Contract Cases in Large Counties: Civil Justice Survey of State Courts, 1992

• NCJ Number: 156664
• Date Published: February 1996
• Author(s): C J Defrances; S K Smith
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Series: BJS Special Reports
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This report provides statistics on contract cases in State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest counties during a 1-year period ending in June 1992.

Abstract

This Special Report presents 1992 data on disposition of 366,000 contract cases involving 1.3 million litigants in State general jurisdiction courts in the Nation's 75 largest counties. The most frequent type of contract dispute involved the plaintiff as a seller seeking payment owed by a buyer or borrower. About half the contract cases were resolved through an agreed settlement. Less than 3% of the cases were disposed by a jury or bench trial. Businesses made up two-thirds of the plaintiffs in contract cases; individuals, about a quarter. Contract case defendants were most often businesses, followed by individuals. Almost two-thirds of the contract cases were disposed within 1 year of filing.