Dive Brief:
- Litigation awards rose significantly from 2011 through 2023 when looking at the median payout for cases of $1 million or more, new research by the American Transportation Research Institute found.
- During that time, the median award has increased at an average rate of $59,122 per year, and an upper quartile award saw an average increase of $264,789.
- “Exorbitant litigation has become increasingly challenging for the trucking industry,” the study said, adding that atypical awards have become more normal as of 2019.
Dive Insight:
To help provide relief for the industry, ATRI identified the legal venue as one option to make awards more favorable for trucking.
ATRI estimated there were 12,817 tractor-trailer tort cases beginning in 2022, but only 487 ended with a trial, mostly in a non-federal court. In contrast, federal courts provide more favorable safeguards for the industry in cases, ATRI said. That’s because of factors such as where juries are selected from and whether a judge is appointed or not.
Even though plaintiffs file most civil torts in state courts, they can be transferred to federal court if they pertain to federal law or meet other criteria, where they involve over $75,000 and have defendants in different states from the plaintiff, the report noted.
“In federal courts, the median trial verdict award for cases at or exceeding $1 million was $2,517,500,” the report said. “In state courts, the median trial verdict award for cases at or exceeding $1 million was $3,600,000.”
