Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository

Title

Judges, Juries, and Punitive Damages: Empirical Analyses Using the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts 1992, 1996, and 2001 Data

Authors

Theodore Eisenberg, Cornell Law SchoolFollow
Paula L. Hannaford, National Center for State CourtsFollow
Michael Heise, Cornell Law SchoolFollow
Neil LaFountain, National Center for State CourtsFollow
Brian Ostrom, National Center for State CourtsFollow
Martin T. Wells, Cornell UniversityFollow
G. Thomas Munsterman, National Center for State CourtsFollow

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in vol. 3, no. 2 (July 2006) of Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Abstract

We analyze thousands of trials from a substantial fraction of the nation's most populous counties. Evidence across ten years and three major datasets suggests that: (1) juries and judges award punitive damages in approximately the same ratio to compensatory damages, (2) the level of punitive damages awards has not increased, and (3) juries' and judges' tendencies to award punitive damages differ in bodily injury and no-bodily-injury cases. Jury trials are associated with a greater rate of punitive damages awards in financial injury cases. Judge trials are associated with a greater rate of punitive damages awards in bodily injury cases.

Date of Authorship for this Version

7-2006

Keywords

Punitive damages, Juries

Recommended Citation

Eisenberg, Theodore; Hannaford, Paula L.; Heise, Michael; LaFountain, Neil; Ostrom, Brian; Wells, Martin T.; and Munsterman, G. Thomas, "Judges, Juries, and Punitive Damages: Empirical Analyses Using the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts 1992, 1996, and 2001 Data" (2006). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 30.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/lsrp_papers/30