Nationally, medical malpractice lawsuits are a very small percentage of the cases filed in states courts. According to the most recent National Center for State Courts (NCSC) data, nationally in 2014 medical malpractice cases ranged from 0.02% to 0.34% of all cases filed. So, how does Washington State compare nationally?

According to NCSC date, in 2014 Washington State tort cases (which includes medical malpractice cases) made up approximately 7% of all cases filed. The data also states that in Washington there were 10,000 tort case dispositions, and of those only 192 were resolved by a jury trial. That means that only 1.9% of tort cases resolved in Washington in 2014 were resolved with a jury trial.

Breaking the NCSC data down further, there were 351 medical malpractice case dispositions in Washington, and of those only 21 were by jury trial. Only 6% of medical malpractice case dispositions in Washington State in 2014 were resolved by a jury trial.

What can we learn from this data? First, the data indicates that that only a very small number of the lawsuits pending in state courts relate to tort cases. Second, of those tort cases, a small percentage is actually decided by a jury. Third, in Washington the NCSC data suggests that medical malpractice cases go to trial more frequently than do tort cases in general (1.5% of tort cases are resolved by trial versus, 6% of medical malpractice cases).

While it is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions from this data, it does clearly illustrate that tort cases, and medical malpractice cases specifically, constitute a very small percentage of the lawsuits pending in our states courts. The NCSC’s data is available for many states and is accessible here:

[2014 Civil Caseloads – Trial Courts](http://www.ncsc.org/Sitecore/Content/Microsites/PopUp/Home/CSP/CSP_Civil)