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Civil Justice Myths

EVEN BUSH ADMINISTRATION DATA DISCREDITS CIVIL JUSTICE MYTHS

Recently released data by the Bush administration Department of Justice (DOJ) confirms the falsehood of corporate attacks on the civil justice system.  Results from a recent DOJ study of civil trials directly refute the tales of “jackpot justice” and “runaway jury awards” propagated by opponents of the civil justice system and their political allies.

In the first nationally representative measure of general civil (tort, contract, and real property) bench and jury trials in state courts, the DOJ study found that the median award in tort cases in 2005 was just $24,000. (Lynn Langton & Thomas Cohen, Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts 2005,  Bureau Just. Statistics (Oct. 2008).)

The new study supplements data that the AAJ Communications and Research departments have compiled to help members debunk myths about trial attorneys and the so-called litigation explosion.  A few highlights of these statistics:

Tort cases make up only 6 percent of civil filings in state courts, and tort filings in state courts declined by 21 percent from 1997 to 2006, accordingly to the National Center for State Courts.

Tort actions represent less than 1 percent of all civil filings in federal courts, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Manufacturing companies ranked “fear of litigation” as their lowest concern – well behind materials costs, energy prices, foreign competition, and taxes – in a National Association of Manufacturers survey.

Median legal expenses of individuals who incurred them in the last year were not exorbitant but ranged between $4,000 and $5,000, according to a National Federation of Independent Business poll.   Peter J. Hart, Esquire