Juries and Verdicts

Throughout the history of the ICJ, many of our studies have provided crucial and otherwise unavailable information on civil jury behavior and verdicts

From its inception, the ICJ has conducted pioneering research on civil jury decision-making practices and on trends in civil jury verdicts. Since little information is systematically collected on the civil justice system, this work has provided policymakers with vital empirical data on basic questions.

A constant feature in the ICJ's research program has been our series of reports on trends in civil jury verdicts. To produce these reports, ICJ staff collect and code information on trials from accounts in state and regional jury verdict reporters. The result is a database of verdicts and their characteristics in key state and federal jurisdictions. In some courts our database contains trial information going back four decades. Once the data are assembled, we analyze them for trends in important area such as punitive damages, product liability trials, "bad faith" litigation, the "deep pocket" phenomenon, and claims against doctors, hospitals, and health plans.

The ICJ has also focused on the forces that control a jury's decision-making. Beyond the question of what juries are doing, we are also investigating why juries return the verdicts that they do by using psychological and sociological methodologies.

Featured Publications

Forty Years of Civil Jury Verdicts

Authors: Seth A. Seabury, Nicholas M. Pace, Robert T. Reville

Summary: 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.

Document information: LRP-20040321, 2004. Originally published in Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, v. 1, no. 1, Mar. 2004, p. 1-25.

Web access: Document Information

Goal Conflict in Juror Assessments of Compensatory and Punitive Damages

Authors: Michelle Chernikoff Anderson, Robert J. MacCoun

Summary: Investigates whether jurors are able to appropriately compartmentalize compensatory and punitive damages.

Document information: RP-830-ICJ, 1999. Originally published in Law and Human Behavior, v. 23, no. 3, 1999.

Web access: Ordering Information

Punitive Damages in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts

Authors: Erik Moller, Nicholas Pace, Stephen Carroll

Summary: Analyzes trends and patterns in punitive damage awards in financial injury cases in selected jurisdictions during the period 1985 through 1994.

Document information: MR-888-ICJ, 1997, 84 pp., $9, ISBN: 0833025368.

Web access: Ordering Information

Related publications:

Punitive Damage Awards in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts, RB-9028, 1997 (Research Brief)

"Study Shows Importance of Financial Cases in Punitive Damages Debate: Personal Injuries Get the Headlines but Only Half of the Punitive Awards" June 16, 1997 (News Release)

Punitive Damages in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts: Executive Summary. MR-889-ICJ; $15, 1997 (Full Document)

Punitive Damages in Financial Injury Jury Verdicts. CT-143, 1997 (Congressional Testimony)

Differential Treatment of Corporate Defendants by Juries: An Examination of the "Deep-Pockets" Hypothesis

Author: Robert J. MacCoun.

Summary: Results of two juror simulation experiments involving citizens on jury duty, to test whether juries treat corporate defendants less favorably than individual defendants.

Document Information: Originally published in Law & Society Review, v. 30, no. 1, 1996.

Web Access: Ordering Information

Trends in Civil Jury Verdicts: New Data from 15 Jurisdictions

Author: Erik Moller

Summary: 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.

Document Information: 84 pp., ISBN: 0833023608, 1996.

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Related Publication:

Trends in Civil Jury Verdicts Since 1985 (1996). Research Brief

Improving Jury Comprehension in Criminal and Civil Trials

Author: Robert J. MacCoun

Summary: Written statement submitted on July 27, 1995, to the Judiciary Committee of the California State Senate. 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

Document Information: 6 pp., 1995

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