Personal injury - Product liability
Federal civil · Torts · 878,932 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
878,932
Cases filed
97.8%
Ended before a merits judgment
859,641 of 878,932 cases
15.9%
Plaintiff win
of 19,291 merits judgments
72.9%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Other32.3%
- Settled25.4%
- Dismissed24.2%
- Transferred13.9%
- Remanded2%
- Defendant win1.6%
- Plaintiff win0.3%
- Decided — other0.2%
- Mixed0.1%
- Affirmed0%
- Denied0%
Where you file matters
The same claim resolves differently across districts. Plaintiff-win rate among merits judgments, busiest courts first.
- District Court, N.D. Florida259,542 cases · 47 decided19.1%
- District Court, S.D. West Virginia133,807 cases · 1,522 decided48.8%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania64,010 cases · 789 decided20.5%
- District Court, N.D. Alabama34,512 cases · 107 decided27.1%
- District Court, D. Minnesota29,379 cases · 591 decided6.3%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan20,635 cases · 527 decided24.3%
- District Court, M.D. Florida19,795 cases · 268 decided15.7%
- District Court, N.D. Ohio19,775 cases · 922 decided3%
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana17,856 cases · 497 decided10.7%
- District Court, S.D. Illinois16,869 cases · 85 decided11.8%
- District Court, S.D. Texas14,217 cases · 292 decided17.5%
- District Court, N.D. California13,477 cases · 310 decided10.3%
- District Court, S.D. New York13,061 cases · 904 decided3.2%
- District Court, D. Arizona12,235 cases · 108 decided22.2%
- District Court, E.D. Arkansas11,261 cases · 456 decided5%
- District Court, N.D. Texas10,515 cases · 267 decided23.2%
- District Court, D. New Jersey10,492 cases · 1,113 decided8.1%
- District Court, C.D. California9,639 cases · 172 decided16.3%
- District Court, E.D. Texas8,313 cases · 870 decided7.1%
- District Court, E.D. New York8,163 cases · 277 decided23.8%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois7,253 cases · 431 decided9.3%
- District Court, S.D. Florida7,229 cases · 158 decided18.4%
- District Court, S.D. Ohio7,093 cases · 118 decided11.9%
- District Court, D. South Carolina6,546 cases · 579 decided8.5%
- District Court, E.D. Missouri6,041 cases · 200 decided32.5%
- District Court, W.D. Louisiana5,732 cases · 298 decided15.1%
- District Court, S.D. Indiana5,673 cases · 185 decided8.1%
- District Court, S.D. Mississippi5,546 cases · 294 decided13.3%
- District Court, W.D. Washington5,489 cases · 346 decided5.2%
- District Court, D. Massachusetts5,429 cases · 562 decided9.4%
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.