Snapshot of Justice: Asbestos Cases are Not Overwhelming Our Courts

Saturday, June 12, 2010

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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