Survey of Tort Litigants in Three State Courts, 1989-1990: [United States]

This survey examines the experiences of tort litigants in three state courts: (1) Bucks County, Pennsylvania, (2) Prince George's County, Maryland, and (3) Fairfax County, Virginia. The survey was administered using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system. The most critical aspect of the CATI skip logic is that respondents were interviewed using different modules depending on their role in the dispute (plaintiff vs. defendant), the state/county, and the mode of resolution of their lawsuit. Questions were asked about the nature of the dispute, the plaintiff's financial losses, the defendant's report of damages claimed, events leading up to the lawsuit and finding a lawyer, arbitration cases, settlement conference cases, trial cases, bilateral settlement cases, costs of the lawsuit, social background, and overall evaluation of the experience.