Plaintiffs Win More Than Half of State Court Civil Trials

Plaintiffs won in more than half of state court civil trials in 2005 and were more likely to get a favorable verdict in bench than jury trials, according to a new U.S. Department of Justice report. Plaintiffs won in 56 percent of all general civil trial cases. Judges ruled in their favor in 68 percent of the cases, while juries favored the plaintiffs 54 percent of the time. The report was released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice. The study is the first nationally representative measure of general civil bench and jury trials in state courts. The report found that plaintiffs were awarded an estimated $6 billion in compensatory and punitive damages, with the final median damage award of $28,000. More than 14 percent of plaintiff winners were awarded damages of more than $250,000, while about 4 percent got more than $1 million. State courts handled nearly 27,000 civil cases through bench or jury trials. Sixty-one percent of them involved a tort claim, and the most common tort claim involved motor vehicle accidents.

Please click on the link below to read the complete Law.com article:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425637983

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.

Frequency of Dog Bite Injuries in the United States

Dog bites occur every 75 seconds in the United States. Each day, over 1,000 citizens need emergency care to treat these bites. The following studies examine injury occurrence and the breeds most likely to bite. In 2001, the Center for Disease and Control published a study that examines the frequency of US dog bite injuries treated by emergency care facilities.

• In 1994, the most recent year for which published data are available, an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occurred in the United States and approximately 799,700 persons required medical care.
• Of an estimated 333,700 patients treated for dog bites in emergency departments in 1994, approximately 6,000 were hospitalized.
• In 2001, an estimated 368,245 persons were treated in US emergency rooms for nonfatal dog bite-related injuries.

Please click on the link below to read the complete Dogbites.org article:

http://www.dogsbite.org/bite-statistics.htm

The Citron Law Firm, P.A. (www.citronlegal.com) is a civil trial practice law firm that specializes in professional liability and injury cases, commercial and real estate litigation and family law matters.  The Citron Law Firm is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 707 S.E. Third Avenue, Sixth Floor – (954) 712-1686.