Tort defendants continued to fare quite well at the Supreme Court over the past ten years, winning 41 cases while losing 23. Defendants won nine of twelve cases in 2011, seven of ten in 2012, six of seven in 2015 and five of seven in 2017.

The Court reviewed relatively few decisions where defendants prevailed at the Appellate Court. For the years 2010-2019, tort defendants received affirmances in eight Appellate Court wins, while nine lower court wins were reversed by the Supreme Court.

Tort defendants fared very well, however, in getting decisions which they lost at the Appellate Court reversed by the Supreme Court. Overall, defendants won 33 of such cases, losing only 14. Defendants won 13 of 19 cases during the years 2011-2013. They were 6-1 in 2015 and from 2017 to 2019, defendants won five of seven cases.

Join us back here next Tuesday as we begin reviewing the individual Justices’ voting patterns in tort cases.

Image courtesy of Flickr by Soki (no changes).