First-Quarter 2016 Maryland Judiciary Statistics
In all, there were 22,310 unique civil actions in Maryland’s circuit courts in the first quarter of 2016. Torts, as always, were a far smaller percentage of the whole than the tort reformers would have you believe. Case types classically defined as “torts” or personal injury – car accidents, workers’ compensation appeals, and medical malpractice – were 1,615 of these cases.
That does not mean that personal injury cases made up only 7.2% of the all circuit court civil actions. In Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, cases are not listed by type on Judiciary Case Search (our data source), merely by civil or criminal. Roughly speaking, Montgomery and PG make up about 30% of the whole.
This means that personal injury cases represent about 10.7% of the civil side of circuit courts in Maryland. Medical malpractice made up roughly 1.3%. Our court systems remained clogged with foreclosures, divorce and custody cases, and failure to pay child support.
Yet somehow, the wealthy and the insurance lobby have convinced society that the real problem is personal injury cases and trial lawyers. It’s preposterous. See our infographic from last year for a stunning visual of what the court system really looks like.
January – 6305
- Medical Malpractice – 136
- Motor Tort – 198
- Administrative Agency Appeal – 169
- Appeal – Workers’ Compensation – 41
February – 7580
- Medical Malpractice – 25
- Motor Tort – 256
- Administrative Agency Appeal – 160
- Appeal – Workers’ Compensation – 58
March – 8425
- Medical Malpractice – 35
- Motor Tort – 273
- Administrative Agency Appeal – 230
- Appeal – Workers’ Compensation – 34
Stay tuned for more information and statistics on Maryland’s busiest personal injury lawyers.
Please take all data as an estimate. The methodology used in this blog post is consistent with that of someone writing a blog post that is useful for general information, but not useful for decision making from a statistical standpoint.