Pacific Research Institute
Home Page Download the Study
Download the Fact Sheet
See the Authors
Press Room
Ranking by State
Ranking by State

Litigation Rankings
Saints
Sinners
Salvageables
Suckers
Tort Booklet
Download Excel Spreadsheet Database
Compare to 2006 Tort Liability Index Study

U.S. Map

Salvageables
States that have moderate to high relative monetary tort losses and/or moderate to high litigation risks, yet have moderate to strong tort rules, probably as a result of recent reforms.

Salvageables
State Output Rank Input Rank
Colorado 42 1
Florida 50 6
Georgia 27 4
Idaho 25 10
Indiana 22 5
Kansas 26 17
Louisiana 29 8
Michigan 28 7
Missouri 43 11
Nevada 36 18
New Hampshire 16 14
New Jersey 49 12
Oklahoma 20 13
South Carolina 14 19
Texas 18 2

Ranking
The U.S. tort system is an industry, and, like any industry, it consists of inputs and outputs. Tort-system inputs are such things as courthouses, judges, juries, clerks, copying machines, law libraries, and the rules and procedures on the books that shape tort outputs.

Output Rank
Tort-system outputs consist of the cases filed, attorneys practicing to handle the cases, damage awards, and settlement amounts. In brief, the outputs from the U.S. tort liability system consist of monetary tort losses and litigation risks.

As a rule, lawmakers and voters do not directly control these output factors; they can best control outputs by changing the input rules and procedures on the books.

Input Rank:
The inputs to the U.S. tort liability system are largely the rules on the books in each state that shape its tort-system outputs. These rules are controlled by voters, legislators, and/or judges either directly or indirectly in each state. It is helpful to think of these rules as the dials that can be turned to influence the final outputs of the tort system—the monetary tort losses and litigation risks.