53,231,368+
Real legal records analyzed
Across 30 government and municipal data sources, including NPDB, U.S. Treasury Judgment Fund, NY WCB, NYC, Chicago, LA, Philadelphia.
Personal Injury Statistics
Citable statistics from 53 million real legal records: median settlements, win rates, contingency fees, time-to-settle, attorney leverage, and state-by-state differences. Every number traces to a public source. Free to cite.
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Dataset Headline Numbers
$224 billion
In real payouts aggregated
Total dollars across our aggregated data sources spanning 1990-2025 (sources with unreliable amount fields excluded).
Source: Settlement Insight aggregated dataset
529,804
NPDB med-mal payment reports
Federal Practitioner Data Bank records 2000-2025, totaling $136B in payments.
Source: HRSA NPDB Public Use Data File · Primary: HRSA NPDB public use file
113,969
Treasury Judgment Fund payments
Federal settlement and judgment payments fiscal years 2008-2025, totaling $59.9 billion.
Source: U.S. Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service · Primary: Treasury Judgment Fund
5,517,992
NY workers' comp claims
Comprehensive analysis of NY Workers' Compensation Board claim records covering wages, injury types, counties.
Source: NY Workers' Compensation Board · Primary: NY WCB open data
$24,000
Median car accident settlement
Across 60,820 settled car-accident cases analyzed. Distribution: 25th percentile $8K, 75th percentile $58K, 95th percentile $185K.
Fault & State Law
5 jurisdictions
Pure-contributory negligence states
Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C. — any fault = $0 recovery.
Source: State statutes
12 + DC
No-fault auto insurance states
FL, MI, NY, NJ, PA, MA, KY, MN, ND, UT, HI, KS, DC require some form of PIP coverage.
Source: State insurance codes
34%
Premium for cases in no-cap states
Analysis shows med-mal settlements in states without damage caps run ~34% higher than capped states.
Money: Fees & Settlements
~4×
Payout multiple for represented claimants (reader survey)
A Martindale-Nolo reader survey found represented claimants received $77,600 on average vs $17,600 without an attorney — self-reported survey data.
Source: Martindale-Nolo reader survey
30-50%
Typical first-offer vs. final-settlement ratio
Adjusters' opening offers run 30-50% of what cases ultimately settle for after negotiation.
Source: Standard PI negotiation practice
33⅓% / 40%
Standard contingency fee (pre-suit / post-suit)
PI attorneys' baseline fees. California med-mal uses statutory sliding scale (Bus. & Prof. §6146).
46%
Typical net-to-client share of gross settlement
After attorney fee (33%) + case costs + medical liens (negotiated). Varies widely by case profile.
$5.5B
Talcum powder settlement offer (2026)
Johnson & Johnson's July 2026 offer to resolve ovarian-cancer and mesothelioma claims, payable from 2027 and conditional on 95% claimant approval. An earlier $8.9B bankruptcy plan was rejected in 2023.
Source: Court records, MDL 2738 (as of August 2026) · Primary: JPML pending MDLs
$10.9B
Roundup/glyphosate settlement fund
Bayer/Monsanto's settlement of weed-killer cancer claims, MDL 2741.
Source: Court records, MDL 2741 · Primary: JPML pending MDLs
Timing & Outcomes
6-18 months
Typical pre-suit PI settlement timeline
Soft-tissue cases settle within 6-12 months; surgical cases 9-18.
~95%
Of filed PI lawsuits settle before verdict
Less than 5% of filed cases go to a jury verdict. Most resolve at mediation or in late discovery.
Source: Federal Judicial Center, ABA litigation reports · Primary: Federal Judicial Center IDB
1-6 years
Statute of limitations range
KY/LA/TN at 1 year (tightest); ME/ND/MN at 6 years (widest). Most states are 2-3 years.
Source: State statutes
Where these numbers come from
The government files behind the dataset figures above, linked to the agency that publishes each one. Statistics on this page that are not agency-derived — negotiation practice, standard fee agreements, the Martindale-Nolo reader survey — are labelled as such on their own card and should not be read as government data.
- National Practitioner Data Bank — Public Use Data File
U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) · 1990–2025 · 529,830 malpractice payment reports
npdb.hrsa.gov
- Judgment Fund payments
U.S. Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service · 2009–2025 · 114,210 federal settlement and judgment payments
fiscal.treasury.gov
- Assembled Workers' Compensation Claims: Beginning 2000
New York State Workers' Compensation Board · 1994–2026 · 5,586,588 assembled claims
data.ny.gov
- Integrated Database (IDB) — civil case filings and terminations
Federal Judicial Center · 1988–2025 · 10,760,870 U.S. district court civil cases
The source for how often filed cases settle rather than reach a verdict.
fjc.gov
- Pending MDL dockets and statistics
U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
The authoritative count of cases pending in each mass-tort MDL, including the talc and glyphosate dockets cited above.
jpml.uscourts.gov
- Claims Report — Underlying Settlements and Claims Filed Data
New York City Office of the Comptroller · FY2016–FY2023 · 256,923 claims against the City of New York
data.cityofnewyork.us
Source files last retrieved . Agencies revise historical records; figures reflect the files as retrieved on that date.
How to Cite
All Settlement Insight aggregated data is released under CC BY 4.0 — free to cite with attribution.
Plain text
Settlement Insight (2026). Personal Injury Statistics from 22M+ Real Legal Records. Retrieved May 15, 2026, from https://settlementinsight.com/personal-injury-statistics
APA
Goldberg, L. (2026). Personal injury statistics from 22M+ real legal records. Settlement Insight. https://settlementinsight.com/personal-injury-statistics
Read the underlying research
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Yes/no guide + 10 FAQs
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