ASBESTOS CASES ARE NOT OVERWHELMING OUR COURTS
According to the most recent national data from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in 2005:
Only .5 percent of all tort cases tried in state courts were asbestos cases. [1]
Juries decided 83 asbestos claims. [2]
Plaintiffs prevailed in 45 asbestos trials. [3]
Plaintiffs succeeded in roughly half of jury-decided asbestos cases. [4]
Asbestos plaintiff award winners constituted less than .6 percent of plaintiff award winners in all state tort trials. [5]
The median damage award in asbestos cases was $682,000. However, it is important to note that DOJ award data do not take into account post-trial activity (such as award modifications) and appeals. [6]
Updated June 2010
NOTES
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[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005,” NCJ 228129 (November 2009) at 2 (Table 1), found at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/tbjtsc05.pdf.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Id. at 4 (Table 4).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Id. at 5 (Table 5).
[6] Ibid.
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