Statistical Evidence in Litigation

Contents of this page:

• General References
• Journals
• Case Decisions
• Discrimination Litigation
• Economic Damages in Anti-Trust and Price-Fixing
• Mass Tort
• Population Census
• Tax Audits
• Toxic Tort Litigation

• Damages Bibliography by Dennis McConnell
• Data Mining
• Electronic Evidence and Records Retention
• Evidence and Expert Testimony
• Financial Statements and Other Data about Firms
• Forensic Economics Bibliography
• Forensic Economics Consultants
• Forensic Economics Sites
• Journal of Forensic Economics index
• Sampling in Financial Audits
• Sampling for Medicare and Other Claims
• Sampling in Sales and Use Tax Audits
• Sampling for Sales and Use Tax Audits - Bibliography of Review Articles
• Sampling Theory
• Statistical Consulting
• Statistical Education and Software
• Will Yancey's Home Page

Disclaimer:  Inclusion on this list does NOT imply the cited work is or was a good authority. This list is NOT an exhaustive list of the relevant literature. If more than one edition exists, usually only the most recent one is shown in this list.  Many of these books are out of print and can be found from a bookseller listed at  www.willyancey.com/retail.htm#books-music. Please e-mail any comments or suggestions to info@willyancey.com 

General References

• Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Ethics, "Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice," 37 The American Statistician 20 (1983).
• Aitken, C. C. G., Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists, First Edition, (Wiley, 1995).
• Aitken, C. C. G., and Franco Taroni, Statistics and the Evaluation of Evidence for Forensic Scientists, Second Edition, (Wiley, 2004).
• Barnes, David W., Statistics as Proof: Fundamentals of Quantitative Evidence, (Little, Brown and Company, 1983).
• Barnes, David W., and John M. Conley, Statistical Evidence in Litigation: Methodology, Procedure, and Practice, (Little, Brown and Company, 1986).
• Barton, A., "My Experience as an Expert Witness," 37 The American Statistician 374 (1983).
• Brooks, James, A Lawyer's Guide to Probability and Statistics, (1990).
• Channels, N., Social Science Methods in the Legal Process, (1985).
• Curtis, W., Statistical Concepts for Attorneys, (1983).
• DeGroot, Morris H., Stephen E. Fienberg, and Joseph B. Kadane, editors, Statistics and the Law, (Wiley, 1986, republished 1994).
• Deming, W. Edwards, "On the Presentation of Results of Sample Surveys as Legal Evidence," 49 Journal of the American Statistical Association 814 (1954).
• Deming, W. Edwards, "Report of the Committee on Standards of Probability Sampling for Legal Evidence - Admissibility of Data from Probability Sampling," Special Report, Current Business Studies of The Society of Business Advisory Professionals, Inc., in cooperation with the Graduate School of Business Administration of New York University.  Reprinted as appendix to Internal Revenue Service Revenue Procedure 72-36, 1972-1 Cumulative Bulletin 797.
• Diamond, Shari Seidman, "Reference Guide on Survey Research", Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 2nd ed., (Federal Judicial Center, 2000), pages 229-276,  http://www.fjc.gov/newweb/jnetweb.nsf/autoframe?openform&url_r=pages/16
• Downton, F., "Legal Probability and Statistics," 145 Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, Part 4 395 (1982).
• Eggleston, Richard, Evidence, Proof and Probability, (1983).
• Faigman, David L. et al, editors, Modern Scientific Evidence: The Law and Science of Expert Testimony, (1997).
• Federal Judicial Center, Manual for Complex Litigation, Third , (Federal Judicial Center, 1995),  http://www.fjc.gov/newweb/jnetweb.nsf/autoframe?openform&url_r=pages/16  (Page 101, Section 21.493 describes the use of sampling and opinion surveys in complex litigation.)
• Federal Judicial Center, Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 1st ed., (Federal Judicial Center, 1994).
• Federal Judicial Center, Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 2nd ed., (Federal Judicial Center, 2000), http://www.fjc.gov/newweb/jnetweb.nsf/autoframe?openform&url_r=pages/16
• Fienberg, Stephen E., editor, The Evolving Role of Statistical Assessments as Evidence in the Courts, (Springer-Verlag, 1989). (Report of the National Research Council Panel on Statistical Assessments as Evidence in the Courts).
• Fienberg, Stephen E., and Joseph B. Kadane, "The Presentation of Bayesian Statistical Analysis in Legal Proceedings," 32 Statistician 88 (1983).
• Fienberg, Stephen E., Samuel H. Krislov, and Miron L. Straf, "Understanding and Evaluating Statistical Evidence in Litigation", 36 Jurimetrics Journal 1 (Fall 1995).
• Fienberg, Stephen E., and Mark J. Schervish, "The Relevance of Bayesian Inference for the Presentation of Statistical Evidence and for Legal Decisionmaking," 66 Boston University Law Review 771 (1986).
• Fienberg, Stephen E., and Miron L. Straf, "Statistical Assessments as Evidence," 145 Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, Part 4,  410 (1982).
• Fienberg, Stephen E., and Miron L. Straf, "Statistical Evidence in the US Courts: An Appraisal," 31 Journal of the Forensic Science Society 259 (April 1991).
• Finkelstein, Michael O., Quantitative Methods in Law: Studies in the Application of Mathematical Probability and Statististics to Legal Problems, (Free Press, 1978).
• Finkelstein, Michael O., and Bruce Levin, Statistics for Lawyers , (Springer-Verlag, 1st edition 1990, 2nd edition 2001).
• Fisher, Franklin M., "Multiple Regression in Legal Proceedings," 80 Columbia Law Review 702 (1980).
• Fisher, Franklin M., "Statisticians, Econometricians, and Adversary Proceedings," 81 Journal of the American Statististical Association 277 (June 1986).
• Freeman, M., and H. Reece, editors, Science in Court, (Ashgate, 1998).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., Statististical Reasoning in Law and Public Policy, (Academic Press, 1988).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "Statistical Reasoning in the Legal Setting," 46 The American Statistician 55 (February 1992).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., editor, Statistical Science in the Courtroom, (Springer-Verlag New York, 2000), http://www.statistics.com/content/bookstore/legal/Gastwirth.php3
  
• Giannelli, P. C., and E. J. Imwinkelried, Scientific Evidence, (Michie, 1993).
• Good, Philip I., Applying Statistics in the Courtroom: A New Approach for Attorneys and Expert Witnesses, (Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, 2001).
  
• Hammack, William S., Statistics: A Primer for Lawyers, (Carnegie Mellon University, 1994).
• Helberg, Clay, "Pitfalls in Data Analysis", (1995), www.execpc.com/~helberg/pitfalls/
• Kadane, Jospeh B., Statistics in the Law, (Oxford University Press, 2008).
• Katz, L., "Presentation of a Confidence Interval Estimate as Evidence in a Legal Proceeding," 29 American Statistician, 138 (1975).
• Kaye, David H., "Publications on Statistics, Probability Theory, and Evidence," http://homepages.law.asu.edu/~kayed/pubs/p_ls.htm
• Kaye, David H., "Is Proof of Statistical Significance Relevant?", 61 Washington Law Review 1333 (1986).
• Kaye, David H., "Apples and Oranges: Confidence Coefficients and the Burden of Persuasion", 73 Cornell Law Review 54 (1987).
• Kaye, David H., "What Is Bayesianism? A Guide for the Perplexed", 28 Jurimetrics Journal 161 (Winter 1988).
• Kaye, David H., "Statistical Evidence: How to Avoid the 'Diderot Effect' of Getting Stumped", --- Inside Litigation 21 (April 1988).
• Kaye, David H., "Improving Legal Statistics", 24 Law and Society Review 1255 (1990).
• Kaye, David H., "Statistics for Lawyers and Law for Statisticians," 89 Michigan Law Review 1520 (1991).
• Kaye, David H., "DNA Evidence: Probability, Population Genetics, and the Courts", 7 Harvard Journal of Law and Technology 101 (1993).
• Kaye, David H., and David A. Freedman, "Reference Guide on Statistics", Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 1st ed., (Federal Judicial Center, 1994), pages 333-414.
• Kaye, David H., and David A. Freedman, "Reference Guide on Statistics", Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 2nd ed., (Federal Judicial Center, 2000), pages 83-178,  http://www.fjc.gov/newweb/jnetweb.nsf/autoframe?openform&url_r=pages/16
• Kimball, "Errors of the Third Kind in Statistical Consulting," 52 American Statistical Assocation Journal 133 (1958).
• Klemm, Rebecca J., "A Court-Appointed Expert as the Sole Source of Statistical Analysis", 34 Jurimetrics Jorunal 149 (Winter 1994).
• Kweit, M., and R. Kweit, Concepts and Methods for Political Analysis, (1981).
• Lembert, "Statistics in the Courtroom: Building on Rubinfeld," 85 Columbia Law Review 1098 (1985).
• Loewen, James W., Social Science in the Courtroom: Statistical Techniques and Methods for Winning Class Action Suits, (Lexington Books, 1982).
• Meier, Paul, "Damned Liars and Expert Witnesses," 81 Journal of the American Statististical Association 269 (June 1986).
• Moenssens, Andre A., Ray Edward Moses, and Fred E. Inbau, Scientific Evidence in Criminal Cases, (Foundation Press, 1973).
• Napley, David, "Lawyers and Statisticians," 145 Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, Part 4 422 (1982).
• Newell, D., "The Role of Statistician as an Expert Witness," 145 Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, Part 4 403 (1982), part of discussion series at pp. 395-438.
• Peterson, Donald W., "Statistical Inference in Litigation," 46 Law and Contemporary Problems 1 (1983).
• Reich, "How to Evaluate an Expert's Statistical Analysis," 28 Practical Lawyer 69 (1982).
• Rubinfeld, "Econometrics in the Courtroom," 85 Columbia Law Review 1048 (1985).
• Saks, M. J., and R. Van Duizend, The Use of Scientific Evidence in Litigation, (National Center for State Courts, 1983).
• Sawyer, Lawrence B., "The Lawyer, the Statistician, and the Internal Auditor", 24 Internal Auditor 9 (Summer 1967).
• Slottje, Daniel J., editor, The Role of the Academic Economist in Litigation Support, (Elsevier, 1999).
• Solomon, Herbert, "Measurement and Burden of Evidence," In J. Tiago de Oliveira and B. Epstein, editors, Some Recent Advances in Statistics , (London: Academic Press, 1982), pp. 1-27.
• Solomon, Herbert, "Confidence Intervals in Legal Settings," In Morris H. DeGroot, Stephen E. Fienberg, and Joseph B. Kadane, editors, Statistics and the Law, (Wiley, 1986, reprinted in 1994), pp. 455-473.
• Tillers, P., and E. D. Green, editors, Probability and Inference in the Law of Evidence, (1988).
• Tribe, Laurence H., "Trial by Mathematics: Precision and Ritual in the Legal Process," 84 Harvard Law Review 1329 (April 1971).
• Vinson, D., and P. Anthony, Social Science Research Methods for Litigation, (1985).
• Wehmhoefer, R., Statistics in Litigation: Practical Application for Lawyers, (McGraw-Hill, 1985).
• White, Colin, "Unkind Cuts at Statisticians," 18 The American Statistician 15 (1964).
• Wigmore, J. H., The Science of Judicial Proof, 3rd Edition, (1937).
• Zeisel, Hans and David Kaye, Prove It with Figures: Empirical Methods in Law and Litigation, (Springer-Verlag, 1997).

Journals

• Jurimetrics ...American Bar Association Section of Science & Technology Law and Arizona State University College of Law
• Law, Probability and Risk ...Oxford University Press

Case Decisions

Discrimination Litigation

Cases

• Dendy v. Washington Hospital Center, 431 F. Supp. 873 (1977).
• EEOC v. Sears. Roebuck & Co., 628 F. Supp. 1264 (1986).
  
• Hazelwood School District v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, http://laws.findlaw.com/us/433/299.html, (1977).
• Leisner v. New York Telephone Co., 358 F. Supp. 359, (1973).
  
• Vuyanich v. Republic National Bank, 723 F.2d 1195 (5th Cir. 1984).
• Vuyanich v. Republic National Bank, 505 F. Supp. 224 (N.D. Tex. 1980).

Articles

• Baldus, David C. & James W. L. Cole, Statistical Proof of Discrimination , (Shepard's, 1980, supplement 1987).
• Bessey, B.L., K.J. Gilmartin, F.B. Stancavage, "A Review of Statistical Books for Use in Employment Discrimination Lawsuits," Jurimetrics Journal, vol. 32, (1992), pp. 473-485.
• Burstein, James A., and Jeri A. Lindahl, "Defending an Age Discrimination Case Involving Statistical Evidence" Employee Relations Law Journal , vol. 18, number 2, (Autumn 1992), pp. 325-336.
• Connolly, et al, Use of Statistics in Equal Employment Opportunity Litigation, (1992).
• Cranor, Carl, and Kurt Nutting, "Scientific and Legal Standards of Statistical Evidence in Toxic Tort and Discrimination Suits," Law and Philosophy , vol. 9, number 2, (May 1990), pp. 115-156.
• Dempster, Arthur P., "Employment Discrimination and Statistical Science", 3 Statistical Science 149 (1988).
• Fienberg, Stephen E.., "The Increasing Sophistication of Statistical Assessments as Evidence in Discrimination Litigation - A Comment on Kaye," Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 77, (1982), pp. 784-787.
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "A Clarification of Some Statistical Issues in Watson v. Fort Worth Bank and Trust", Jurimetrics Journal, vol. 29, (Spring 1989) pp. 267- .
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "Comments on Nesson," Cardozo Law Review , vol. 13, (November 1991), pp. 817-829.
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "Statistical Reasoning in the Legal Setting," The American Statistician, vol. 46, number 1, (February 1992), pp. 55-69.
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "Methods for Assessing the Sensitivity of Statistical Comparisons Used in Title VII Cases to Omitted Variables", 33 Jurimetrics Journal 19 (Fall 1992).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., "Statistical Issues Arising in Equal Employment Litigation", 36 Jurimetrics Journal 353 (Summer 1996).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L., Abba Krieger, and Paul Rosenbaum, "How a Court Accepted and Impossible Explanation," 48 The American Statististician 313 (November 1994).
• Gaughan, Patrick A., and Thomas H. Hodson, Jr., "Statistical Analysis in Wrongful Discharge/Title VII Litigation," In Patrick A. Gaughan and Robert J. Thornton, editors, Litigation Economics, (JAI Press, 1993), pp. 209-226.
• Gray, Mary W., "Can Statistics Tell Us What We Do Not Want To Hear?", 8 Statistical Science 144 (1993).
• Gronhovd, Sheri L., "Social Science Statistics in the Courtroom: The Debate Resurfaces in McCleskey v. Kemp," 62 Notre Dame Law Review 688 (1987).
• Howard, William M., "The Decline and Fall of Statistical Evidence as Proof of Employment Discrimination," 45 Labor Law Journal 208 (April 1994).
• Kaye, David H., "Statistical Evidence of Discrimination," 77 Journal of the American Statistical Association 773 (1982).
• Kaye, David H., and Mikel Aickin, editors, Statistical Methods in Discrimination Litigation, (Marcel Dekker, 1986).
• Killingsworth, Mark R., "Analyzing Employment Discrimination: From the Seminar Room to the Courtroom," Papers and Proceedings of the American Economic Review, (1993).
• McKeown, "Statistics for Wage Discrimination Cases: Why the Statististical Models Used Cannot Prove or Disprove Sex Discrimination," 67 Indiana Law Journal 633 (1992).
• Meier, Paul, Jerome Sacks, and Sandy Zabell, "What Happened in Hazelwood: Statistics, Employment Discrimination, and the 80% Rule," --- American Bar Foundation Research Journal 139 (Winter 1984).
• Paetzold, Ramona and Steven L. Willborn, The Statistics of Discrimination: Using Statistical Evidence in Discrimination Cases, (McGraw-Hill/Shepard's, 1994 with annual updates).
• Shoben, E. W., "Differential Pass-Fail Rates in Employment Testing: Statistical Proof Under Title VII," 91 Harvard Law Review 793 (1978).
• Smith, A. B., Jr., and T. G. Abram, "Quantitative Analysis and Proof of Employment Discrimination," University of Illinois Law Review, (1981), pp. 33-74.
• Steward, Dwight, and M. Douglas Berg, "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: A View from a Statistical Expert", State Bar of Texas, Advanced Employment Law, February 21-22, 2003, www.stewardresearch.com/pdf/13_1STEW.PDF
  
• Sugrue, Thomas J., and William B. Fairley, "A Case of Unexamined Assumptions: The Use and Misuse of the Statistical Analysis of Castaneda/Hazelwood in Discrimination Litigation", 24 Boston College Law Review 925 (1983).

 

Economic Damages in Anti-Trust and Price-Fixing

Cases

• City of Tuscaloosa v. Harcos Chemicals Inc., 158 F.3d 548, laws.findlaw.com/11th/956234man.html , (11th Cir. 1998).
• Independent Gasoline Antitrust Litigation, 79 F.R.D. 552, 561-62 (D.Md. 1978). Court admitted statistical studies in an anti-trust case.
• Kuriansky v. Natural Mold Shoe Corp., et al, 519 N.Y.S.2d 88 (Sup. 1987).
• Mid-Atlantic Toyota Litigation, 525 F.Supp. 1265, 1285 (D.Md. 1981).  Court admitted statistical studies in an anti-trust case.
• U.S. v. Columbia Pictures, 25 F. R. D. 497, (S.D. New York 1960). Court admitted statistical studies in an anti-trust case.

Articles

• Finkelstein and Levenbach, "Regression Estimates of Damages in Price-Fixing Cases," 46 Law and Contemporary Problems145 (1983).

Mass Tort

Cases

• Blue Cross & Blue Shield of New Jersey, Inc. v. Philip Morris, Inc., 113 F. Supp.2d 345 (E.D. N. Y. 2000).  Court held that use of statistical methods do not violate defendants' Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.
• Cimino v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 151 F.3d 297 (5th Cir. 1998).  Court rejected sample of 160 cases out of 2,288 class members as sufficient evidence to establish liability and damages for the class.
• In re Fibreboard Corp., 893 F.2d 706 (5th Cir. 1990). Appellate court rejected sample of 41 cases out of 2,990 class members as sufficient to establish causation and damages for entire class.

Population Census

• American Civil Liberties Union, Amicus Curiae Brief in Department of Commerce et al v. House of Representatives et al, (October 1998), http://www.aclu.org/court/usdcvhouse.html
• Department of Commerce et al v. House of Representatives et al , US Supreme Court Docket No. 98-404, (January 25, 1999), http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/98-404.html .  Court permanently enjoined the planned use of statistical sampling to determine the population for congressional apportionment purposes.  However, the Census Bureau may use statistical sampling for other purposes.
• US House Committee on Government, House Report 104-821, "Sampling and Statistical Adjustment in the Decennial Census: Fundamental Flaws," (September 24, 1996),  http://www.house.gov/reform/reports/census.htm

Tax Audits

Property Tax

• Freedman, D. A., "The Mean Versus the Median: A Case Study in the 4-R Act Litigation", 3 Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 1 (1985).
• Gastwirth, Joseph L. "Statistical Reasoning in the Legal Setting", 46 The American Statistician 55 (February 1992).  Pages 59-60 have Gastwirth's summary of a property tax assessment case.

Toxic Tort Litigation

Cases

• Blue Cross v. Philip Morris, 113 F.Supp.2d 345 (E.D. New York, 2000).  Extensive use of surveys and statistical analyis in a suit against tobacco companies.
  
• Cimino v. Raymark Industries, 151 F.3d 297 (5th Cir.1998).  Court rejected use of sampling to determine damages in an asbestos claims class action.
  
• In re Fibreboard Corporation, 893 F.2d 706 (5th Cir.1990).  Court rejected use of proof of damages on a classwide basis through the use of expert and statistical evidence in asbestos claims class action.
• Hilao v. Estate of Marcos, 103 F.3d 767 (9th Cir.1996). Court upheld proof of damages on an aggregated basis in a class action suit under the Alien Tort Claims Act by victims of Ferdinand Marcos's regime in the Philippines.

Articles

• Brannigan, Vincent M., Vicki M. Bier, and Christine Berg, "Risk, Statistical Inference, and the Law of Evidence: The Use of Epidemiological Data in Toxic Tort Cases," 12 Risk Analysis 343 (1992).
• Cohn, Victor, News & Numbers: A Guide to Reporting Statistical Claims and Controversies in Health and Related Fields, (1989).
• Hurwitz, W. J., "Environmental Health: An Analysis of Available and Proposed Remedies for Victims of Toxic Waste Contamination," 7 American Journal of Law and Medicine 61 (1981).
• Kaye, David H., "The Limits of the Preponderance of the Evidence Standard: Justifiably Naked Statistical Evidence and Multiple Causation," --- American Bar Foundation Research Journal 487 (1982).
• Luus, H. G., F. O. Muller, and B. H. Meyer, "Statistical Significance versus Clinical Relevance - Part I. The Essential Role of the Power of a Statistical Test,"  76 South African Medical Journal 568 (1989).
• Thompson, Melissa Moore, "Comment: Causal Inference in Epidemiology: Implications for Toxic Tort Litigation", 71 North Carolina Law Review 247 (1992).

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