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Building an Integrated Model of Trial Court Decision Making: Predicting Plaintiff Success and Awards across Circuits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Tao L. Dumas  and
Stacia L. Haynie
Tao L. Dumas*
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Stacia L. Haynie
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
*
Tao L. Dumas, Louisiana State University, 240 Stubbs Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA Email: tdumas2@lsu.edu
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Abstract

This study creates and empirically tests an integrated model of trial court decision making to explore the hypothesis that jury verdicts reflect the social, political, and economic attributes of the community in which the court resides. In addition, the analyses examine the influence of attorneys, litigants, case facts, and judges on trial outcomes. Using an original data set comprising all reported civil trial verdicts decided in the state of Alabama from 2002 to 2008, we uncover strong evidence that community composition influences both the dispute resolution and resource allocation functions of trial courts. This research improves our knowledge of trial court decision making and contributes to our theoretical understanding of the effect of extralegal factors on the performance of political institutions.

Keywords

judicial behaviorjudicial electionsjudicial politicslocal politicspublic law
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 103 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

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