Civil Justice Survey of State Courts in 75 Most Populous Counties

Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys provide a systematic examination of general civil litigation in the nation's 75 most populous counties. Data includes information on case types, plaintiffs, defendants, trial outcomes, damages awarded, and case processing time. It also covers appellate cases, tracking appeals from trial courts to state courts of last resort.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between case types (e.g., tort, contract) and the amount of total damages awarded to identify high-stakes litigation patterns.
• Model case processing time based on case type and trial method (bench or jury) to predict court system workloads.
• Examine the frequency with which appellate courts affirm, reverse, or modify trial court outcomes for different types of civil bench and jury trials.
• Profile characteristics of litigants filing an appeal and track cases further appealed from an intermediate appellate court to a state court of last resort.

Strengths

• Data collection was carried out by the National Center for State Courts with the assistance of WESTAT, ensuring systematic methodology.
• Surveys cover the nation's 75 most populous counties, providing a broad-based view of civil litigation.
• Data includes detailed information on trial outcomes, damages awarded, and the full appellate process.

Limitations

• Sample is limited to the 75 most populous counties, which may not be representative of civil litigation in less populous areas.
• Specific sample sizes, row counts, and column details are not provided, limiting precise assessment of dataset scale and granularity.
• Data may reflect historical legal contexts and may not capture recent changes in civil justice trends.

Provenance

Source

Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice

Collection Method

Surveys conducted by the National Center for State Courts with assistance from WESTAT, examining civil cases disposed in a sample of counties.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

United States, specifically the nation's 75 most populous counties.