 75 largest counties,

juries disposed of 360 product liability cases during a 12-month period

ending June 30, 1992. The 360 are

about 3% of the 12,000 civil cases

(tort, contract, and real property)

disposed by a jury trial.

Juries decided in favor of the plaintiff

in 41% of the product liability cases

and awarded a total of $103 million

in compensatory and punitive damages to these 142 plaintiff winners.

In 3 of the 142 plaintiff winner cases,

punitive damages were awarded together that totaled $40,000. 

In 1991-92 juries rendered verdicts 

in 287 toxic substance cases in the

Nation's 75 largest counties. Plaintiffs won 74%, or 202 cases, receiving an average total award of over

$500,000. In 13 cases punitive 

damages were awarded that 

together totaled $26 million. (The

court records did not reflect whether

the award was paid or whether an 

appeal was entered.) 

The BJS survey finding that relatively

few product liability jury verdicts resulted in punitive damage awards 

is consistent with previous findings 

in studies of jury verdicts. Findings

from three such studies are summarized below: 

 In a review of 24,000 jury verdicts

in Cook County, Illinois, and San

Francisco County, California, from

1960 to 1984, a RAND Corporation

study (1987) identified 6 jury trials 

in which punitive damages were

awarded in product liability cases.

Source: Mark Peterson, A. S.

Sarma, and M. Shanley, Punitive

Damages: Empirical Findings

(Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1987). 

 Daniels and Martin (1990) reviewed more than 25,000 jury verdicts in 47 jurisdictions from 1981 to

1985. They found 967 product

liability cases, in which 34 were

awarded punitive damages. Source:

Stephen Daniels and Joanne Martin,

"Myth and Reality in Punitive Damages," in Minnesota Law Review, 75

(1), 1990. 

 Using a variety of data collection

methods, Koenig and Rustad (1993)

located 355 punitive damage verdicts

in product liability jury trial cases

across the Nation from 1965 to 1990.

Their search focused on personal injury cases and did not include cases

with only economic losses. 

Of the 355 cases, 95 cases involved

asbestos. Source: Thomas Koenig

and Michael Rustad, "The Quiet

Revolution Revisited: An Empirical

Study of the Impact of State Tort 

Reform of Punitive Damages in

Product Liability," in The Justice System Journal, 16 (2):21-44, 1993.

Product liability cases: Jury verdicts and punitive damages
In 43% of the civil jury cases that

awarded punitive damages to the 

plaintiff, the punitive amount exceeded the compensatory amount

(table 9). In 22% of cases with 

punitive damages, the punitive

award amount was at least twice

as much as the compensatory

award. 

Case processing time

The mean case processing time

from filing of the complaint to jury

verdict was 30 months, and the 

median was 24.7 months (table

10). Toxic substance and medical

malpractice cases had a mean

processing time of about 3 years.

Product liability cases took on 

average 2.5 years from the filing 

of the complaint to jury trial

verdict. 

County-specific data

The volume of jury trials, percentage of plaintiff winners, final

awards, and punitive damage

award amounts varied across the

individual State courts sampled in

this project (appendix tables 2-3).

Many factors contribute to these 

differences, including State civil

justice laws and the types of

cases disposed by jury trial.

 10 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

Table 9. Compensatory and total award amounts for plaintiff winners 

who were awarded punitive damages in civil jury trials in State courts 

in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992

 Percent of punitive 

Number of damages (column A)

cases with At least

a plaintiff Greater 2 times

winner than greater

awarded compen- than compunitive satory pensatory

damages Total damage award amount damage damage 

Case type (A) Total Punitive Compensatory awards awards

All jury cases 364 $545,157,000 $267,879,000 $277,278,000 43.0% 22.2%

Tort cases 190 $203,467,000 $91,477,000 $111,990,000 40.4% 17.0%

Automobile 55 69,905,000 35,535,000 34,370,000 39.7 16.3

Premises liability 15 2,481,000 1,272,000 1,208,000 41.0 13.7

Product liability 3 125,000 40,000 85,000 38.5 0 

Intentional tort 38 22,963,000 10,926,000 12,036,000 32.4 13.4

Medical 

malpractice 13 13,144,000 3,120,000 10,024,000 31.8 0 

Professional 

malpractice 15 24,365,000 6,077,000 18,288,000 33.1 33.1

Slander/libel 8 3,579,000 1,341,000 2,238,000 0 0 

Toxic substance 13 38,365,000 26,420,000 11,945,000 84.9 39.6

Other tort 30 28,542,000 6,746,000 21,796,000 50.2 20.5

Contract cases 169 $332,012,000 $169,528,000 $162,483,000 44.9% 27.5%

Fraud 38 14,997,000 7,339,000 7,658,000 52.1 34.8

Seller plaintiff 24 3,172,000 1,221,000 1,951,000 41.2 24.0

Buyer plaintiff 47 98,754,000 27,446,000 71,308,000 32.5 20.4

Employment 46 213,437,000 132,759,000 80,678,000 50.6 34.1

Rental/lease 11 875,000 399,000 476,000 55.1 18.4

Other contract 2 777,000 365,000 412,000 55.6 0 

Real property cases* 5 $9,678,000 $6,873,000 $2,805,000 80.0% 40.0%

Note: Award data were rounded to the nearest $1,000. Zero indicates no cases in the sample. 

Compensatory and total award amounts do not include reductions. Detail may not sum to total 

because of rounding. Punitive damage awards may be incomplete for 4 counties: Palm Beach 

Co., FL, Wayne Co., MI, Allegheny Co., PA, and Philadelphia Co., PA.

*Excludes eminent domain cases.

Table 10. Case processing time from filing of civil complaint to trial jury

verdict in State courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties, 1992 

Time from filing of complaint to jury trial verdict

Percent of jury trial

cases concluded

Number of Median Mean Less than 4 years

Case type jury cases (months) (months) 2 years or more

All jury cases 9,745 24.7 30.0 48.3% 15.7%

Tort cases 7,605 24.6 30.1 48.8% 16.2%

Automobile 3,381 21.7 26.9 57.4 11.5

Slander/libel 58 22.4 23.2 56.8 4.3

Intentional tort 403 23.4 30.0 52.3 15.7

Premises liability 1,589 25.0 30.6 47.8 18.6

Other tort 667 25.9 30.4 42.8 14.5

Professional malpractice 154 28.0 33.5 37.2 20.6

Product liability 300 28.9 32.0 36.0 16.9

Medical malpractice 999 33.6 38.8 29.8 28.6

Toxic substance 55 36.4 37.9 34.8 26.9

Contract cases 1,927 24.8 29.6 47.6% 14.4%

Seller plaintiff 511 23.7 27.4 51.4 12.3

Fraud 279 24.5 27.0 49.6 10.0

Employment 283 24.7 30.4 47.8 15.4

Buyer plaintiff 519 25.9 30.8 46.7 14.9

Rental/lease 120 26.7 31.0 44.1 17.2

Other contract 209 28.4 33.9 39.7 21.3

Mortgage foreclosure 6 29.2 28.6 48.0 0 

Real property cases 213 28.0 30.5 37.0% 13.3%

Eminent domain 148 26.9 29.1 38.4 10.8

Other real property 65 29.3 33.6 33.7 19.1

Note: Data for time to disposition were available for 80.7% of all cases. 

Zero indicates no cases in the sample.
Methodology

Sample

The sample used in this project 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 aggregate civil disposition data for 1990 obtained through telephone interviews

with court staff in the general jurisdiction trial courts. In 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 randomly.

From stratum 3, 10 of the 20 counties

were selected. Nine of the twenty-six

counties in stratum 4 were included. 

At the second stage, for 38 of the jurisdictions, all tort, contract, and real

property rights cases disposed by jury

verdict between July 1, 1991, and June

30, 1992, were selected. In the other 

7 jurisdictions, a random sample of

about 300 cases, or half the jury trial

cases (whichever yielded more cases),

were included in the sample. The final

sample consisted of 6,504 tort, contract, and real property jury trial cases.

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 2 numbers is greater than

twice the standard error for that difference, there is confidence that for 95

out of 100 possible samples a real difference exists and that the apparent

difference is not simply the result of

using a sample rather than the entire

population. All differences discussed

in this report were statistically significant at or above the 95 percent confidence level.

Data recording and 

unobtainable information

For each sampled case, a standard

coding form was manually completed

by on-site court staff to record information about the litigants, case type, 

processing time, and award amounts.

Information for which data were not

available or collected included the cost

of litigation for the parties involved, as

well as for others; the actual disbursement of awards; the type and extent of

the personal injury, if any; and the

number of cases that were appealed. 

Final award and punitive damage

amounts

Two ways of calculating averages are

used to describe final award and punitive damage amounts to plaintiff winners. Means are sensitive to a few

very large or small award amounts in 

a distribution. The median, the middle

value in the range of award amounts,

is not influenced by extreme values.

Median final award and punitive damage amounts are nearly always smaller

than corresponding means.

Civil case type definitions:

Torts  Claims arising from personal

injury or property damage caused by

the 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 (by engineers or 

architects); product liability (injury or

damage caused by defective products); toxic substance (injury caused

by toxic substances); libel/slander

(injury to reputation); intentional tort

(vandalism or intentional personal injury); and other negligent acts. 

Contracts  Cases that include all

allegations of breach of contract. Specific case types include seller plaintiff 

(sellers 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, recision 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); 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 the employment

or hiring process, including claims of

employment discrimination; workman's

compensation claims, handled primarily through the administrative process,

are not included); rental/lease agreement; and other contract claims (including partnership claims, stockholder

claims, and subrogation issues). 

Real property  Any claim regarding

ownership of real property (excluding

mortgage foreclosures, which are included under contracts). Specific 

categories include eminent domain

(condemnation of real property to 

obtain for public use) and other real

property (any other claim regarding 

title to or use of real property).

 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 11

The Bureau of Justice Statistics

is the statistical arm 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, Steven K. Smith,

and Patrick A. Langan of BJS and

Brian J. Ostrom, David B. Rottman,

and John A. Goerdt of the National

Center for State Courts (NCSC) wrote

this report. Neil LaFountain, NCSC,

also assisted in this project. Carma 

Hogue at the Bureau of the Census

designed the sample. Data collection

was carried out by the Bureau of the

Census, the National Association of

Criminal Justice Planners, and the

NCSC. Jacob Perez provided statistical assistance. Tom Hester and Tina

Dorsey edited the report. Marilyn

Marbrook, assisted by Jayne Robinson and Yvonne Boston, administered production.

July 1995, NCJ-154346

This report is the second in a series

based on data collected by the BJS

Civil Justice Survey of State Courts,

1992. The first report, titled Tort

Cases in Large Counties, NCJ153177, is available from the BJS

Clearinghouse at 1-800-732-3277.
 12 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

 Jury Civil juries

State/courts size decision rule

Alabama

Circuit 12 Unanimous

Alaska

Superior 12 5/6 rule

Arizona

Superior 8 3/4 rule

Arkansas

Circuit 12 3/4 rule

California

Superior 12(a) 3/4 rule

Colorado

District 6 Unanimous

Connecticut

Superior 6 Unanimous

Delaware

Superior 12 Unanimous

District of Columbia

Superior 6(b) Unanimous

Florida

Circuit 6(c) Unanimous

Georgia

Superior 12 Unanimous

Hawaii

Circuit 12(d) 5/6 rule(e)

Idaho

District 12 3/4 rule

Illinois

Circuit 6(f) Unanimous

Indiana

Superior 6 Unanimous

Circuit 6 Unanimous

Iowa

District 8 7/8 rule or 

Unanimous(g)

Kansas

District 6/12(h) 5/6 rule or

Unanimous(i)

Kentucky

Circuit 12 3/4 rule

Louisiana

District 12(j) 5/6 rule, 9/12 rule

Maine

Superior 8 3/4 rule

Maryland

Circuit 12 Unanimous

Massachusetts

Superior 12 5/6 rule

Michigan

Circuit 6 5/6 rule

Minnesota

District 6 5/6 rule or

Unanimous

Mississippi

Circuit 12 3/4 rule

Chancery 12 3/4 rule

Missouri

Circuit 12 3/4 rule

Appendix table 1. Civil trial juries: Size and verdict rules in State courts of general jurisdiction

 Jury Civil juries

State/courts size decision rule

Montana

District 12(k) 2/3 rule

Nebraska

District 12 5/6 rule or

Unanimous(l)

Nevada

District 12(m) 3/4 rule

New Hampshire

Superior 12 Unanimous

New Jersey

Superior 6/12 5/6 rule

New Mexico

District 12 5/6 rule

New York

Supreme 6 5/6 rule

County 6 5/6 rule

North Carolina

Superior 12(n) Unanimous(o)

North Dakota

District 12/6 Unanimous

Ohio

Common Pleas 12/8 3/4 rule

Oklahoma

District 6/12(p) 3/4 rule

Oregon

Circuit 12 3/4 rule

Pennsylvania

Common Pleas 12 5/6 rule

Rhode Island

Superior 12 5/6 rule

South Carolina

Circuit 12 Unanimous

South Dakota

Circuit 12 5/6 rule

Tennessee

Circuit 12 Unanimous

Chancery 12 Unanimous

Texas

District 12 5/6 rule

Utah

District 8 3/4 rule or

majority

Vermont

Superior 12 Unanimous

District 12 Unanimous

Virginia

Circuit 5/7(q) Unanimous

Washington

Superior 6(r) 5/6 rule

West Virginia

Circuit 6 Unanimous

Wisconsin

Circuit 6(s) 5/6 rule

Wyoming

District 6(t) 5/6 rule

Federal Court

District 6(u) Unanimous

Notes: (a) Or fewer by agreement 

of the parties.

(b) 6-member jury unless a jury of 

12 is demanded.

(c) Eminent domain cases require 

a 12-member jury and a unanimous

verdict.

(d) May stipulate that the jury consist of any number less than 12 or

that a verdict or finding of a stated

majority of jurors is taken as the verdict or finding of the jury.

(e) Can stipulate to 6-member jury

with 5/6 rule.

(f) 6-member jury unless a jury of 

12 is requested.

(g) 7/8 rule applies after 6 hours 

of deliberation.

(h) 12-member jury if damages are

greater than $5,000; otherwise 6.

(i) 5/6 rule applies with 12 jurors; 

otherwise, must be unanimous.

(j) Parties may stipulate to a

6-member jury.

(k) 4-member jury if both parties

agree.

(l) 5/6 rule after 6 hours of

deliberation.

(m) Parties may stipulate to 4-8 

jurors rather than 12.

(n,o) Except in actions in which a

jury is required by statute, the parties may stipulate that the jury shall

consist of any number less than 12

or that a verdict or finding of a

stated majority of the jurors shall be

taken as the verdict or finding of the

jury.

(p)12-member jury if damages are

greater than $2,500; otherwise 6.

(q) 12-member jury may be allowed

by the judge.

(r) May demand a 12-member jury.

(s) A party may request, or the court

on its own motion may require, a

greater number, not to exceed 12.

(t) 6-member jury unless a jury of 12

is demanded.

(u) 6-member jury unless a jury of

12 is demanded (local rules). Even

absent stipulation, if the court finds 

it necessary to excuse a juror, a

valid verdict may be returned by the

remaining 11.

Source: David B. Rottman, et al. 

State Court Organization, 1993.

National Center for State Courts.

NCJ-148346, January 1995.
 Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties 13

Appendix table 2. Civil jury trial cases and final award amounts, by sampled counties, 1992

Percent of

plaintiff winner

Total Plaintiff winners cases with

number of Number Final amount awarded to plaintiff winnersa awards of $1

County jury cases of cases Percent Total Median Mean Minimum Maximum million or morea

Maricopa, AZ 145 92 63.4% $20,482,272 $30,721 $227,581 $374 $7,500,720 3.3% 

Pima, AZ 78 39 50.0 6,000,925 52,621 153,870 1,740 1,450,000 5.1

Alameda, CA 89 43 48.3 10,339,420 87,300 258,485 1,500 3,673,907 5.0

Contra Costa, CA 68 30 44.1 32,413,688 110,000 1,117,713 550 15,250,000 13.8

Fresno, CA 87 47 54.0 6,607,983 52,189 146,844 1,065 1,030,000 2.2

Los Angeles, CAb 602 306 50.8 294,321,627 124,922 968,163 3 17,747,000 17.8

Orange, CA 281 115 40.9 37,174,204 48,500 323,254 798 8,799,440 7.8

San Bernardino, CA 75 28 36.7 8,648,190 58,412 314,480 1,207 2,000,000 9.1

San Francisco, CA 126 64 50.8 18,344,394 109,459 286,631 1,000 2,552,000 6.3

Santa Clara, CA 107 49 45.8 21,272,734 67,834 443,182 295 4,500,000 10.4

Ventura, CA 78 34 43.6 5,273,387 62,318 188,335 237 2,511,746 3.6

Fairfield, CTc 54 29 53.7 2,583,992 22,950 92,285 900 1,500,000 3.6

Hartford, CTc 61 32 52.5 2,870,990 27,964 92,613 1 525,000 0 

Dade, FL 360 159 44.2 44,245,071 60,000 278,271 240 2,356,401 9.4

Orange, FL 83 52 62.7 11,272,490 31,869 234,844 810 3,807,443 8.3

Palm Beach, FL 259 166 64.1 29,364,094 54,419 187,032 386 6,626,510 2.5

Fulton, GA 120 62 51.7 14,245,946 67,149 233,540 643 2,323,701 4.9

Honolulu, HI 57 21 36.8 1,473,536 52,792 133,958 15,144 600,000 0 

Cook, IL 600 347 57.9 200,992,035 62,001 578,961 100 24,143,959 11.4

DuPage, IL 82 37 45.1 4,021,306 15,088 108,684 1 2,904,228 2.7

Marion, IN 27 15 55.6 274,430 17,734 19,602 3,000 44,500 0 

Jefferson, KY 99 61 61.6 6,237,480 11,300 105,720 180 3,315,973 1.7

Essex, MA 76 23 30.3 3,133,139 40,280 136,223 1,273 653,022 0 

Middlesex, MA 82 28 34.1 3,318,686 50,318 144,291 4,000 817,920 0 

Norfolk, MA 62 31 50.0 3,076,531 30,750 113,946 820 1,440,000 3.7

Suffolk, MA 114 40 35.1 11,592,171 100,000 297,235 700 5,000,000 2.6

Worcester, MA 53 20 37.7 1,696,665 77,000 154,242 1 685,000 0 

Oakland, MI 119 55 46.2 22,310,241 90,330 437,456 250 8,600,000 7.8

Wayne, MI 242 123 50.8 64,229,338 144,231 573,476 2,500 5,506,495 18.8

Hennepin, MN 208 103 49.5 19,315,701 43,016 197,099 181 7,197,180 3.1

St. Louis, MO 235 107 45.5 6,024,365 15,000 57,375 500 950,000 0 

Bergen, NJ 115 58 50.4 5,151,648 31,200 101,013 4,150 1,214,789 2.0

Essex, NJ 158 70 44.3 13,237,715 18,866 220,629 660 6,486,166 3.3

Middlesex, NJ 140 56 40.0 8,339,368 25,725 154,433 345 1,400,000 3.7

New York, NY 600 363 60.4 414,551,440 150,000 1,193,985 1,925 90,300,000 16.8

Cuyahoga, OH 266 161 60.5 25,977,594 18,225 170,905 116 6,303,755 3.3

Franklin, OH 119 65 54.6 22,467,760 25,000 345,658 100 12,941,628 4.6

Allegheny, PA 111 53 47.7 5,834,128 17,366 114,395 1 1,170,016 1.9

Philadelphia, PA 618 356 57.6 149,756,826 100,000 425,446 750 5,397,828 12.5

Bexar, TX 262 121 46.2 10,835,914 21,003 95,893 1 1,634,402 .9

Dallas, TX 261 129 49.4 241,221,539 65,180 1,914,457 550 123,389,836 11.9

Harris, TX 632 260 41.1 317,963,486 91,932 1,292,534 192 74,911,126 12.1

Fairfax, VA 161 85 52.8 10,374,068 44,903 123,501 1 3,300,000 2.4

King, WA 131 74 56.5 7,528,017 45,069 104,556 97 1,100,000 1.4

Milwaukee, WI 116 51 44.0 10,288,834 25,000 209,976 447 4,169,848 4.1

Note: For 7 counties (Los Angeles Co., CA, San Bernardino Co., CA, 

Dade Co., FL, Cook Co., IL, New York Co., NY, Philadelphia Co., PA, 

and Harris Co., TX), the percentage of plaintiff winners and final award

amounts are sample estimates. Data for the remaining 38 jurisdictions

are based not on samples but on complete enumerations. Detail may 

not sum to total because of rounding.

a

Final amount awarded to plaintiff winners excludes cases where

these data were missing. Final amount awarded includes both compensatory awards (reduced for contributory negligence, if applicable)

and punitive damage awards.

b

Includes only the central district of the Los Angeles County 

Superior Court. Los Angeles suburban courts are not included.

c

The number of jury cases and final award amounts are for the 

Fairfield and Hartford judicial districts.