South Carolina No. 4 for most personal injury cases

Much like the proverbial chicken or the egg question, one might ask the same about South Carolina’s high-rate of personal injury lawsuits and the plethora of local injury attorney advertisements.

Data from a study commissioned by Florida personal injury lawyers Anidjar & Levine reveals South Carolina had the fourth most personal injury court cases nationally per capita and the third-highest proportion of such cases overall.

Florida is the state with far the most personal injury claimants in the country. In three top 10 states, personal injury cases comprise over one-third of all civil cases.

Anidjar & Levine uncovered the number of personal injury cases seen throughout the courts of each state in the 12 months ending March 31, 2023, revealing the states where the public is most likely to carry out legal action following an incident.

In South Carolina, personal injury cases occurred at a rate of 30.21 per 100,000 residents, 217% over the national average of 9.53. Personal injury cases comprise 36% of the state's entire civil caseload, 210% more than the national average proportion, the third highest proportion nationwide. The average proportion of such cases sits at 11.65%.

Here’s how the top 10 data shakes out:

1. Florida

Florida is the state with the most personal injury claims per capita, by some distance. Per 100,000 Floridians, there were 127.41 personal injury cases in court. This is a staggering 1,237% over the national average rate of just 9.53, and 319% more than any other state on the list. Personal injury cases in the Sunshine State amount to more than 60% of all civil cases in court, while such cases do not exceed 45% of the total civil caseload anywhere else in the country.

2. Ohio

Ohio comes in second place. Personal injury cases came in at 30.38 per 100,000 residents, while a long shot from the rate of Florida, this is 219% more than the national average. Ohio’s personal injury caseload is also the second-highest in the country, as such cases account for 44.28% of civil cases. The average portion of personal injury cases in civil courts is just 11.65%.

3. New Jersey

Third is New Jersey, where there were 30.34 cases per 100,000 residents. This amounts to 31% of the state’s civil caseload, the fifth-highest, and 166.4% over the average proportion in the country.

4. South Carolina

South Carolina saw personal injury cases at a rate of 30.21 per 100,000 residents, the fourth highest level in the country. These cases were 36% of the state’s civil cases, the third-highest proportion seen.

5. Illinois

In fifth place, Illinois saw personal injury cases at 22.95 per 100,000 residents. The state experienced the fourth highest number of such cases, but they amount to only 23.6% of all civil cases.

6. Louisiana

Louisiana personal injury cases came in at 16.71 per 100,000 residents. While this makes Louisiana the sixth state for case rate per capita, such cases are just 6.2% of the state’s entire civil caseload, the 34th-ranking state on this metric, and by far the lowest in the top ten.

7. Minnesota

In seventh, Minnesota saw 15.76 personal injury cases per 100,000, 28.1% of the state’s civil caseload comprises such cases, the sixth highest proportion in the country.

8. Indiana

With 14.2 personal injury cases per 100,000, Indiana sits in eighth. These cases amount to 16.9% of the total civil caseload in the state.

9. Georgia

In the penultimate spot, Georgians carried out legal action in personal injury cases at a rate of 13.93 per 100,000 residents, with 18.6% of the total civil caseload in the state coming from these cases.

10. New Hampshire

New Hampshire takes 10th place with a rate of 13.62 personal injury cases per 100,000 residents. Such cases, however, comprise 33.7% of the state's civil caseload, the fourth-highest proportion in the country.

Anidjar & Levine are personal injury and car accident lawyers based in Florida. Their research was sourced from http://uscourts.gov/ - Data from 12-month time period ending March 31, 2023. The methodology: Number of personal injury cases were compared with population of each state to establish rate per 100,000 residents using the following formula: (cases/population x 100,000).

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
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