This article examines whether the character of people involved in personal injury claims affects their outcome irrespective of the legal rules. For example, does the personality or background of the litigants or their lawyers influence whether an action succeeds and how much damages are then paid? A rise in the number of claims is noted here as part of a contested ‘compensation culture’ in personal injury. In a demographic analysis, the article identifies typical claimants and the injuries from which they suffer. Claims have been gathered in increasing numbers by law firms in response to market pressures encouraging them to process minor injury cases in bulk. The firms have changed their structure and created ‘settlement mills’ where there may be little scope for individuals to affect the routine processing of small claims. By contrast, in more serious injury cases character and personality are more likely to make a difference. These findings are suggested by the author’s empirical study of the views of lawyers on the operation of the claims system: practitioners who have been interviewed are given voice here. The article challenges traditional perspectives of tort where it is often implicit that claims are resolved only in court on the basis of textbook rules on liability and damages. There has been a failure to take account of other factors which may influence both the settlement of claims and the few cases that go to trial. In this wider context the article forms part of a literature revealing that the operation of the tort system in practice differs markedly from that in theory. It calls into question those philosophies of tort liability which fail to consider how claims are actually determined.

中文翻译：

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侵权中的人性：人格会影响人身伤害诉讼吗？

本文研究了在不考虑法律规则的情况下，参与人身伤害索赔的人的性格是否会影响他们的结果。例如，诉讼当事人或其律师的个性或背景是否会影响诉讼是否成功以及随后支付多少赔偿金？索赔数量的增加在此被视为人身伤害领域有争议的“赔偿文化”的一部分。在人口统计分析中，文章确定了典型的索赔人及其遭受的伤害。越来越多的律师事务所收到了索赔，以应对鼓励他们批量处理轻伤案件的市场压力。这些公司改变了他们的结构并创建了“结算工厂”，在那里个人几乎没有影响小额索赔的日常处理的空间。相比之下，在更严重的伤害案件中，性格和个性更有可能产生影响。作者对律师对索赔制度运作的看法的实证研究表明了这些发现：在此为接受采访的从业者提供了发言权。这篇文章挑战了传统的侵权观点，其中通常暗示索赔只能在法庭上根据关于责任和损害赔偿的教科书规则得到解决。没有考虑可能影响索赔的解决和审理的少数案件的其他因素。在这个更广泛的背景下，这篇文章构成了文献的一部分，揭示了侵权制度在实践中的运作与理论上的显着不同。