The number of tort trials concluded in U.S. district courts declined by nearly 80 percent, falling from 3,600 in 1985 to fewer than 800 in 2003, according to a new report released by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
The study examined tort cases completed by either judge or jury trials in U.S. district courts during fiscal 2002-2003, as well as trends in tort case and trial litigation since the 1970s. Tort cases involve plaintiffs claiming injury, loss or damage resulting from a defendant’s negligent or intentional acts.
Approximately nine out of 10 tort trials in federal district courts involved personal injury issues, and asbestos and non-asbestos product liability cases have contributed substantially to the changes in tort caseloads, the report said.
The most common types of federal tort trials included motor vehicle accident (20 percent), product liability (13 percent), marine (10 percent) and medical malpractice (10 percent). Other personal injury cases (28 percent) also accounted for a substantial portion of total tort trials in U.S. district courts. The percentage of tort cases concluded by trial in U.S. district courts has also declined from 10 percent in the early 1970s to 2 percent in 2003.
Although the annual number of tort cases handled by U.S. district courts has fluctuated since 1985 (averaging about 44,770 per year), the number of tort trials and the percentage of cases resolved by trial has steadily declined.
The growing use of alternative dispute resolution as well as the increased complexity and costs inherent in taking a case to trial have been identified as contributing factors to the decline in the number of cases decided by a trial before a judge or a jury.
Federal civil trials can be decided by either a jury comprised of 6 to 12 members (jury trial) or a federal district judge or magistrate judge (bench trial). The plaintiff or defendant may request that the case be decided by a jury trial. A jury verdict for either the plaintiff or defendant must be unanimous and cannot be taken from a jury with fewer than six members. If no request for a jury trial is made by either party, the case is tried by a bench trial.
For the period of 2002-2003, the jury or court awarded damages in 84 percent of tort trials in which the plaintiffs prevailed. This did not vary much across the different types of tort cases, as plaintiffs were awarded in 84 percent of personal injury trials and 81 percent of property damage trials in which they prevailed.
The estimated median damage award (the amount at which half the awards are higher and half are lower) for plaintiffs who prevailed in tort trials concluded in 2002-2003 was $201,000. The tort trial categories with the highest estimated median damage awards included medical malpractice ($600,000) and product liability ($350,000) cases.
Case dispositions show the frequency with which tort matters are resolved by trial, settlement or alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Settlements and other non-trial dispositions accounted for 98 percent of the 98,786 tort cases completed during the 2002-2003 period. A total of 1,647 tort cases (about 2 percent) were concluded by a bench or a jury trial.
During fiscal 2002-2003, juries decided about 71 percent of tort trials, while judges handled the remaining 29 percent. A jury decided about 73 percent of tort trials involving a personal injury issue. The personal injury case categories with the highest rates of jury trial decisions included product liability (90 percent), assault/libel/slander (89 percent), federal employers’ liability (84 percent), other personal injury (77 percent), and personal injury motor vehicle (74 percent) cases. Judges, in comparison, decided at least 40 percent of personal injury trials with a marine or medical malpractice claim. The bench trial rate for property damage cases was also 40 percent.
Plaintiffs prevailed in nearly half (48 percent) of the tort cases completed by trial in 2002-2003. Plaintiff win rates were fairly similar in both personal injury (48 percent) and property damage (49 percent) tort trials. Plaintiffs won less frequently in tort trials involving assault/libel/slander (38 percent), medical malpractice (37 percent) and product liability (34 percent) issues.
Overall, plaintiffs prevailed more frequently in judge trials than in jury tort trials. Plaintiffs won 54 percent of judge tort trials and 46 percent of jury tort trials. Personal injury cases also manifested higher plaintiff win rates in judge (56 percent) trials than in jury (45 percent) tort trials. In property damage trials, the percentage of prevailing plaintiffs was greater in jury (53 percent) than in judge (42 percent) trials.
Although judges found for plaintiffs more often than juries, the estimated median damage award was higher in jury ($244,000) than in judge ($150,000) tort trials. The award differences were particularly striking between jury and judge property damage trials. Among the 45 property damage jury trials with prevailing plaintiffs, the median award was $700,000; in comparison, the 18 property damage bench trials with plaintiff winners generated a median damage award amount of $196,000.
The plaintiff win rates also varied considerably among property damage trials. Plaintiffs won in 61 percent of fraud property damage trials. In property damage trials involving product liability issues, less than a third of plaintiffs prevailed.
Non-asbestos product liability trials declined by about two-thirds from 279 trials in 1990 to 87 trials in 2003. During this period, plaintiffs prevailed in nearly a third of these trials. This is lower than the overall plaintiff win rate of about 50 percent in tort trials in U.S. district courts. The estimated median damage awards garnered by plaintiff winners in non-asbestos product liability trials exceeded $1 million in 2000.
Although asbestos cases account for a substantial portion of tort litigation in U.S. district courts, few of these cases are terminated by trial. After increasing from 87 trials in 1990 to 271 trials in 1991, the number of asbestos trials has declined substantially. Since 1991 in the U.S. district courts, a judge or jury has decided an average of five asbestos cases per year. On average, plaintiffs won in nearly 3 out of 4 asbestos product liability trials.
The number of tort cases concluded in federal district courts each year, as measured by trial and non-trial cases closed, has varied from a high of 60,941 cases in 1999, to a low of 23,619 cases in 1976. In 2003, there were 49,166 tort cases completed in district courts. The changes in the tort caseloads reflected the strong influence of product liability cases. In 1999, for example, such cases accounted for 61 percent of all tort matters concluded, with large numbers of asbestos and breast implant cases driving the product liability caseload.
The report, “Federal Tort Trials and Verdicts, 2002-03” can be found on BJS’s Web site.
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