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Jurors' Judgments of Business Liability in Tort Cases: Implications for the Litigation Explosion Debate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Valerie P. Hans  and
William S. Lofquist
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Abstract

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Criticisms of the civil jury, including charges that the jury is biased against business, have been central to debates over the litigation explosion and demands for tort reform. This article seeks to inform these ongoing controversies by examining tort jurors' accounts of how they reached decisions in cases with business parties. Interviews and questionnaire data showed that jurors were skeptical of plaintiff tort claims against businesses, organized their accounts more on the actions and motivations of plaintiffs than on the responsibilities of business, and spoke often of the litigation crisis and the importance of limiting awards.

Type
Legal Culture and Legal Discourse
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , 1992 , pp. 85 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

The research reported here was funded by National Science Foundation grant No. SES-8822598. The helpful comments of Stephen Daniels, David Ermann, and Sam Gaertner on a prior draft are appreciated.

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