Airplane personal injury
Federal civil · Torts · 17,782 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
17,782
Cases filed
91.1%
Ended before a merits judgment
16,191 of 17,782 cases
26.7%
Plaintiff win
of 1,591 merits judgments
65.9%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Settled39.9%
- Dismissed34%
- Transferred10.5%
- Defendant win5.9%
- Remanded4.8%
- Plaintiff win2.4%
- Other1.8%
- Decided — other0.3%
- Mixed0.3%
- Denied0%
Where you file matters
The same claim resolves differently across districts. Plaintiff-win rate among merits judgments, busiest courts first.
- District Court, S.D. New York2,046 cases · 84 decided25%
- District Court, E.D. New York2,041 cases · 140 decided25.7%
- District Court, S.D. Florida2,019 cases · 58 decided41.4%
- District Court, C.D. California1,656 cases · 101 decided22.8%
- District Court, N.D. California865 cases · 158 decided20.3%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania755 cases · 55 decided38.2%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois556 cases · 25 decided—
- District Court, D. New Jersey497 cases · 52 decided38.5%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan442 cases · 47 decided34%
- District Court, D. Puerto Rico385 cases · 58 decided62.1%
- District Court, D. Massachusetts338 cases · 28 decided—
- District Court, N.D. Texas327 cases · 102 decided6.9%
- District Court, District of Columbia308 cases · 56 decided19.6%
- District Court, M.D. Florida295 cases · 19 decided—
- District Court, S.D. Texas280 cases · 31 decided6.5%
- District Court, N.D. Georgia230 cases · 40 decided10%
- District Court, N.D. Ohio228 cases · 17 decided—
- District Court, D. Colorado200 cases · 26 decided—
- District Court, W.D. Kentucky188 cases · 4 decided—
- District Court, D. Connecticut186 cases · 12 decided—
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana179 cases · 34 decided41.2%
- District Court, S.D. California168 cases · 46 decided17.4%
- District Court, D. Arizona164 cases · 30 decided23.3%
- District Court, W.D. Washington147 cases · 11 decided—
- District Court, E.D. Kentucky140 cases · 12 decided—
- District Court, D. Maryland137 cases · 22 decided—
- District Court, D. South Carolina131 cases · 10 decided—
- District Court, E.D. California124 cases · 11 decided—
- District Court, W.D. New York123 cases · 7 decided—
- District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania113 cases · 7 decided—
Source: FJC Integrated Database (public domain), via CourtListener — federal civil cases filed and terminated, 1988–present. Figures are descriptive statistics about how cases of a given type have closed in a given court. They describe the historical record — not a prediction or assessment of any specific case. Not legal advice.