State courts of general jurisdiction in the Nation's 75 largest
counties disposed of almost 12,000 tort, contract, and real
property cases by   jury or bench trial during 2001. Juries
decided almost three-fourths of these cases, while judges resolved
about a fourth of them.
 
Plaintiffs won in 55% of trials and were awarded a total of about
$4 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. The median total
award was $33,000, and the amounts awarded to plaintiff winners
ranged from under $10 to $454 million. Tort claims comprised 67% of
trials disposed. The majority of trials (62%) were disposed of in
less than 2 years.