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Civil Jury Cases and Verdicts
in Large Counties: Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992
Juries in the 75
largest counties disposed of 12,000 tort, contract, and real property
rights cases during a 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. Thirty-three percent of cases decided by juries were automobile
accident suits, 11% were medical malpractice, and 5% were product liability
and toxic substance cases. In half of all jury cases, the jury found in
favor of the plaintiff and in the 12-month period awarded 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. The median punitive award was $50,000;
average time from complaint filing to jury verdict was 2.5 years. 7/95
NCJ 154346
A 1996 update of these data are available in
Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties, 1996.
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