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Juries and Verdicts

Publications are listed in chronological order. Learn more about ICJ's research by visiting the Research Agenda page on Juries and Verdicts. Additional related publications may be found in the lists of Research Briefs and Executive Summaries.

Publications

Forty Years of Civil Jury Verdicts. Seth A. Seabury, Nicholas M. Pace, Robert T. Reville, LRP-200403-21, 2005. Debate over civil justice reform in the United States frequently centers on the extent to which damage awards granted by juries have been escalating over time.

Capping Non-Economic Awards in Medical Malpractice Trials: California Jury Verdicts Under MICRA Nicholas M. Pace, Daniela Golinelli, Laura Zakaras, MG-234-ICJ, 2004. Assesses the impact of MICRA’s limits on plaintiffs’ awards and attorneys’ fees on final judgments in medical malpractice cases.

Goal Conflict in Juror Assessments of Compensatory and Punitive Damages Michelle Chernikoff Anderson, Robert J. MacCoun, RP-830-ICJ (originally published in Law and Human Behavior, v. 23, no. 3, 1999), 1999. Investigates whether jurors are able to appropriately compartmentalize compensatory and punitive damages.

Punitive Damages in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts Erik Moller, Nicholas Pace, Stephen Carroll, MR-888-ICJ, 1997. Analyzes trends and patterns in punitive damage awards in financial injury cases in selected jurisdictions during the period 1985 through 1994.

Punitive Damages in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts, Stephen Carroll, CT-143 (statement submitted to the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate on June 24, 1997), 1997. Summarizes RAND estimates of the frequency and size of punitive damage awards in financial injury cases and presents estimates of how the awards would have differed had caps of various sizes been in place.

Differential Treatment of Corporate Defendants by Juries: An Examination of the "Deep-Pockets" Hypothesis Robert J. MacCoun, RP-607 (originally published in Law & Society Review, v. 30, no. 1, 1996), 1997. Results of two juror simulation experiments involving citizens on jury duty, to test whether juries treat corporate defendants less favorably than individual defendants.

Trends in Civil Jury Verdicts: New Data from 15 Jurisdictions Erik Moller, MR-694, 1996. Describes all civil jury verdicts reached from 1985 to 1994 in the state courts of general jurisdiction in 15 jurisdictions across the nation and identifies trends in these verdicts.

Improving Jury Comprehension in Criminal and Civil Trials Robert J. MacCoun, CT-136 (written statement submitted on July 27, 1995, to the Judiciary Committee of the California State Senate), 1995. Evaluates seven proposals for improving juror performance: (1) revised jury instructions, (2) juror note taking, (3) question asking, (4) juror discussion during trial, (5) minimum education requirements, (6) complexity requirements, and (7) guidance in determining rewards.

Inside the Black Box: What Empirical Research Tells Us About Decision-making by Civil Juries Robert J. MacCoun, RP-238 (originally published in Verdict: Assessing the Civil Jury System, Brookings Institution, 1993), 1994. Discusses the potential contribution to the policymaking process of systematic empirical research on the behavior of civil juries.

Is There a "Deep Pocket" Bias in the Tort System? The Concern over Biases Against Deep-Pocket Defendants Robert J. MacCoun, IP-130, 1993. There is a wide-spread perception that America's tort system is biased against defendants who have extensive financial resources; this paper summarizes what we know and don't know about deep-pocket biases.

Experimental Research on Jury Decision-Making Robert J. MacCoun, R-3832, 1989. In this review of research on jury behavior, the author emphasizes the use of mock jury experiments to test hypotheses and refine theoretical models of the decision process.

Civil Juries in the 1980s: Trends in Jury Trials and Verdicts in California and Cook County, Illinois Mark A. Peterson, R-3466, 1987. Extends earlier efforts to document and analyze the outcomes produced by the civil justice system based on studies of civil jury trials in Cook County, Illinois, and San Francisco County, California.

The Debate over Jury Performance: Observations from a Recent Asbestos Case Molly Selvin and Larry Picus, R-3479, 1987. Describes an interview conducted with the jury that decided an asbestos products liability case in Texas in 1984.

Punitive Damages: Empirical Findings Mark A. Peterson, Syam Sarma, Michael G. Shanley, R-3311, 1987. Based on cases that reached jury verdict in Cook County, Illinois, and San Francisco, California, from 1960 to 1984, this report presents analytically derived answers to questions surrounding the award of punitive damages.

A Summary of Research Results: Trends and Patterns in Civil Jury Verdicts Mark A. Peterson, P-7222 (originally presented as testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means), 1986. Draws on analysis of 20 years of civil jury verdicts in Cook County, Illinois, and San Francisco, California, focusing on trends and patterns over time, and on how the type of liability, nature and circumstances of injury, and characteristics of plaintiffs and defendants affect the outcomes of civil jury trials.

Deep Pockets, Empty Pockets: Who Wins in Cook County Jury Trials Audrey Chin and Mark A. Peterson, R-3249, 1985. Examines how different types of parties fared in over 9,000 civil jury trials in Cook County, Illinois, between 1959 and 1979, building on two previous ICJ studies of civil jury trials.

Comparative Negligence and Jury Behavior Michael G. Shanley, P-7057, 1985. Examines the effect of California's comparative negligence law with respect to the increase in awards to plaintiffs who take their case to trial.

Compensation of Injuries: Civil Jury Verdicts in Cook County Mark A. Peterson, R-3011, 1984. Describes types of injuries and losses claimed by plaintiffs, changes in claims during the 1960s and 1970s, and relationships between juries' decisions and various factors in the cases.

Comparative Justice: Civil Jury Verdicts in San Francisco and Cook Counties, 1959-1980 Michael G. Shanley, Mark A. Peterson, R-3006, 1983. Describes San Francisco jury trials and jury verdicts during the 20-year period from 1960 through 1979, and compares trends and patterns with those found in Cook County, Illinois

The Civil Jury: Trends in Trials and Verdicts, Cook County, Illinois, 1960-1979 Mark A. Peterson, R-2881, 1982. Presents the results of an extensive examination of the decisions made by litigants, courts, and juries in 9,000 civil jury trials over a 20-year period.

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