NCJ Number
89002
Date Published
1982
Length
118 pages
Annotation
This study presents documented estimates on the average and total government expenditures involved in resolving civil lawsuits filed during fiscal year 1982, with cost breakdowns for State and U.S. District Court expenditures per judge and per tort case filed, and for each stage and activity of the civil process. California, Florida, and Washington were the only States to have the detailed data needed for the study.
Abstract
The study used a standard cost-analysis approach involving five steps to make estimates from the available court data: determining the types of activities conducted in processing cases, obtaining information on the time required by government personnel to complete each activity and case (e.g., judge-time per hearing, per jury trial, and per case), obtaining information on government expenditure per minute of judge work-time for all types of civil justice system personnel combined and for nonpersonnel items, estimating expenditure per case by multiplying judge work-minutes per case times expenditure per minute, and estimating nationwide expenditure by multiplying the number of cases filed annually times the average government expenditure per case filed. These estimates indicate that the Nation spends about $320 million annually on processing torts through the Federal and State civil justice system. Numerous tables illustrate the data. A further explanation of data sources and calculating methods keyed to each table is appended, along with about 40 references and a list of those interviewed for the study. Footnotes are also included.