Database of State Tort Law Reforms (3rd), 1980-2008 (ICPSR 30409)

Version Date: Mar 9, 2011

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Principal Investigator(s):
Ronen Avraham, University of Texas School of Law

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR30409.v1

Version V1

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Summary

This data collection contains two Excel files that code ten reforms found in the Database of State Tort Law Reforms (DSTLR 3rd). The DSTLR (3rd) contains the most detailed, complete, and comprehensive legal dataset of the most prevalent tort reforms enacted or revised in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1980 and 2008. For each reform, the DSTLR (3rd) records the effective date, a short description of the reform, whether or not the jury is allowed to know about the reform, whether the reform was upheld or struck down by the states' courts, as well as whether it was amended by the state legislator. One of the Excel files codes the DSTLR (3rd). The other Excel file, DSTLR 3rd (clever), turns off reforms for various reasons, such as the caps being too high to bind. A Word document explains what distinguishes the DSTLR 3rd (clever) Excel file from the regular DSTLR (3rd) Excel file. The Excel files code the state tort reforms for non-wrongful-death medical malpractice related laws based on the DSTLR (3rd). However, users of the file should be aware that there are many legitimate ways to code the data. Specifically, users should be aware that: (1) If the Avraham, Database of State Tort Law Reforms (3rd) effective date of the reform was on or after July 1st, it was coded as belonging to the following year. (The rationale being that for most of the calendar year in which it was enacted the reform did not apply). (2) Similarly, if a reform was struck down on or after July 1st, it was coded as still active in that year. (The rationale being that for most of the calendar year in which it was struck down the reform did apply). (3) Reforms which simply codified pre-existing common law were not coded. (4) While reforms come in many flavors, the file collapses them into a single zero or one dummy variable. Thus, there is no distinction between different levels of caps, different variations of the joint and several liability reform, etc. (5) The only exception to the previous rule is with respect to periodic payment reforms which was coded in the following way. Zero means no reform existed in that year. A reform which granted courts the discretion of whether or not to apply periodic payments is coded as one. A reform which required courts to apply periodic payments is coded as two.

Citation

Avraham, Ronen. Database of State Tort Law Reforms (3rd), 1980-2008 . Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2011-03-09. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR30409.v1

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Funding

National Science Foundation (0452221)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

state

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

1980 -- 2008

Date of Collection

2005-04 -- 2006-10

Data Collection Notes

  1. The zipped package contains Microsoft Word documents and Microsoft Excel files, which includes the data, tables, and figures used in the publication.

  2. These data are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigators if further information is desired.

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Data Source

First, all existing online datasets were integrated. Then other legal resources such as the A.L.R and Restatement (Second) were integrated as well. Lastly, states' codes and case-law were extensively read to fill in the gaps and correct the discrepancies in the dataset.

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

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Original Release Date

2011-03-03

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Avraham, Ronen. Database of State Tort Law Reforms (3rd), 1980-2008 . ICPSR30409-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2011-03-09. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR30409.v1

2011-03-09 Minor edits were made to the metadata description.

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Notes

  • These data are flagged as replication datasets and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.