OWP Relases Final Results of Circuit Court Judge Appellate Success Rate Study, Covering 1,155 Cases

O’Brien Whitt Publishing is pleased to release the final results of a comprehensive study analyzing the success rate on appeal of all Kentucky circuit court judges. The study, which covers all appellate court opinions from 2013, assesses each judge’s overall record on appeal—the number of times their opinions and orders were affirmed, affirmed in part and reversed in part, and reversed. The overall data is now available, and a comprehensive report analyzing this data in greater detail will be available in the coming weeks. Previously released segments of the study focused on Family Law, Property Law, Insurance Law, Business, Contract/Commercial, and Labor and Employment Law, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Law and Procedure., and Tort Law.

The data is presented in two tables: (1) Table 1 includes raw data reflecting the total number of times each judge’s opinion was affirmed, affirmed in part and reversed in part, and affirmed, as well as the total number of cases from that particular judge that were reviewed on appeal in 2013. The table is organized alphabetically by judge. (2) Table 2 converts the above data into percentages. The data accounts for the finality of the opinion of the reviewing court.

Overall, 868 of 1,155 (75%) trial court opinions and orders reviewed were affirmed (including 34 pending further review); 189 of 1,155 (16%) were reversed (including 14 pending further review), and 98 of 1,155 (8%) were affirmed in part and reversed in part (including 6 pending further review). Thus, on average, circuit court judges were affirmed 75% of the time.

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O’Brien Whitt Publishing, LLC, was founded in January 2014 by attorneys Edward M. O’Brien and Nicholas E. Whitt. The company’s mission is to publish quality content for use by attorneys, law clerks, judges, educators, government officials, policymakers, activists, and members of the public. OWP’s inaugural publication, the Kentucky Appellate Survey, 2013 Edition, is currently available for purchase at www.kentuckyappellatesurvey.com/shop. OWP’s website also features the latest news and opinions from Kentucky’s appellate courts at www.kentuckyappellatesurvey.com/news.