How Many Personal Injury Cases Go to Trial In Tennessee Each Year?

I have a personal injury lawsuit.  What is the likelihood that it will go to trial?

Statistically, it is very unlikely your case will go to trial.  Personal injury cases are a type of tort (civil wrong) case.  In Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2010, there were 10,469 tort cases filed in the entire state.  This may seem like a lot of cases, but remember that there are over 6,000,000 Tennesseans, millions of cars on the road driven by Tennesseans and citizens of other states, etc.

During the same period, the court system resolved 10,872 cases.  The vast majority of those cases were settled or dismissed by the court.  There were only 588 trials.  Of the 588 trials, only 283 were jury trials.  The other 305 trials were non-jury trials (cases decided by a judge without the help of a jury).

Of the 588 cases that went to trial, the claimant (known as the plaintiff) recovered money in only 229 cases.  Why?  Tennessee judges and juries are conservative and do not award damages in cases without solid evidence supporting the justness of the claim.

Thus, the odds are that your case will not go to trial.  However, whether any particular case actually goes to trial is dependent on many different factors.

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