NCJ Number
143170
Journal
Justice System Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 69-95
Date Published
1993
Length
27 pages
Annotation
The policy debate over tort reform is illustrated in a case study of product liability jury verdicts in the superior courts of six California counties between 1970 and 1990.
Abstract
Overall, 1,246 product verdicts in the counties over the 21-year period comprised only 5.9 percent of all reported money damage jury verdicts and no more than 6.6 percent of all verdicts in any one county. Plaintiffs prevailed in 40.5 percent of product verdicts, and in no county was the win rate as high as 50 percent. Win rates for all jury verdicts were somewhat higher. Awards in product cases when plaintiffs did win were quite high, significantly higher than jury awards in general. The median award for 505 product cases in which plaintiffs were successful was $294,000, compared to a median of $57,225 for plaintiff jury verdicts in general. Punitive damage awards did not constitute a major factor in product liability verdicts; they were awarded only 4.4 percent of the time, with a median punitive award of $711,025. Patterns in product liability verdicts in California suggest a product liability system quite different from the rhetoric of tort reform. These patterns appear to organize themselves around the settings in which injuries occur. They also seem to define self-ordering and adaptive subsystems within product liability, each with unique characteristics and trends. In addition, the patterns indicate a complex link between the product liability system and other systems of injury compensation and safety regulation. Appendixes contain an injury scale and a list of industrial codes. 11 footnotes, 9 tables, and 4 figures