Lex Machina is proud to release its 2023 Torts Litigation Report, which provides insights into torts litigation trends in federal district court and appellate court over the three-year period from 2020 to 2022. This report surveys emerging trends in case filings (including federal appellate cases), most active venues, judges, law firms, attorneys, parties, timing metrics, case resolutions, findings, and damages. The report often focuses on different sets of data, e.g., filtering cases in order to provide analytics on general torts cases, torts cases excluding mass torts, motor vehicle cases, premises liability cases, and medical malpractice cases filed in the federal district courts, along with torts cases docketed in the federal appellate courts.
Key Trends and Highlights from the report include:
- In 2022, 14,376 torts cases were litigated in federal district courts, the lowest number of cases filed in any year over the past decade aside from 2013 and 2016.
- In the three-year period from 2020 to 2022, the highest number of torts cases was filed in the Southern District of Texas, while Judge Barbier from the Eastern District of Louisiana was the most active judge for torts cases.
- In the three-year period from 2020 to 2022, Walmart Inc. was the most active defendant who was not a governmental entity.
- For torts cases that were appealed to a federal appellate court and terminated from 2020 to 2022 with a decision on the merits of the appeal, 18% were ultimately reversed.
- $3.4 billion in total damages were awarded as General Compensatory Damages in 234 cases from 2020 to 2022.
Legal Analytics is used for planning, budgeting, and litigation strategy. The metrics in this report can help readers decide who to pursue as clients, whether to file a particular motion, or when to settle (and for how much). This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data in order to gain a competitive edge in litigation.
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