Personal Injury Statistics 2024

Personal Injury is a huge industry. Because traffic accidents, workplace mishaps, dog attacks, faulty goods, and malpractice cases are frequent yearly. Starting your legal practice in the personal injury niche could be hence lucrative.

To help you understand the personal injury industry, here are some personal injury statistics you need to know in 2023.

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Frequently asked questions about personal injury

How big is the personal injury industry?

The Personal Injury is worth about $53.1bn in 2022. (IBISWorld)

What are the most common types of personal injury cases?

These constitute the most common personal injury cases:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents
• Medical Malpractice
• Product Liability
• Workplace Accidents
• Premises Liability (Stracci)

How long do most personal injury cases take?

• Tort lawsuits lasted 23 months on average.
• Motor vehicle accident cases lasted 20 months on average.
• Medical malpractice cases lasted 31 months on average.
• Premises liability lasted 24 months on average.
• Intentional tort cases lasted 25 months on average. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Related: Personal Injury Blog Post Topics

General personal injury statistics

We will initially look at some general stats to get a brief overview of the industry. This is intended to give you a feel for what the personal injury industry constitutes and what you can expect if you consider making a living off it.

1. There are 39.5 million personal injury cases requiring medical treatment in the US every year, which is roughly 126.3 cases per 1000. (CDC)

2. 278,345 people died in the US in 2020, either naturally or due to causes like car accidents. (CDC)

3. The use of firearms caused 45,222 deaths in the US in 2020. (CDC)

4. Unintentional injuries are the most common cause of death in the US, affecting about 58.5 thousand people annually. (CDC)

5. There were roughly 2.3 million people injured in auto accidents in the US. (Statista)

6. 91,799 died of poisoning or overdosing on drugs, the second largest cause of unintentional personal injury in the US in recent years. (CDC)

7. There are 64,331 personal injury law firms in the US. (IBISWorld)

8. The personal injury market is expected to grow by 6.4% in 2022. (IBISWorld)

Stats on personal injury occurrence rates

Having gotten a general sense of the personal injury industry, let’s briefly look at how often certain types of personal injury cases occur.

1. 38,680 people suffered fatalities from road accidents in 2021, which was a 7.2% increase from 2020. (NHTSA)

2. The fatality rate for every 100 million miles traveled was 1.37 in 2020. (NHTSA)

3. 4.4 million are seriously injured in road crashes to require medical attention. (ASIRT)

4. Attorneys reported claimants received $151 million in total compensation on 120 claims won on the grounds of medical malpractice. (Office of the Insurance Commissioner)

Stats around personal injury cases

1. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 3 to 4 percent of personal injury cases go to trial. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

2. These are the various causes of personal injury cases in the US. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

• 5% was as a result of product liability.
• 52% was a result of motor vehicle accidents.
• 15% was concerning medical malpractice.

Number of cases filed and success rates for personal injury claims

Having looked at the kind of personal injury cases that occur in the US, we can now look at what percentage of them get filed as lawsuits demanding compensation and personal injury case success rates.

1. 70% of people who filed a personal injury claim received a payout, which could be an out-of-court settlement or an award after a trial, as per independent research done by Nolo. (Nolo)

2. Half the auto vehicle personal injury cases were settled within 14 months. (U.S. Department of Justice)

3. Auto vehicle personal injury cases were settled in a shorter period than all other cases. (U.S. Department of Justice)

4. These were the success rates on various personal injury cases, as per data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

• In intentional tort trials, plaintiffs were successful 50% of the time.
• In premises liability trials, the success rate for plaintiffs stands at 39%.
• In product liability trials, plaintiffs were successful in 38% of cases.
• Just 19% of plaintiffs were successful in medical malpractice trials, which demonstrates just how hard it is to prove medical negligence.
• In motor vehicle related incidents, plaintiffs were successful 61% of the time.

5. Insurers and self-insurers closed 45% of all claims with an indemnity payment to a claimant in medical malpractice cases. (Office of the Insurance Commissioner)

Typical compensation for personal injury lawsuits

Having just looked at the success rates of personal injury claims, let’s now look at the monetary compensation one can expect from a specific type of personal injury claim.

1. 67% of payouts or compensation for personal injury cases came from a settlement. (Nolo)

2. About half (57%) of the people in accidental injury cases received compensation ranging from $3,000 to $25,000. (Nolo)

3. 70% of people who held out for a better deal received settlements that were $30,700 higher compared to those who accepted the insurance company’s first offer. (Nolo)

4. People with a personal injury lawyer end up with payouts nearly three times higher than those with representation. (Nolo)

5. About 91% of those with an experienced personal injury attorney receive settlement payout, versus only about 51% of those who do without legal representation. (Nolo)

6. As per a study done by the Bureau of Justice, these are the payouts for various personal injury cases:

• Half of all plaintiffs received no more than $24,000.
• The median award is $31,000 for all cases.
• The median award in motor vehicle personal injury cases is $16,000.
• The median award in premises liability cases was $90,000.
• Intentional tort cases had a median payout of $100,000.
• Medical malpractice cases paid out an average of $679,000.
• Product liability cases had a median payout of $748,000. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

7. Claimants received an average of $1.3 million per settlement in medical malpractice cases. (Office of the Insurance Commissioner)

8. Insurers and self-insurers paid $246 million to defend 3,375 medical malpractice claims, an average of $72,971 per claim. (Office of the Insurance Commissioner)

Final thoughts

The personal injury industry is growing, with increasingly larger compensation figures.

This report should have given you a comprehensive idea of what constitutes the personal injury industry. Hopefully, this will help you plan how you want to start and make a living. Learn about the law firm industry next!

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