The Pattern Continues: A Decline in Civil Jury Trials

According to the data obtained from the Greater Kansas City Jury Verdict Service, the total number of jury trials in the Kansas City metropolitan area continues to decline, approaching levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2025 had a total of 70 jury trials, compared to 74 trials in 2024 and 101 trials in 2023. This shows a continued decline of 30% since 2023.

Lower Monetary Awards, Mirroring Fewer Trials

Paralleling the decrease in jury trials, jury verdicts in favor of Plaintiffs have also consistently decreased. Of the total verdicts, only 39% were for the Plaintiff, compared to 40% in 2024 and 48% in 2023. The recent years are starting to reflect the upward trend defendants saw from 2017-2019 where the defense verdicts were 51% in 2017, 52% in 2018, and 59% in 2019.

In 2025, the total awarded to Plaintiffs was $62,529,389, a significantly lower number than the $276,493,945 awarded in 2024 and $307,266,978 in 2023, excluding the 2023 outlier verdict of $1.785 billion. The overall average of Plaintiffs’ verdicts in 2025 was $1,097,007 compared to $5,120,258 in 2024 and $1,113,929 in 2023 (again excluding the outlier verdict). The largest verdict in 2025 totaled $18.6 million, while the largest in 2024 was $33.4 million.

Some of the largest verdicts were for breach of contract claims, with high punitive damages awarded in discrimination and business liability cases.

The decrease in recovery for automobile related claims continued into 2025. In 2024, Plaintiffs recovered from an automobile claim approximately 60% of the time, a decrease from the 78% recovery rate in 2023. 2025 yielded only a 48% recovery rate for Plaintiffs with automobile claims, indicating a stark increase in defense verdicts.

While the general trend portrays a decline in Plaintiff verdicts, both Jackson County at Kansas City, Missouri and Johnson County, Kansas continue to favor Plaintiff verdicts. While not identified as Judicial Hellholes by the American Tort Reform Foundation, there were 13 verdicts greater than $1,000,000 in 2025, 11 of which were in Jackson County, Missouri and two in Johnson County, Kansas. There were 22 verdicts of $100,000 to $999,999. Of these verdicts, 20 verdicts were in state court with only two verdicts in federal court.

Overall, the data reflects a clear and continuing shift in the Kansas City area litigation landscape with fewer jury trials, declining plaintiff success rates, and reduced monetary awards influencing case selection, settlement strategies, and expectations for outcomes that ultimately shapes how civil cases are evaluated and resolved.