Day on Torts Nugget – 2019 Tennessee Trial Data Part 1

The number of trials in Tennessee state court continued to decline in 2019, although jury trials in Circuit Court ticked up slightly.

What follows is the number of jury and non-jury trials in Tennessee state courts for the indicated fiscal years (July 1 – June 30):

Year   Chancery Non-Jury     Chancery Jury            Circuit Non-Jury                 Circuit Jury              Total

2019             9970                                 35                                  4542                         191                  14,738

2018             9916                                 48                                  4852                        180                   14,996

2017             9573                                 49                                   5698                        186                    15,506

Now, compare those numbers with those for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007

2007           10,726                               28                                   8173                       393                    19,320

Thus, the number of overall trials are down over twenty (20%) percent and the number of jury trials are down by almost fifty (50%).

It is important to add the number of people in Tennessee has increased at least ten (10%) percent since 2007 so, other things being equal, one would have expected the number of trials to increase by ten (10%), not decrease.