Thomas H. Cohen, J.D., Ph.D., Steven K. Smith, Ph.D.

April 18, 2004    NCJ 202803

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

Highlights include the following:

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

Part of the Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties Series

Press Release
PDF (337K)
ASCII file (34K)
Spreadsheet (Zip format 60K)
To order paper version

Help for using BJS products

To cite this product, use the following link:
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=559

View All Publications and Products